Steering gyrations instability over bumps

[StinggrayRubi77]

I’ve been having the same problem with my 2021 JLUR since purchasing brand new in Feb of 21, I make the last payment this week. The Jeep drifts and has play in the steering wheel, hard to keep in a lane at times, it gyrates uncontrollably after bumps or potholes at speed. It is not death wobble as the steering wheel doesn’t turn back and forth because there is more than a 1/8th turn of play, but bumps and shuffles all over the place.

It has been in and out of dealership so many times. I’ve paid the deductible for 2 steering stabilizers (3 have been installed), new tie rods and drag link. This is after many complaints since new with no resolution

They are unable to see what is wrong so they brought another similarly equipped Jeep in to compare. Upon comparison, they found a rear end. It’s half inch lower so they are replacing rear shocks and springs even though the whole jeep has the problem they are starting with the rear.

it’s crazy five years and many many complaints and multiple weeks of not having the Jeep over these years. Thankfully, I have an extended warranty.

The dealership has 4 others being checked for death wobble, same year similar issues.

Any one else having this issues?

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[scorpionsix]

My 2020 JLUR has had very similar characteristics to yours. I had the Falcon passthrough steering stabilizer replace with a traditional style Fox unit. That helped. I had the aluminum steering gear upgraded to the steel unit. That helped. I just upgraded the trackbar to an adjustable unit but no change. With the Mopar lift the previous owner installed, I'm thinking front lower control arms need to be upgraded to adjustable units then a proper alignment done. I have zero wobble at any speed, even under braking. The thing just wants to drift. It's not erratic and I'm used to it but why does it still do so? After the steering stabilizer was replaced, the steering wheel shimmy while going over bumps, speed bumps are by far the worse, did improve some. The LCAs are second on the list right now, I need to replace the front diff cover as the drain plug is in there so damn tight, I can't get it out and I really want fresh fluid in there. Fine excuse to upgrade.

 

[StinggrayRubi77]

I would love to do the lift on mine but after these problems, how could I. I told them it seemed like an axle shim is needed like my old YJ needed. They say there is no adjustment on the JL.

Thank you for the reminder on the steer gear, I called back and they now say that they don’t see an excessive amount of play in the wheel even though when I took a ride with the quality control rep he said it was excessive play in the wheel. So frustrating.

 

[LazyJL]

Ball joints can cause this, even they look fine. I change them on my 2020 JLR at 52,000 miles. They tested OK with very little or no up and down motion but when removed, they were loose.

Are sure the trackball's bushing are in good shape and torqued to spec? Track bars are under a lot of stress and need to be tight. I had problems with the TJ and XJ track bars until replaced with better aftermarket ones (JKS).

The JLR's steel replacement steering box was loose when new and Jeep said that was normal. Being able to rock the steering wheel back and forth two inches without turning the tires isn't normal in my part of the country.
I gently tighten the top adjustment, a tiny bit at a time until the slop was gone but not so tight to damage the box.
It is a delicate adjustment best done on the bench with the fluid drained, using an inch/pound torque wrench to set the over center-adjustment torque. If it wasn't such a PIA to R&R the steering box, I would adjust it that way and probably get it even tighter.

Jeeps like caster in the 5-1/2 to 6 degree range, adding the longer Mopar LCAs can improve stability, adjustable LCAs will do the same thing.

 

[scorpionsix]

Ball joints can cause this, even they look fine. I change them on my 2020 JLR at 52,000 miles. They tested OK with very little or no up and down motion but when removed, they were loose.

Are sure the trackball's bushing are in good shape and torqued to spec? Track bars are under a lot of stress and need to be tight. I had problems with the TJ and XJ track bars until replaced with better aftermarket ones (JKS).

The JLR's steel replacement steering box was loose when new and Jeep said that was normal. Being able to rock the steering wheel back and forth two inches without turning the tires isn't normal in my part of the country.
I gently tighten the top adjustment, a tiny bit at a time until the slop was gone but not so tight to damage the box.
It is a delicate adjustment best done on the bench with the fluid drained, using an inch/pound torque wrench to set the over center-adjustment torque. If it wasn't such a PIA to R&R the steering box, I would adjust it that way and probably get it even tighter.

Jeeps like caster in the 5-1/2 to 6 degree range, adding the longer Mopar LCAs can improve stability, adjustable LCAs will do the same thing.

I also thought about ball joints and if/when I get that far, I'm going to go the American Iron delete route. My off roading doesn't necessarily warrant that but it ought to be once and done with that option.

 

[cram501]

My 2019 was initially like yours. The steel steering gear and keeping a reasonable psi in my tires made a huge difference. Adding a 2.5" Rock Krawler lift made an additional improvement. My 2019 is now reasonably stable over 50 mph. I don't feel I'm going to run off the road at 70 anymore.

I'd find a good 4x4 shop in your area and let examine the Jeep. Unless you get lucky with the technician, I don't have confidence in the dealer finding issues like this.

 

[mwilk012]

How many jeeps have you owned before this?

 

[coldcarryouts]

My 2023 Sport S does this, or something pretty similar: some lane drift, but the big issue is hitting a bump above 65-ish mph. Not even a large bump, but if I hit it in just the right way, the front suspension starts wobbling back and forth. It's not death wobble because the steering wheel remains still in my hands, but the front end shimmies like I'm driving over a super rough road at high speed.

I've got an appointment with the dealer tomorrow, the service manager said right away "sounds like a steering dampener!" We'll see what comes of this.

 

[alphawolff]

For what it's worth, both front and rear can cause death wobble. I've seen quite a few JKs with blown rear shocks have a nasty death wobble for example. It should be relatively simply to go over the whole suspension. Make sure your tires are in good condition and wheels properly balanced as well.


A shimmy after hitting a bump at speed is always an indicator of a failed steering damper, it just becomes the question of why does the damper keep failing. We see worn tires on the 4XEs be the primary cause for a lot of them, as an example. The factory standard JL damper is rather trash and fails quickly from what are otherwise normal vehicle NVH

 

[Terrymo]

My fix was not typical. I had bump shimmy when I hit a pot hole or crossed specific sets of train tracks at moderate speed with very low miles on the Jeep. First I installed a new steering stabilizer and bump shimmy persisted. Next at someone’s suggestion, I replaced my OEM front track bar with a track bar from Rock Krawler.

With the new front track bar, even without the steering stabilizer installed, I had no bump shimmy in those same circumstances, After test driving over the same two sets of train tracks and intentionally hitting pot holes on the same roads repeatedly for several days, with no bump shimmy, I reinstalled the steering stabilizer.

I’m not a mechanic so I can’t explain the why.

 

[StinggrayRubi77]

My 2023 Sport S does this, or something pretty similar: some lane drift, but the big issue is hitting a bump above 65-ish mph. Not even a large bump, but if I hit it in just the right way, the front suspension starts wobbling back and forth. It's not death wobble because the steering wheel remains still in my hands, but the front end shimmies like I'm driving over a super rough road at high speed.

I've got an appointment with the dealer tomorrow, the service manager said right away "sounds like a steering dampener!" We'll see what comes of this.

that’s what mine does, shimmy was a bad word should have said bucks like an angry horse.

 

[StinggrayRubi77]

How many jeeps have you owned before this?

This is the first JL, last Jeep was a YJ I built up in my garage, lift, Wagoner and Rodeo D44 swap, motor mount lift, you name it. It had bad death wobble until I reset the axle perch angle then it was a 1 finger steer, no track bar or stabilizer Jeep.

 

[StinggrayRubi77]

Ok picking back up. Jeep sat at the dealer for a month between different dealer techs and regional techs checking and driving. The rear shocks were changed to stop the rear end from bouncing and gyrating into other lanes. Of course this didn’t change the steering. New dealership instantly felt the vagueness and excess play in the steering. They are changing out the front shocks, another part, and doing an alignment. Let’s hope this does the trick. I was just happy that someone else felt it and it wasn’t just me.

 

[JeepinPete]

My '19 was no fun on the highway when I bought it. I've changed a bunch of parts, none were the magic bullet, but all added up to it tracking quite nice these days. Replaced the following:

• Aluminum steering box
  • small improvement in tracking
• Track bars with OME
  • no real change
• Teraflex ball joints
  • Helped with DW, small improvement in tracking
• AEV steering stabilizer
  • Eliminated any shimmy in the steering wheel
• MC geometry correction brackets
  • Modest improvement in tracking, noticeable reduction in side to side head whip
• Rear trackbar correction bracket
  • Improved tracking, increased side to side head whip
• Installed Rancho RS7 series shocks
  • Biggest improvement in tracking of all the changes

Note that I have a 2" lift installed. If you are running stock size tires, I found that running tire pressures around 32psi was a noticeable improvement.

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