Steering wheel shake/wobble after bump

[Lehman26]

I have a new intermittent issue that I've been trying to track down. 22 Rubicon XR 30k miles all stock out of warranty though. Lately after hitting a bigger sized bump or pothole in the road I will get a wobble from the front end. Seems to be more common at 35-50 mph, but I cant always recreate it. The steering wheel will also shake sometimes along with it for several seconds but after that it goes away on its own. Checked all bolts for proper torque on pretty much all front suspension components. Dont see anything obvious. Dealer suggested steering stabilizer after looking over and didnt see anything obvious but I feel like thats not the issue. Any ideas? Wheel Balance, Alignment, anything im overlooking?

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[TheBirdie72]

Jeeps these days are fragile little flowers. You obviously took on an on-road challenge that your Jeep wasn’t built for. Stop abusing your rig!

 

[watchluvr4ever1116]

Sounds like the all too common death wobble. There are lots of opinions on how to remedy this. A new steering stabilizer fixed mine, but some people think that is a bandaid and only cover up a bigger problem such as worn ball joints, etc.

 

[Fish]

I’ve had a JK and now my JL and I’ve had death wobble with both. If you checked torque already that’s great, I’d go recheck your front track bar and tie rod ends. If this does not solve it have someone sit in your jeep and slowly move the steering wheel back and fourth basically in the dead zone of steering not actually turning. This movement will allow you to sit on the ground infront of the jeep and inspect for play on all steering components. If you can’t find a joint with excessive play I would recommend doing balljoints. Both of my jeeps I have replaced balljoints and that has fixed my issue. My dad’s JK just had dead wobble and his was a worn out draglink trying to seperate itself at the insert.

When I replace my balljoints I will generally do a full inspection of other steering components and replace anything else I find overly worn.



DO NOT LISTEN TO THE DEALER THEY WILL ALWAYS RECOMMEND A STEERING STABILIZER, THIS WILL NOT FIX YOUR ISSUE IT WILL JUST HE A BANDAID FIX AND YOUR PROBLEM WILL ONLY GET WORSE.

 

[Terrymo]

You’ll get a different answer from someone for every component on the front end. The cause of bump shimmy, and not true death wobble, for me, was a worn out front track bar at very low miles.

It could be many other things which is why it leads to a lot of frustration and speculation.

i probably post the link to this @Tech Tim @Northridge4x4 YouTube video way too much, but I think it has some great information.

 

[m3reno]

I had a similar issue. A shake in the steering wheel when going over bumps but not full death wobble. Turned out to be my tires were not balanced properly. I had the tires balanced and I also added a Falcon 2.1 stabilizer and didn't have an issue for almost 50,000 miles.

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