Death wobble, did Jeep help you?

Bongoray

Member
Hello everyone,

I've been experiencing everything from slight steering wheel shimmy to death wobble on my 2018 Jeep JLUR. I have a 2.5" Rock Krawler lift with 35" BFG KO2s mounted. I've had an alignment done with everything in spec. I'm still having the issue.

Jeep has been pretty attentive and willing to help until I told them I have a lift installed. It's a pretty easy cop out in my opinion. Long story short. Has Jeep done anything for anyone with this same issue? I remember seeing some people had Jeep spring to replace their steering damper with an aftermarket Fox unit. I've searched for these posts but cannot find them.

My dealership refuses to diagnose my issue since I have a lift. I'm not putting the Jeep back to stock. Jeep has already replaced my steering damper, but it didn't fix the issue. They said a redesigned front track bar, but it won't help me with the lift installed. The RK lift already has a beefier track bar.

Than


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GrayBeard

New member
Sounds like you need a different dealership, one that is Jeep friendly with knowledgable mechanics or a good local 4xshop.

There are numerous TSB bulletins out on the death wobble and steering shimmy. Jeep is replacing numerous front end steering components do to this. Jeep is beefing up those replacement parts, but aftermarket has much better, sturdier parts available.

I had the steering shimmy. Installed a Rancho Heavy Duty Adjustable FrontTrack Bar and mine was fixed.

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JeepJL

New member
There’s a tsb out for both the front Trackbar and updated steering stabilizer. What tires and wheels are you running? Your dealership shouldn’t turn you away. I’m running a 3.5” RK lift and just in the last 2 weeks mine started doing the same thing. I already had replaced my front Trackbar with an adjustable RK when I installed the lift so I got the updated steering stabilizer and it solved my issue. Also make sure your front tires are properly balanced. Being off balance will also cause what you are feeling.


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JeepJL

New member
New York


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Well I can’t help you there. I know some good shops on the west coast that wouldn’t turn you away. Start with balancing the tires, then steering stabilizer tsb (updated mopar with a part number ending in AE), and a Trackbar if you haven’t yet. For some reason the front end of a JL is much more sensitive to tire balance.
I’m running 38” Patagonia’s on KMC wheels and if I have the lighter (less weight needed) tires in the front I’m good but if I rotate them I start getting that death wobble feeling. Starting to regret my decision on tire choice but I love the size.
Here’s the part number of the old stabilizer I just replaced. There was a bit of play in it causing the wobble to activate, especially when the tires were not perfectly balanced.

Image1557847127.023852.jpg


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Bongoray

Member
There’s a tsb out for both the front Trackbar and updated steering stabilizer. What tires and wheels are you running? Your dealership shouldn’t turn you away. I’m running a 3.5” RK lift and just in the last 2 weeks mine started doing the same thing. I already had replaced my front Trackbar with an adjustable RK when I installed the lift so I got the updated steering stabilizer and it solved my issue. Also make sure your front tires are properly balanced. Being off balance will also cause what you are feeling.


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Ruining 35" BFG KO2's as mentioned above. Balanced twice. Upgraded damper from Jeep didn't solve the issue.


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JL_John

New member
I’ve had intermittent death wobble for the last few months. I’m on 37 Nitto’s, Method Beadlocks, and Evo coilover suspension. I’ve also upgraded track bar, drag link, and tie rod to the Steer Smarts Yeti kit. We’ve tried different toe and caster settings( currently at 1/8” toe in and 7.4 caster) and it’s still there. Stiff stabilizer helps mask it but if I pull the stabilizer off it’s a guaranteed violent wobble on first set of bumps around 40mph. Dropped the Jeep off at a reputable shop in SoCal earlier this week so we’ll see if they can find anything. What concerns me is that I have not been able to find any defects in the parts I’ve replaced, nor have I heard of others isolating a specific failure mode. My Jeep was great for 7k miles, then all of a sudden it wasn’t. No progressive decline in steering, literally good one day and bad the next.


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Rgk401

New member
I’ve had intermittent death wobble for the last few months. I’m on 37 Nitto’s, Method Beadlocks, and Evo coilover suspension. I’ve also upgraded track bar, drag link, and tie rod to the Steer Smarts Yeti kit. We’ve tried different toe and caster settings( currently at 1/8” toe in and 7.4 caster) and it’s still there. Stiff stabilizer helps mask it but if I pull the stabilizer off it’s a guaranteed violent wobble on first set of bumps around 40mph. Dropped the Jeep off at a reputable shop in SoCal earlier this week so we’ll see if they can find anything. What concerns me is that I have not been able to find any defects in the parts I’ve replaced, nor have I heard of others isolating a specific failure mode. My Jeep was great for 7k miles, then all of a sudden it wasn’t. No progressive decline in steering, literally good one day and bad the next.


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Could it be the steering box? I’m just throwing that out there because my friends Jeep was doing the same thing and she was stock. The dealership replaced everything in the front end including tires and wheels and it was still there. So they replaced the steering box and It fixed the problem. Hope this helps.


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ckor

New member
I'm in the same boat. I replaced Tie rod, drag link and trackbar. Still had the issue. Everything is torqued and tight. Installed Rancho dual stabilizers (I know, but I was lost on what to do and have 45,000 miles on it in 13 months so I drive alot) it drives almost like a dream. I am leaning towards steering box as well. I was talking to a Rancho rep at a Jeep Jamboree and he said the Tazer update has a setting to turn off the electric assist I believe and that helped. I don't have a Tazer so can not confirm that. If someone does and it has that setting and it worked please let me know.
 

JeepJL

New member
I'm in the same boat. I replaced Tie rod, drag link and trackbar. Still had the issue. Everything is torqued and tight. Installed Rancho dual stabilizers (I know, but I was lost on what to do and have 45,000 miles on it in 13 months so I drive alot) it drives almost like a dream. I am leaning towards steering box as well. I was talking to a Rancho rep at a Jeep Jamboree and he said the Tazer update has a setting to turn off the electric assist I believe and that helped. I don't have a Tazer so can not confirm that. If someone does and it has that setting and it worked please let me know.

I think the Tazer feature is for when you go to a belt driven pump for a PSC setup. I could be wrong though.


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JL_John

New member
Could it be the steering box? I’m just throwing that out there because my friends Jeep was doing the same thing and she was stock. The dealership replaced everything in the front end including tires and wheels and it was still there. So they replaced the steering box and It fixed the problem. Hope this helps.


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I'd be happy to swap the gearbox if it would correct the problem but I can't see how a gearbox would cause death wobble. That being said, my steering is sloppy as it is and I've heard of people doing the gear swap with good results so maybe it is a fix. I'll wait and see what the shop says before deciding.

I'm in the same boat. I replaced Tie rod, drag link and trackbar. Still had the issue. Everything is torqued and tight. Installed Rancho dual stabilizers (I know, but I was lost on what to do and have 45,000 miles on it in 13 months so I drive alot) it drives almost like a dream. I am leaning towards steering box as well. I was talking to a Rancho rep at a Jeep Jamboree and he said the Tazer update has a setting to turn off the electric assist I believe and that helped. I don't have a Tazer so can not confirm that. If someone does and it has that setting and it worked please let me know.

If you turn off the electric assist without swapping over to the PSC system I think you would have manual steering as the JL pump is not belt driven.
 

WhiteMetal

New member
I'd be happy to swap the gearbox if it would correct the problem but I can't see how a gearbox would cause death wobble. That being said, my steering is sloppy as it is and I've heard of people doing the gear swap with good results so maybe it is a fix. I'll wait and see what the shop says before deciding.



If you turn off the electric assist without swapping over to the PSC system I think you would have manual steering as the JL pump is not belt driven.
So I just tried this today by turning off espsteer and so far it seems like it took the shimmy out of my steering wheel when hitting little bumps on the road. Now this could all be in my head but I know for sure it still has power steering after turning off espsteer with tazer.im thinking it's all in my head that it feels better. And starting to think it might not be good on things but I'm not to sure how an electric steer pump works and the how electric steer assist, but maybe it just turns off the steer assist part.

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So I’m stock, it was a wee bit easier for me to get the dealer to comply, but after a paid front end alignment & a call to Jeep wave I got the 4th generation steering box (68250506AD) today & holy shit. No 1” deadspot on center & she tracks as straight as the day I bought her.
 

JeepJL

New member
So I just tried this today by turning off espsteer and so far it seems like it took the shimmy out of my steering wheel when hitting little bumps on the road. Now this could all be in my head but I know for sure it still has power steering after turning off espsteer with tazer.im thinking it's all in my head that it feels better. And starting to think it might not be good on things but I'm not to sure how an electric steer pump works and the how electric steer assist, but maybe it just turns off the steer assist part.

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I’m thinking it just disables the warning if it were unplugged or failed.


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JeepJL

New member
So I’m stock, it was a wee bit easier for me to get the dealer to comply, but after a paid front end alignment & a call to Jeep wave I got the 4th generation steering box (68250506AD) today & holy shit. No 1” deadspot on center & she tracks as straight as the day I bought her.

Good to know. I might have to give that a try after the AE stabilizer is installed if it doesn’t correct it.


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Bongoray

Member
So I’m stock, it was a wee bit easier for me to get the dealer to comply, but after a paid front end alignment & a call to Jeep wave I got the 4th generation steering box (68250506AD) today & holy shit. No 1” deadspot on center & she tracks as straight as the day I bought her.

Do you have a case open with Jeep? If so can you tell me the number. I'd love to be able to reference a stock Jeep that has the same issue. That would be a big help!

Thanks!
Ray


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