I bought my 2dr X in November of last year, and currently have 15K miles on it.
About 2 months ago, i was driving on the road when all of a sudden the steering wheel started to shake like crazy, and the entire car was getting tossed left to right, as if it was Death Wobble.

I didnt make anything of it, as i thought i might of hit a bump in the road.
About 1 month ago, i had a buddy of mine who is a mechanic at a Jeep dealership install my 1 inch body lift, (not that i could not do it myself, but for a time like this)

2 weeks ago, i was doing about 80 on the highway, when out of no where again, the steering wheel started to shake and the vibration was all over the car. Thank God that the semi truck was behind me , and not next to me cause i would of smack him hard.
The only way to stop this problem is to grip and hold the wheel as hard and as tight as i can, and come to a complete stop. This time i know that i did not hit a bump.
So i take it in the the dealer where i bought it at (Libertyville Chrysler Jeep in Libertyville Illinois)
I tell the service guy my problem and off i go

Later that day i get a phone call from the service guy telling me that my Steering Stabalizer was weak and was replaced.
So i go pick it up and leave.

Not even 2 days later im driving to lunch with a co-worker, when what do you think happens again.
I drive it to the same dealership down the road and told them again what just happend when i was doing about 45 this time and no bump in the road agian.
So i leave it there and go.
The next day i get a call from the same service guy saying that they called Chrysler and got the OK to install a Heavy Duty Mopar Steering Stabalizer. I asked them why would they install a HD Staalizer if the Jeep didnt come with it stock.
they told me that Chrysler said that this will help fix the problem.

Like a dumbass i gave in and took off.

Now comes Sunday when i have my 3 year old nephew in the Jeep with my going to a cousins wedding what this happens again. This time it was about 55 mph and no bump again. It really hit me when he started crying that i thought to myself that this is not right nor is it safe to drive especially with someone else in the car.
So i come to a complete stop, and it went away.

I called the same dealership, brought it in the next day, and they said that they will hold it for a few days to duplicate the problem.

Well i get a call 2 days later from the same service guy saying that they could not duplicate it, and asked for me to come in and do it for them.
I told them that they are nuts if they think i can tell it on command to start acting up
Than the had the balls to tell me that it could be from the 1 inch lift. I told them that the body lift has nothing to do with the geomtery of the suspension. They kept going on and on with the Body lift untill i told them that my friend who is a mechanic at the other Jeep dealership down the road installed it for me, and thats when the shut their mouths.

So i called Chrysler and started a case with them.
After i called Chrysler, i also called my lawyer to have a case ready incase something happens to me or somebody else, and i also called my brother-in-law who is Kevin Roy from Channel 7 News reporter and told him the whole story and he thought that it would be a great story if something does happen to me, than it would be nig since its a huge name.

Just the other day, i was driving home after work, and of course it started again. Now it has been about a week since the last act-up.

I called the same dealership yesturday about 8 in the mornig and asked to speak to the Service manager. No one answered so i left a message to call me back as soon as possible.
3 o'clock rolls around, and still no phone call. So i call again, and ended up leaving another message.

Well i got a phone call at about 5:30 from the Service manager.
We started talking about what just happened.

After about 45 mins and me listening to a person go on and on about how they can not figure out the problem, and unless its doing it for them, they wont be able to do anything about it, i had to add in my words.

So i said,"what the hell do i have to do for something to get done, do i need to be involved in a car accident"
Her response was," even if you did get into an accident, how would you we know it was our fault. How would you prove it."

At this point i was very pissed off, so i told her that i already called my lawyer, and Channel 7 News.
She tells me to install a video camera in my Jeep to capture it on video, so they can see how and when it starts.
I told her that i though it was form a bumo in the road, but all the other times there was no bump.
I told her i though it was from high speeds, but that got knocked out cause it was driving at low speeds the other 3 times it happend.

Bottom line was that nothing will get done unless i drive it to them when its acting up, or they drive it and it starts for them.

I am really upset with this whole situation, and do not know what to do.
What are your thoughts on this

Thanks,
Dino

 

thanks, Toad
alot of people have told me it cold be death wobble, but on a stock jeep, no mods other than the 1 inch Body Lift, and the first time it happend was before the BB lift

 

I work in the computer field (hang on, there's a point coming) and I always get calls from people because their computer just did this, that, or the other and they want me to tell them how to fix it/what went wrong. The vast majority of the time I have to see the computer do "this, that, or the other" before I can accurately inform them on what happened. Sometimes I can make a guess and fix it without seeing, but most times I either have to see it, or have already seen another do it in the past.

The death wobble thing, or any other odd type of thing (meaning non-common) would more than likely fall into the same category. You can't expect someone to take your description and know exactly what's happening to fix it. They can make educated guesses (like the steering stabilizer), but it's still just a guess, unless they've seen it before.

Just my $0.02, for what it's worth these days.

 

i undestand that they must see the problem to fix it, but at this point they should keep the car in the shop and drive it till it happens. I dont want to hurt myslef and others for something to finally happen

 

good point. Maybe you could arrange with the service manager, or a master tech, to be able to call them when it's doing it and have them outside the dealership waiting on you so you can pull in when it is happening (obviously this would be difficult to "time" as you never know when it's going to happen).

 

I agree. They can and should fix it. It may take them some work (which is the problem). I wish you the best of luck on this. But, please stop calling your Jeep a car.

 

You mentioned you had a buddy of yours who works at a Jeep dealership install your lift. Have you considered asking him to drive your Jeep for a weekend and see if the wobble will happen while he is driving it. Maybe he can determine the cause. Or maybe your dealership will give you a courtesy vehicle so one of their mechanics can drive your Jeep for the weekend. I know this is terribly frustrating. Good luck to you.

 

I bet somwthing is loose, in particular one of the trackbar bolts. I have to troubleshoot LAN/WAN/Telephony networks for a living. Though not every problem has an easy answer, there is always an approach that should be taken to eleminate what the problem isn't.

They have replaced the SS, even intalled a heavy duty one. So it is not a dampening issue. So what else is attached to the componets that are common to the Steering wheel and the tires--- Trackbar, tirerod, draglink and various ends, joints and bushings. The reason is nearby and should not take a "Professional" mechanic guessing at the problem to correct it. For it to wobble something is moving that should not be moving.

The dealers assertion that you need to bring it in when it is actually trying kill you is insane. It isn't a persistant issue so therefore will not exibit this behaviour will driven on the back lot of the dealership. If they need to have them take it to a local 4x4 shop to have them diagnose it is beyond there capability.

Or buy yourself some good metric tools and a torque wrench, get the specs and look yourself.

 

my mechanic buddy was in the car with me when it happend. He was the one that told me to have them check the bearings, arms, ball joints, etc. He also told me that the steering stabalizer will not be the problem.

 

I would crawl under the front end and check EVERY SINGLE bolt and nut on the front suspension to make SURE they are tight. I mean EVERYTHING. Something is loose.