I have 09 JK.15,000 Miles. Recently I entered an on ramp and accelerated to about 57 mph . Jeep stopped moving and shook violently. Felt like all four tires were flat. Turned engine off and restarted in first and was all okay. This has happened twice going from 5th to 6th gear. Anyone else have this happen? Very scary when you have a big truck coming up in your rearview mirror.

 

Sounds more like your ESC kicked in than death wobble. Any angry lights on the dash when it happened?

 

Not sure if any lights came on I was startled and just tried getting out of traffic. Thank you for your idea. Do you have any idea why it would kick in? Jeep was towed four down and then driven @ highway speeds both times prior to these incidents. Thanks for your help.

 

The ESC will kick in and drop engine RPM and do it's seemingly random activation of the brakes dance at seemingly different corners all within seconds when your Jeep is moving fast and hits a big bump or dip in the road. The key to the event is the dip or bump has to cause some oscillation in movement between body roll and suspension movement. I imagine that there are some sensors fore and aft that kick the system into activation.

I know that there are two places close to me on CA-14 where there is a big dip in the freeway that will cause my Jeep to go into fits if I hit it driving faster than 60 MPH. I imagine on a freeway on ramp with some angle, acceleration, and a few breaks in the pavement the condition could be ripe to set the system into action. Regardless, it is always a, "WTF?" moment for me when it happens, even though I know what is going on.

 

That sounds exactly what happened to me. Great answer to my question. One more thing. How do you recover besides pulling over. Thanks very much.

 

When it has happened to me the system forces a deceleration. Once the system "senses" that control is regained it shuts off and resets itself.

 

Also, what is the lift on your Jeep? Tire size? Sway bar disconnected?

 

No lift --sway bars connected and stock 17" tires no real mods besides body armor

 

Definitely ESC. Watch those road irregularities and your speed!

 

Thanks for your help. I'll watch speed and the bumps. Bought jeep New. First time this happened.