Violent Shaking AKA: Death Wobble
 

Just an FYI if you are having this problem please please please call and report it to the Federal Trade Commission and the NHSTA www.nhtsa.gov.
I have just put my car in the shop for the 4th time for this problem and they cant fix it. i am looking for any type of leagal advice etc on this matter. It shook so bad this time it threw us off the road, it is not safe to drive these jeeps that have this problem! Rediculous if you ask me! So if you have this problem please report it if you have had this problem and they fixed it please let me know! I need all the advice i can get right now. I love my JEEP but dang this is aweful.

follow planmans thread on death wobble. It will find it and go from there. I found my cause of death wobble flowing that thread.

Another question for all jeep owners!
 

:eek2:
Has anyone that has had the death wobble EVER had it fixed! They said they are replacing the steering dampner and bearings again for the second time.....obviously that isnt the problem! It was just dont in october of last year! I gave them a print out of planmans write up and he said they cant go by stuff like this! Stupid people at Hill Kelly in Pensacola! I am so aggrivated and disgusted not sure where to go from here! Any suggestions are great but i feel this poses danger to me and my child. the last episode of the DW was so bad that my daughters head hit the window! the service man at hill kelly said they took it out for a drive and it only shook a little bit not violently! I mean come on, like they dont believe me! This makes me want to cry and scream! ARGH!!!

I feel your pain, but replacing the stabilizer does nothing, and replacing the bearings is only because they've been killed by the DW.

Get some input here and take it either to a better dealer or to another shop that knows what they're doing.

Unfortunately no dealership is going to fix that issue. Ive been to 3 different places. 2 of them thought my stabilizer was fine (I doubt that considering the fluid leaked all over my garage). Then when one changed it the wobble was gone...but probably only masked. I went to a shop here that works on jeeps by day an off roads by night. Mechanic told me my track bar needed to be replaced . No dealership would do it - they said it was fine. In addition to that he told me the geometry on these wranglers is just dumb. You'd probably be fighting with the wobble forever, or every 20k like clock work. I'm not joking when I say he literally suggested the AEV lift kit.

I guess what I'm saying is , good luck...until you upgrade the problem will probably persist. Furthermore, dealership shops are just..wow! They didn't torque the bolt on my stabilizer bracket tight enough. Thing fell off on the highway. I would take the jeep somewhere else...like a 4x4 place specializing in jeeps...they'll care more. Plus you won't hear the "we have to teat drive it and duplicate the problem first" argument.

Plenty of people have had DW fixed. That's terrible (and ignorant) that the mechanics told you that they couldn't use Planman's write-up. It is SPECIFIC to this situation.

Your best bet (if you are not comfortable turning a wrench yourself) is to ask around any of the local Jeepers in your area if they know where a reputable shop is. (Or better yet - help you do it themselves!)


If you fill out the "About Me" section of your profile, we might be able to get a better idea of what your JK is, and what the problems could be. If you have a lift, and something wasn't properly torqued, that's an easy fix. Or...it could be the balljoints going out on you, which is another common cause. Or any of the holes in the track bar being wallowed out, which may be in need of replacement.

Do NOT let anyone just replace the steering stabilizer again!!! That doesn't help AT ALL, and usually just masks the problem, making it *feel* better, but doing nothing to actually solve it.

I had DW due to putting on a 3 inch lift, to the point it threw us off the rd too. We upgraded to the JKS trackbar and Rancho steering stablizer. So far we had no more DW.

proper track bar and draglink geometry is what you need.
I had it and have not had an episode since I got my rock krawler lift.
do you have a stock jk?