My 2008 JK is completely bone stock and has about 65k miles on it. In the past two weeks I've had about half a dozen incidents where I hit a bump on the highway and the steering wheel starts shaking violently. It only really happens at speeds over 55mph and it lasts for about 2 seconds but each time it shakes almost hard enough to pull the wheel out of my hand. I've had no problems with the Jeep before this and I've done no modifications to the suspension, wheels, etc. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? I'm thinking I'll have to take it down to my mechanic and have him check out the tie rods and other linkages. Any other suggestions?

 

Might be you ball joints

 

Is it unusual for them to go bad at only 65k miles?

 

Mine had a wobble.I had to have all four ball joints replaced it took care of the problem

 

Sounds like death wobble (although most DW incidents require you to come to a complete stop, so perhaps yours is something different). Lots of people claim it's related to lifting your Jeep, yet we keep seeing incidents of stock DW crop up.

Read planman's brilliant write-up of the issue to see what you need to do next:
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ght=diagnosing

 

Thanks for all the replies. I made an appointment with my mechanic for tomorrow. He's going to put it up on the lift and check all the linkages. I do have the lifetime powertrain warranty on mine but I wouldn't think that ball joints would be applicable. It might be worth calling the dealership and looking into it.

 

Quick update...had my mechanic put it up on the lift and check out the whole front end. He said everything was tight and it looked brand new. He also said that he had heard of the "death wobble" and advised me to take it to the dealer and see if my warranty covers it. I'm going to try calling them today.

Update again:
Just spoke with Chrysler service tech. Said he's never heard of the problem and he couldn't find any TSB with regards to a front end wobble. Made an appointment for tomorrow, he said he would ask around. I told him to just Google "death wobble."

 

Before you do anything else, have all your tires rebalanced. This will most likely cure the problem. I had it so bad I was afraid to drive over 45 with the wife & kids on board. I replaced the crappy stock steering damper but turns out that I was just curing a symptom.

My shop said he'd never seen 4 stock factory tires so out of balance. (Issue popped up at 30k...)

 

The odd thing is that the problem is completely intermittent. It doesn't occur at any certain speed or driving conditions. For that reason I don't believe its a tire balance issue. In my experience tire balance issues don't come and go.

 

I told the tech to do a Google search for "Jeep Death Wobble" and he'll immediately know what I am talking about. I'm hoping that since this is a safety issue and since the car is barely 2 years old they will cover the work under the warranty. If they won't I'll take it to another shop. Just don't want to go replacing every front end component on my own dime until the dealer gives me a strait answer.