100% Stock 2021 Death Wobble

[ShadowsPapa]

ball joints! No way are those factory ball joints good at 36000 miles, they are toast at 20k. The ball joints they put in are trash! If you take that knuckle off youll see those things will wiggle like a noodle.

And you have seen them all, in all Jeeps? Every one of them at low miles to prove this?

And yet there's many thousands of Wranglers and Gladiators out there with a lot more than 30,000 miles on them doing just fine.
Sure, it's something to look at, check - but I'd bet money that the ball joints on my 2020 were fine when I traded it at 27,000 miles.

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[Riccochet]

And you have seen them all, in all Jeeps? Every one of them at low miles to prove this?

And yet there's many thousands of Wranglers and Gladiators out there with a lot more than 30,000 miles on them doing just fine.
Sure, it's something to look at, check - but I'd bet money that the ball joints on my 2020 were fine when I traded it at 27,000 miles.

Ball joints on my 2012 JKR are still OEM. That thing has been lifted on 35's since 2013 and wheeled a lot. I just redid the suspension on it, those joints are still good. Was for sure thinking they'd be ragged by now. Nope. Almost 140k on that thing too.

 

[NeatFreq]

Get the Synergy Sector shaft brace and call it done. I did and now enjoy my gladi wobble free. Best upgrade I've made so far

 

[dmwphoto]

Update: Dealer says the steering stabilizer failed.

I'm finding it hard to believe that a failed stabilizer would cause death wobble.

It won’t

 

[exfil offroad]

And you have seen them all, in all Jeeps? Every one of them at low miles to prove this?

And yet there's many thousands of Wranglers and Gladiators out there with a lot more than 30,000 miles on them doing just fine.
Sure, it's something to look at, check - but I'd bet money that the ball joints on my 2020 were fine when I traded it at 27,000 miles.

yes i have seen them all on every single jeep. your kinda acting like a d bag, guy.

 

[tysongladiator]

yes i have seen them all on every single jeep. your kinda acting like a d bag, guy.

I don't know about all jeeps. I know about 10 Jeep owners personally with more than 20K that haven't had an issue with their balljoints. And if I can remember all of the jeep groups that I've wheeled with in about four different states, I could probably come up with a few dozen. So, I wouldn't say all Jeeps. Maybe it's just all of the jeep people that YOU know.

 

[exfil offroad]

I don't know about all jeeps. I know about 10 Jeep owners personally with more than 20K that haven't had an issue with their balljoints. And if I can remember all of the jeep groups that I've wheeled with in about four different states, I could probably come up with a few dozen. So, I wouldn't say all Jeeps. Maybe it's just all of the jeep people that YOU know.

no id say it was several running lifts with larger tires in the 2018-2021 years. To include my own. My response to seeing all was directly to the previous person stating that i had seen them all. So in response I was being sarcastic not literal.

 

[tysongladiator]

no id say it was several running lifts with larger tires in the 2018-2021 years. To include my own. My response to seeing all was directly to the previous person stating that i had seen them all. So in response I was being sarcastic not literal.

Ahh, gotcha. My bad. Lol

 

[SussexCounty]

Was it by the Christiana River/Port Of Wilmington Bridge area?

Yes....exactly

 

[dcmdon]

You can feel a worn ball joint by lifting the wheel off the ground by the axle an inch or two and putting a pry bar under the tire and prying up. If there is play upward the joints are toast. Can also push and pull on the top and bottom of the tire to feel for play.

Not my first rodeo building Jeeps or doing suspension. This vehicle being so new I just didn't feel like dealing with it when the dealer had "fixed" it in the past. I'm still not happy with their solution. So I'm most likely getting rid of this truck since I have no desire to pump money in to a 2 year old vehicle that is a daily driver for my wife.

When I say I've done suspension this is my most recent October of last year. Full MetalCloak game changer suspension and HD steering on my JKR done in my garage on the floor. It had a full Rock Krawler suspension on it prior that I installed in 2013. Before this I had a 2010 JKUR that I did a 4.5" full BDS suspension on. Before that 2006 TJU, 1994 YJ.

If you trade it, then it will cost you thousands to repair a problem that could be probably solved with a few hundred at a knowledgeable jeep shop.

If you trade it for another jeep, then you are playing right into their scam.

If you trade it for another make, then at least you are leaving the problem truly behind and punishing FCA for continuing to turn out OEM product with a problem that can be solved with higher quality components.

Judging by your account photo, you will probably buy another FCA product. Congratulations, you gave them exactly what they want. A new vehicle sale they can make a couple of thousand on and a late model used truck they can make $5000 on.

yes i have seen them all on every single jeep. your kinda acting like a d bag, guy.

Not really. he's just challenging your overly broad statement that ALL ball joints are bad by 20k miles. Which seems unlikely.

If you truly believe this to be true, can you give us something we can do to test this theory. I'm happy to jack up my truck and test it today. I've got a bit over 20k miles and if it's true, I'll have them replaced under warranty.

 

[Lunentucker]

I've seen numerous accounts of ball joints, track bars, pitman arm nuts, sway bar links, and more not being properly torqued on delivery.
I think if you win the ball joint lottery and get one that's properly torqued from the start you'll get good service life from it. If you get one that wasn't, then obviously you're going to get premature wear and it'll come to light as bad handling when it's too late to fix with just a torque wrench.

Remember too, Jeep issued a TSB increasing the torque on the lower ball joints by about 20 foot pounds.

People who got good ones argue that they're all good. People who didn't will argue the opposite.

 

[Riccochet]

If you trade it, then it will cost you thousands to repair a problem that could be probably solved with a few hundred at a knowledgeable jeep shop.

If you trade it for another jeep, then you are playing right into their scam.

If you trade it for another make, then at least you are leaving the problem truly behind and punishing FCA for continuing to turn out OEM product with a problem that can be solved with higher quality components.

Judging by your account photo, you will probably buy another FCA product. Congratulations, you gave them exactly what they want. A new vehicle sale they can make a couple of thousand on and a late model used truck they can make $5000 on.

Honestly, we don't need the Gladiator. We don't need another truck. Just something that will tow a bass boat. So, basically any mid to large size SUV will do the job. We want something a bit more fun, better fuel economy and more power. Jaguar F-Pace, Mercedes GLE, Range Rover Sport, Lincoln Aviator.

I'm not hung on FCA products. Just happens that I like Ram trucks and my wife likes Wrangler's. We needed something for her to drive that could also tow the boat and she wanted to continue driving a Wrangler. Well, the Gladiator was the next best thing. I'm over it.

 

[dcmdon]

Honestly, we don't need the Gladiator. We don't need another truck. Just something that will tow a bass boat. So, basically any mid to large size SUV will do the job. We want something a bit more fun, better fuel economy and more power. Jaguar F-Pace, Mercedes GLE, Range Rover Sport, Lincoln Aviator.

I'm not hung on FCA products. Just happens that I like Ram trucks and my wife likes Wrangler's. We needed something for her to drive that could also tow the boat and she wanted to continue driving a Wrangler. Well, the Gladiator was the next best thing. I'm over it.

I had a lot of worry about regretting it when buying my first domestic car/truck ever. Fortunately, mine has been solid other than recurring P0300 (misfire) codes. We'll see how that works out. I've also been pleasantly surprised at the service quality at Lawless Jeep in Woburn Mass. I think if I liked my truck and had your problem, I'd spend a couple hundred bucks at a knowledgeable jeep shop and see what they find.

 

[Riccochet]

I had a lot of worry about regretting it when buying my first domestic car/truck ever. Fortunately, mine has been solid other than recurring P0300 (misfire) codes. We'll see how that works out. I've also been pleasantly surprised at the service quality at Lawless Jeep in Woburn Mass. I think if I liked my truck and had your problem, I'd spend a couple hundred bucks at a knowledgeable jeep shop and see what they find.

The Gladiator is good now that I put a Bilstein stabilizer on it. Drives better than new. The steering has been squirrely in the Gladiator since the day we bought it new. I always thought something was wrong. Very twitchy and zero resistance. Now it's nice and firm. I can actually take my hands off the wheel and it tracks straight. Before it would go all over the road.

Still don't want to keep it. If and when I find a good deal on any of those SUV's I mentioned this Gladiator is going bye-bye.

 

[dcmdon]

The Gladiator is good now that I put a Bilstein stabilizer on it. Drives better than new. The steering has been squirrely in the Gladiator since the day we bought it new. I always thought something was wrong. Very twitchy and zero resistance. Now it's nice and firm. I can actually take my hands off the wheel and it tracks straight. Before it would go all over the road.

Still don't want to keep it. If and when I find a good deal on any of those SUV's I mentioned this Gladiator is going bye-bye.

I get it. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy living with the well known down sides to these trucks. In the end most of the stuff doesn't bother me. It keeps me from driving way too fast, which I tend to do with almost anything, except for the Jeep. And I have fun with it. Doors off, roof off, ski trips. It's actually working out better than I anticipated.

But I completely understand how it could get old. Shoot, that Ram pickup truck is like a Rolls Silver Cloud compared to the Gladiator.

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