2021 Gladiator Death Wobble

[Mjolnir]

Your first issue is thinking a stabilizer will work.

Something is wallowed out or still loose.

Retorque everything yourself. Fuck the dealership, they are utterly useless if they believe a SS will fix it.

While retorquing to factory specs check for wallowed out bolt holes as well as ruined bushings. Then check your castle nuts on the ball joints as well as the ball joints.

Check your toe. Check for cupped/fucked tires and swap them front to back to see if the problem persists or gets better.

Dont forget to check the drag link.


This is all assuming you are stock.

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[amillerr10]

Your first issue is thinking a stabilizer will work.

Something is wallowed out or still loose.

Retorque everything yourself. Fuck the dealership, they are utterly useless if they believe a SS will fix it.

While retorquing to factory specs check for wallowed out bolt holes as well as ruined bushings. Then check your castle nuts on the ball joints as well as the ball joints.

Check your toe. Check for cupped/fucked tires and swap them front to back to see if the problem persists or gets better.

Dont forget to check the drag link.


This is all assuming you are stock.

I don't think a stabilizer will work lol. just stating that when they put one on my JL, it stopped it. ill go through everything when i get home from work if thats what i have to do. either that or trade it in for something else. and yes, im completely stock.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Your first issue is thinking a stabilizer will work.

Something is wallowed out or still loose.

Retorque everything yourself. Fuck the dealership, they are utterly useless if they believe a SS will fix it.

While retorquing to factory specs check for wallowed out bolt holes as well as ruined bushings. Then check your castle nuts on the ball joints as well as the ball joints.

Check your toe. Check for cupped/fucked tires and swap them front to back to see if the problem persists or gets better.

Dont forget to check the drag link.


This is all assuming you are stock.

Wallowed bolt holes don't matter.

Bolted connections rely on clamping force.

 

[Mjolnir]

Wallowed bolt holes don't matter.

Bolted connections rely on clamping force.

Yup. Wallowed bolt holes that allow for extra side to side/back and forth motion wont cause any issues at all. Guess the hundreds of people on the TJ and JK forums and personal experiences are wrong. Thanks for clarifying.

/S

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Yup. Wallowed bolt holes that allow for extra side to side/back and forth motion wont cause any issues at all. Guess the hundreds of people on the TJ and JK forums and personal experiences are wrong. Thanks for clarifying.

/S

Yes, hundreds are wrong about this. It’s a very common misconception.

Ever seen a cam bolt? How do you suppose that works with the giant slotted hole?

 

[Mjolnir]

Yes, hundreds are wrong about this. It’s a very common misconception.

Ever seen a cam bolt? How do you suppose that works with the giant slotted hole?

So you are saying, that when bracket bolts get wallowed out to the point that the bolt and, lets just say, drag link moves left to right or up/down easily, that will NOT cause problems?

 

[Glad_he_ate]

If the Bolt is tight then no it won’t…. It might cause an issue with properly aligning a part with another part but if it’s tight it won’t allow for movement of the part it’s intended to hold… it’s not a press fit dowel it’s a bolt and a nut squeezing down another piece of material. Think belt adjustment or a chain on a bike. You slide the bolt in an elongated hole then clamp it down.

So you are saying, that when bracket bolts get wallowed out to the point that the bolt and, lets just say, drag link moves left to right or up/down easily, that will NOT cause problems?

 

[Mjolnir]

If the Bolt is tight then no it won’t…. It might cause an issue with properly aligning a part with another part but if it’s tight it won’t allow for movement of the part it’s intended to hold… it’s not a press fit dowel it’s a bolt and a nut squeezing down another piece of material. Think belt adjustment or a chain on a bike. You slide the bolt in an elongated hole then clamp it down.

I beg to differ from seeing this exact situation cause issues, myself included. Bracket was within spec (not bent), torqued to spec, new bolt and nut used, same issues. What you're not realizing is with a wallowed hole, the bolt head and nut will have less surface area to "grab" and will be able to move.

Example: Drag link wheel side bracket had wallowed holes allowing it to move while driving causing steering issues.

The fix was to cut the bracket off and weld on a new bracket.

I'm sorry but you are just wrong on this.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

I beg to differ from seeing this exact situation cause issues, myself included. Bracket was within spec (not bent), torqued to spec, new bolt and nut used, same issues. What you're not realizing is with a wallowed hole, the bolt head and nut will have less surface area to "grab" and will be able to move.

Example: Drag link wheel side bracket had wallowed holes allowing it to move while driving causing steering issues.

The fix was to cut the bracket off and weld on a new bracket.

I'm sorry but you are just wrong on this.

You said "check for wallowed out bolt holes as well as ruined bushings" so I assumed you were talking about suspension links.

Your example, drag link wheel side bracket, do you mean the knuckle? You cut off the bracket for the drag link? I don't understand what you mean here. Maybe you're talking about the track bar and not the drag link?

 

[amillerr10]

So, dealer finally called and got me in to open the star case. I have a Cherokee to drive in the meantime LOL. Anyways, the serviceman I have been in contact with says he just had another Gladiator come in with the same problem. I have a feeling that dealerships are going to start seeing more and more of this. I am interested to see what they end up doing this time around, or how long they will have the vehicle for. This is verbatim the same scenario I went through in 2018. LOLOLOL

 

[amillerr10]

Well everyone.... to recap everything..... I had the steering stabilizer changed twice (same stock part) and my steering gear box changed (changed from stock steel box to another stock steer box) and the problem still existed. they tried putting different tires on, re torquing everything, road balancing and problem still existed. they called me and said they were going to put a different steering stabilizer on with a different part number on it but that it would take two weeks... now mind you during this whole process, the feel of the suspension did not change. it felt loose and sloppy and even worse going over bumps, even at slow speeds, just felt like something was loose or wrong... they called me 2 days after they said it was going to be two weeks and said they just put a Fox Racing steering stabilizer on it and it was ready to be picked up.... i know on these forums, everyone says the steering stabilizer would never cause death wobble.... but i have to tell you, the Gladiator feels like a whole different car. It didn't feel this tight and good even when i drove it off the lot. I haven't had death wobble since... I can't tell you if this is the actual fix or not, but it definitely has solved the issue for now.....PS this is the second vehicle that the fox racing stabilizer has fixed, the first being my 2018 wranlger JL.

 

[IhaveQuestions]

Glad to hear they at least have addressed your issue (from what I have read maybe temporarily) . My stock 21 Gladiator just developed the DW. 8500 miles seems so low to have it begin but I digress. I began the dance with the dealership yesterday. I mentioned the wandering steering issue and got the standard “is this your first Jeep?” answer. They couldn’t find anything wrong or repeat the DW issue so, I get a pat on the backside and a sorry there’s nothing we can do until there’s an identifiable failure point (from a warranty standpoint). I can see why there’s a class action lawsuit.
Any advice on how to handle the dealership? I am always polite but i have limits

 

[amillerr10]

Glad to hear they at least have addressed your issue (from what I have read maybe temporarily) . My stock 21 Gladiator just developed the DW. 8500 miles seems so low to have it begin but I digress. I began the dance with the dealership yesterday. I mentioned the wandering steering issue and got the standard “is this your first Jeep?” answer. They couldn’t find anything wrong or repeat the DW issue so, I get a pat on the backside and a sorry there’s nothing we can do until there’s an identifiable failure point (from a warranty standpoint). I can see why there’s a class action lawsuit.
Any advice on how to handle the dealership? I am always polite but i have limits

In my opinion, I would go to a different dealership and see what they say. In my specific scenario, I took a video of it happening and sent it to the serviceman, which prompted them to open a STAR case for it. Mt Gladiator only had 5k miles or so on it when it happened. Same thing with my Wrangler JL, low miles and within the first year of ownership and both started when it got cold. I will say when i had the Wrangler, i spent time at the dealership i bought it from with them essentially saying the same thing, we cant do anything unless we can replicate it, and when they test drove it, they took it for 1 mile which is what was stated in the paperwork... there werent any highways within a 10 mile radius and it only happened when going highway speeds. the scond dealership i took it to was when they changed the stabilizer with "different" stock parts 3 times. further than that they had opened a star case for the wrangler because they had no idea what was wrong... i decided i would take it to one of the biggest jeep dealerships in northern part of the state and they said they were going to put the Fox part on it. so one dealership refused, the second one tried, but ultimately "couldn't" help until Chrysler told them what to do, and the third dealership was aware of the problem and fixed it the next day with the aftermarket part. i guess i use "fixed" loosely as everyone in the forums says its not an actual fix.... but.....

 

[Otisday]

Before buying a bunch of components check the following with a torque wrench yourself
Trackbar bolts- 130lbft
Swaybar endinks - 60lbft
Tie rod ends and axle side draglink - 50 lbft
Draglink pitman side - 77 lbft

After that turn on the car and have someone shimmy the steering wheel back and fourth a bit and check the trackbar, tie rod, and draglink for any play.

Most often death wobble is an issue with play in the front end components and the jeep ones aren't actually that bad. If you do decide to upgrade, I'd recommend the rpm steering tie rod and draglink, pure beef and very tight.

Thanks for the specs. I re torque the bolts and so far this has solved the problem

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