2022 gladiator death wobble

[Buckeye Jeeper]

I hate to start a new thread on this same subject but filtering through it all is insane. So if I have this one maybe I can find some help. Or maybe one of y’all can alert me to the right people. I purchased my 2022 Rubicon brand new in may of 22’. When I picked it up the dealership ordered my 3.5” Clayton overland plus lift so they could install it to retain the dealerships lifetime power train warranty. It was installed at around 5k miles along with 37-12.50-17 Cooper sst pro’s on dirty life 17x9 -38mm offset wheels. This thing has absolutely been my favorite vehicle and I’ve put more money and care into it more than any vehicle I’ve ever owned ! It has literally only been on one off-road trail that I would even consider a trail. It has rode and drove like a Cadillac and has amazed me how well it’s handled. Then this past fall in October once it started getting cold at night it happened suddenly. Nothing had changed on the truck at all from what it was. At this time it had around 11k miles on it. It death wobbles like crazy if I hit a bump or bridge between 35-40 mph. And I mean it will shake you off the road !! Tires turning back and forth 8” or so forcing me to come to a complete stop. Once I finally could get it to the dealership it had 13k miles on it. Dealership said the famous quote of “ your steering stabilizer” is bad. But after two months of waiting on a new stabilizer I couldn’t wait any longer. This is my daily driver so I went and picked it up. In effort to try and fix it I purchased the Apex 2.5 ton steering kit and a fox 2.0 TS stabilizer and had it installed. I then had have had it aligned twice now. After the first time Clayton seemed to think they saw enough play in the track bar end that they warranted it and sent me a new one. This the reason for second alignment. I’ve had my tires rebalanced and checked twice. After alignment and balancing it done great for about a day or two until another cold night and back it came. It’s got my wife and kids scared to death to ride in it now. I have had the local 4x4 shop go over it twice and they can’t find anything, nothing loose, no play in bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints...anything ! Caster as of right now is at 5.6 but the shop doesn’t really think that’s the issue. I’m torn on what to do as this thing only has 15k on it total now and a lot of my work commute is at that 35-40mph range. At speeds above that and even up to 90 on the interstate it seems to do fine. I’m at a loss for words and hate that as I do really love my truck. What can I do ? Or should I just take it back to the dealer and let it set until it’s fixed ? Only problem with that is Jeep is so far backed up on parts I hate to be without my vehicle for that long. Tie rod ends they said we’re on back order until April. That’s another reason why I went ahead and bought the Apex steering is because I knew that and thought I could see play in the passengers side rod ends.

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[310H22A]

I just went through this after installing 37s and mine ended up being a unique issue with my fox steering stabilizer. It had a spot where there was absolutely no resistance and then the last 25% of the piston wouldn’t compress at all. My dw went away after completely removing the stabilizer. I ran without one for about a week until fox sent a replacement.

Most are going to say one of the following:
- add geometry correction brackets (these are worthless if you off-road)
- add a sh!t ton of camber( I think 4-6 is spec)
- air down to 25psi
- get another alignment and have your tires re-balanced
- buy a track bar
- don’t run wheels with negative offset they’re the devil

Good luck

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

I just went through this after installing 37s and mine ended up being a unique issue with my fox steering stabilizer. It had a spot where there was absolutely no resistance and then the last 25% of the piston wouldn’t compress at all. My dw went away after completely removing the stabilizer. I ran without one for about a week until fox sent a replacement.

Most are going to say one of the following:
- add geometry correction brackets (these are worthless if you off-road)
- add a sh!t ton of camber( I think 4-6 is spec)
- air down to 25psi
- get another alignment and have your tires re-balanced
- buy a track bar
- don’t run wheels with negative offset they’re the devil

Good luck

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

Thanks, it was doing it with the factory stabilizer before hand. That’s why I purchased the Fox 2.0. I do have all 8 adjustable control arms with the Clayton lift as well as adjustable track bar.

 

[Tommyd]

I hate to start a new thread on this same subject but filtering through it all is insane. So if I have this one maybe I can find some help. Or maybe one of y’all can alert me to the right people. I purchased my 2022 Rubicon brand new in may of 22’. When I picked it up the dealership ordered my 3.5” Clayton overland plus lift so they could install it to retain the dealerships lifetime power train warranty. It was installed at around 5k miles along with 37-12.50-17 Cooper sst pro’s on dirty life 17x9 -38mm offset wheels. This thing has absolutely been my favorite vehicle and I’ve put more money and care into it more than any vehicle I’ve ever owned ! It has literally only been on one off-road trail that I would even consider a trail. It has rode and drove like a Cadillac and has amazed me how well it’s handled. Then this past fall in October once it started getting cold at night it happened suddenly. Nothing had changed on the truck at all from what it was. At this time it had around 11k miles on it. It death wobbles like crazy if I hit a bump or bridge between 35-40 mph. And I mean it will shake you off the road !! Tires turning back and forth 8” or so forcing me to come to a complete stop. Once I finally could get it to the dealership it had 13k miles on it. Dealership said the famous quote of “ your steering stabilizer” is bad. But after two months of waiting on a new stabilizer I couldn’t wait any longer. This is my daily driver so I went and picked it up. In effort to try and fix it I purchased the Apex 2.5 ton steering kit and a fox 2.0 TS stabilizer and had it installed. I then had have had it aligned twice now. After the first time Clayton seemed to think they saw enough play in the track bar end that they warranted it and sent me a new one. This the reason for second alignment. I’ve had my tires rebalanced and checked twice. After alignment and balancing it done great for about a day or two until another cold night and back it came. It’s got my wife and kids scared to death to ride in it now. I have had the local 4x4 shop go over it twice and they can’t find anything, nothing loose, no play in bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints...anything ! Caster as of right now is at 5.6 but the shop doesn’t really think that’s the issue. I’m torn on what to do as this thing only has 15k on it total now and a lot of my work commute is at that 35-40mph range. At speeds above that and even up to 90 on the interstate it seems to do fine. I’m at a loss for words and hate that as I do really love my truck. What can I do ? Or should I just take it back to the dealer and let it set until it’s fixed ? Only problem with that is Jeep is so far backed up on parts I hate to be without my vehicle for that long. Tie rod ends they said we’re on back order until April. That’s another reason why I went ahead and bought the Apex steering is because I knew that and thought I could see play in the passengers side rod ends.

Are you toed in just a little like 1/8 of an inch?

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

Are you toed in just a little like 1/8 of an inch?

They have them set dead 0

 

[Tommyd]

Just saying that’s a lot of negative offset your wheels have. That will dramatize any small imperfection elsewhere. I made sure to go with a zero offset for that and other obvious reasons. Again. Just saying no hate lol

 

[Lunentucker]

1. The caster angle is too low at 5.6. You'd be better off around 6.5.
2. What's the toe set at?
3. Holy Hell! -38 for 12.5's on 9's on a lifter Rubicon hangs a lot of meat off center and out, and it's likely not doing you any favors.

Now let's look at your number one clue - colder weather. Steel shrinks (among other things ). Tire pressures go down. Fluids thicken.

You've already mentioned tightening everything.
Is that EVERYTHING?

4. Was the Pitman arm nut checked?
5. Are you using anything to help stabilize the sector shaft? A sector shaft brace.
6. What kind of play in the tie rod ends did you see? Up and down or just a slight rocking?
7. Have the ball joints been checked?

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

Just saying that’s a lot of negative offset your wheels have. That will dramatize any small imperfection elsewhere. I made sure to go with a zero offset for that and other obvious reasons. Again. Just saying no hate lol

I understand and no harm here. I went with that because a friend of mine is running the exact same wheel and offset and same tires. He has an overlanding YouTube channel and his gladiator has been everywhere in the country and hasn’t had the issues I’ve had. He even runs the same lift as well.

 

[Lunentucker]

Also, if you have a garage and level floor, get someone to move the steering back and forth while you watch components for movement, slop, and flex. In park.

 

[IanNubbit]

So caster is good, im guessing the lift comes with correction brackets or changed the arm mounts. You did the damper good, you've changed all tierods and the front trackbar. Definitely toe in slightly. You can do that at home. Just go in like half to one rotation on the adjuster. That alone could do it, but doubtful, its very strange that it only happens below 50. Normally its always over 60 so this is certainly not the “normal” issues. Might sound crazy but im thinking maybe power steering related, these ESP systems arent very good for heavy rigs. Does your friend with an identical set uo have something like a PSC assist system or is he running stock steering?

 

[Tommyd]

I understand and no harm here. I went with that because a friend of mine is running the exact same wheel and offset and same tires. He has an overlanding YouTube channel and his gladiator has been everywhere in the country and hasn’t had the issues I’ve had. He even runs the same lift as well.

i was saying that that specifically might not be causing your problem but it could be highlighting it. I hope you figure it out. I would hate for my wife to hate riding with me. It’s embarrassing as we take pride in what we build.

 

[Lunentucker]

Most are going to say one of the following:
- add geometry correction brackets (these are worthless if you off-road)

Add Geometry correction brackets. They really don't hang down any lower than neighboring components, AND they improve your off-road comfort. ?

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

1. The caster angle is too low at 5.6. You'd be better off around 6.5.
2. What's the toe set at?
3. Holy Hell! -38 for 12.5's on 9's on a lifter Rubicon hangs a lot of meat off center and out, and it's likely not doing you any favors.

Now let's look at your number one clue - colder weather. Steel shrinks (among other things ). Tire pressures go down. Fluids thicken.

You've already mentioned tightening everything.
Is that EVERYTHING?

4. Was the Pitman arm nut checked?
5. Are you using anything to help stabilize the sector shaft? A sector shaft brace.
6. What kind of play in the tie rod ends did you see? Up and down or just a slight rocking?
7. Have the ball joints been checked?

I love you’re thinking about the cold, same thoughts here from me. Yes I know offset is a lot but a friend is running the exact same set up with probably 40k miles on it now and has wheeled the heck out of it with no problem this far. Yes pitman arm but has been checked as well as everything else. Apex steering is all brand new as well as the Fox stabilizer. I do have a steer smarts sector shaft brace on order. I do not like the amount of flex I’m seeing in my steering box. It’s supposed to be here this coming week. Shop said they really hated to adjust the caster passed the 5.6 they have it at now but....

 

[Buckeye Jeeper]

i was saying that that specifically might not be causing your problem but it could be highlighting it. I hope you figure it out. I would hate for my wife to hate riding with me. It’s embarrassing as we take pride in what we build.

Understood and I’m sure it will be harder on the wheel bearings inevitably. The whole goal was on trails to help keep things off of the body when and if. But so far it’s been on only one trail and I’m having a rough time even driving it back and forth to work.

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