22 Gladiator Overland - Death Wobble? Where to go from here

[ilm-jays]

Hey everyone,

I had this issue for 3 months now but caught it on the camera for the first time.
Brought it the dealer a few months ago and was told it's normal, it definitely is not as you can see on video.

The car has not even 9k miles and it seems to happen under these conditions:

1. Driven for a while (30+ min) - not sure if it's relevant
2. Hitting an even road etc. at higher speeds 45-70 MPH.

Regarding #2, I noticed this happened on highways when the road was just repaved and there was an "on-ramp" to the newly paved road.
However this is not the only time, it happens even if there's just a bit of an even road. Also, I noticed it doesn't happen for 30+ min but then 5 times within 15min along the highway.

I can only resolve it by a) stopping the car, b) breaking down to 15 MPH. Both are not really an option on a highway, at least not with some danger associated. Steering also becomes significantly harder.

Since I'm bringing the car to the dealer next week, I wanted to get opinions on where to point them since I don't want to hear again, oh yeah that's expected.

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[DylanM]

True death wobble is more violent than that, but it does appear you have a decent case of wheel shimmy on the front end. No, it's not normal. Typically issues like this are caused by a wheel imbalance, tire defect, or loose front suspension/steering components.

Is the vehicle completely stock or have you done any modifications to the suspension and/or wheels? Have you hit anything that may have damaged a tire or knocked something loose? Do you see any abnormal tread wear or evidence of tire damage? Have you done a cursory lookover of the front suspension and steering to see if anything appears out of the ordinary?

 

[ilm-jays]

Vehicle is 100% stock for an overland. nothing was changed. Tire wear is the same, nothing got hit, no accident or anything. i didn't see anything out of the ordinary but I also look like a deer staring into headlights.

I also should mention the car is used 90% on city streets, rarely on the highway and 1-2 times a week on the beach, slow (10-15mph max). No other offroading etc.

 

[Mflowers11]

Not normal.

Have them check for loose fittings and torque down all connection points in the front steering/suspension from the steering box to the tie rod. Also check the wheels for balance. Unless you beat you jeep, to early for bad bushings. My guess is you got it with a couple bolts that weren’t properly torqued.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You've already got some decent responses - I'd not change anything said so far, only add to it from my perspective...........

That's a really really fast shimmy. Not really on the DW side of the line, but related as far as troubleshooting.
I had a similar thing on a car a few years back. Took me a long long long time to finally find the cause and it was a wheel. A axle and alignment shop couldn't find it, a dealership shop couldn't find it, the place I bought the tires from said they were fine and the wheels were fine.
I finally needed to take the wheels off to have them restored for show and the guy said when he mounted one of them on their CNC wheel refacing machine he instantly saw a problem while lining up the bit - it wasn't bent as in how they bend when you hit a curb, it was slightly egg-shaped, as if it was dropped straight down hard against something. It was a vibration that shook the whole car no matter where the wheel was placed. I rotated the tires on that thing multiple times and each time, it felt as if the whole car was shaking.

Anyway, I'm thinking strongly along the lines of a tire issue in your case - but all suspension and steering hardware needs to be checked for torque - including ball joints, tie rod, drag link, track bar, you name it. But loose parts alone don't cause such a shimmy, they only allow it to be uncontrolled. A tire and wheel that are perfectly balanced will run true like a spinning top, a gyroscope, regardless of other parts. They want to keep spinning and running straight if they are balanced and true. If you've ever seen a tire/wheel come off a car or truck at high speed - look how straight and true they will run until interfered with. A wheel/tire combo that's well-balanced and with straight tread won't wobble even if parts are loose. I've driven and worked on cars with steering parts so loose it's crazy, but at speed they are rock solid, balanced and true - it just takes extra movement to change direction.
Loose parts shouldn't cause a shimmy, they will allow a shimmy to happen to a tire/wheel that's got a problem. The proof is in the trucks and cars I've worked on with tie rods literally ready to fall off, idler arms with no bushing left, control arm bushings with no rubber left - yet they don't shimmy.

 

[Mflowers11]

@ilm-jays did you bring it in and if so, what did they find? Tire issue?

 

[Rocksalt]

regardless whether or not this is DW... definitely not normal

 

[ilm-jays]

Thanks everyone. @Mflowers11 I'm unsure if they found something. They told me only that they were able to reproduce it and that they ordered a steering stabilizer. It's unclear to me whether they're replacing the part or if they just ordered a new part. They're still waiting for the part and I'm not really confident that they actually know what it is.

 

[HooliganActual]

Thanks everyone. @Mflowers11 I'm unsure if they found something. They told me only that they were able to reproduce it and that they ordered a steering stabilizer. It's unclear to me whether they're replacing the part or if they just ordered a new part. They're still waiting for the part and I'm not really confident that they actually know what it is.

The steering stabilizer may “fix” the problem in the short term but that is not the right solution. The steering stabilizer is there to manage bump steer; when you hit, say, a pothole, the steering wheel doesn’t snap back in your hand.

The stabilizer is the “rote” response for dealerships when presented with “Death Wobble” and it may minimize that shaking until it has cycled so many times that it no longer works the way the brand new one does.

I agree with previous responses but I would echo what @ShadowsPapa inferred. I’d wager there is a wheel or tire problem based on your video, true Death Wobble is much more exaggerated and very frightening. Maybe take your vehicle to a tire shop and have the wheels and tires Road Force Balanced. If nothing else that would eliminate that suspect.

 

[SaltyChad]

2022 JT Overland 18k miles. Took advice from Josh at Jeeping for Beginners in Las Vegas, he owns an alignment shop. Check alignment this morning, toe in, 1 tire more. Adjusted toe out to max allowance, mine is .02* overall out, now no shimmy at all.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

2022 JT Overland 18k miles. Took advice from Josh at Jeeping for Beginners in Las Vegas, he owns an alignment shop. Check alignment this morning, toe in, 1 tire more. Adjusted toe out to max allowance, mine is .02* overall out, now no shimmy at all.

That was waay in. And your steering wheel was off-centered.
What I see is that it could have been fixed by putting it very slightly toe-in and still gotten good results.
you are comparing something way out of spec and off-center.

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