Death wobble after a mopar lift JLU

[bigskies]

Greetings. New to site. Took my son's 2019 JLU Rubicon in for a 2.5" mopar lift Friday. Drove it home 25 miles just fine. Was driving in on saturday to get the new wheels and tires put on. On dry highway pavement at 50 mph crossing the bridge and went into a death wobble for lack of a better way to say it. I fought to keep control of steering wheel. I went into other lane of traffic and back; got to other side of bridge and drove off into grassy field. Service closed on saturdays here at our Jeep dealer. I checked all wheels and lugs were tight. But I'm a 62 year old mom and have zero knowledge as to what went wrong. Called flatbed tow truck to take it back to dealer. Has been in service all day and they don't know what's wrong. This belongs to my son and I'm taking back to him once it's "fixed". What should I make sure the dealership does to ensure my safety and more importantly my son's safety? What the heck could have gone wrong? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks so much

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[j.o.y.ride]

They probably didn't tighten something fully. Def need to get it back to the shop.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Yep, as @j.o.y.ride said they probably didn't tighten everything correctly or didn't do it with the jeep sitting on the ground, a common mistake. Get it back to the dealership asap, should be a easy fix.

 

[bigskies]

Yep, as @j.o.y.ride said they probably didn't tighten everything correctly or didn't do it with the jeep sitting on the ground, a common mistake. Get it back to the dealership asap, should be a easy fix.

I thought I should let you know that they think they found the problem. There was a steering stabilizer recall in August of 2019 and previously as well. There was no record of a recall notice in our service record nor did we receive notification. I believe the notification was issued on August 17th and we purchased it on August 28th. It came from out of state so perhaps the original dealership did not pass on the notification? Seems to me that there should be a foolproof way to make sure all owners are covered. Anyway, they replaced it and then after googling some more (always dangerous when you know nothing) I read that it may include the steering box and track bar too. Just got off the phone with them to ask about this and they will change those as well. Obviously meant to happen to me and not my son, and at 50 mph and not 80 mph that is the speed limit I drove all the way home when I picked it up. Thanks you guys.

 

[bigskies]

They probably didn't tighten something fully. Def need to get it back to the shop.

I thought I should let you know that they think they found the problem. There was a steering stabilizer recall in August of 2019 and previously as well. There was no record of a recall notice in our service record nor did we receive notification. I believe the notification was issued on August 17th and we purchased it on August 28th. It came from out of state so perhaps the original dealership did not pass on the notification? Seems to me that there should be a foolproof way to make sure all owners are covered. Anyway, they replaced it and then after googling some more (always dangerous when you know nothing) I read that it may include the steering box and track bar too. Just got off the phone with them to ask about this and they will change those as well. Obviously meant to happen to me and not my son, and at 50 mph and not 80 mph that is the speed limit I drove all the way home when I picked it up. Thanks you guys.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

I hate to say it but just replacing that steering stabilizer is not going to fix it. A steering stabilizer is not going to cause or prevent death wobble. You can ride without a steering stabilizer and not get that wobble all a steering stabilizer will do is take some of the road harshness out of the driving and feel of the steering wheel. You got something else going on

 

[j.o.y.ride]

The steering stabilizer isn't the issue. It will never cause death wobble it is there to cancel out wobble that is there, but it won't cause it. If they want to just put a bandaid on it with the new stabilizer it isn't going to solve the underlying issue.

Force them to check torque on all bolts.

 

[Mjolnir]

Every single item and part that was changed or touched when the lift was put on, needs to be loosened. Vehicle then needs to be on the ground, then everything torqued back to spec. Stabilizer will NOT fix this, only hide it as the actual issue becomes worse.

If I was close by then I'd do this for you but, you're about 2000miles away LOL

 

[Hootbro]

Hopefully it gets figured out for you by the dealership. The chances of them listening to you (a woman not mechanically inclined) relaying third hand advice from an internet forum and following it is slim to none.

 

[staying_tuned]

Perhaps take it to a dedicated 4x4 shop and eat the cost to have them loosen and re-torque everything as others have mentioned. Also, has anything else been done to the truck? Wildly aggressive offset wheels or anything that may necessitate additional parts? Did you purchase it recently or new back in 18/19?

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