Death wobble on low mileage/stock gladiator??

[D10S86]

I was on the highway going 65 when I hit a very small pothole that made my truck go into a full death wobble. It only stopped when I started pulling over to the side and hit 20mph. Is this an ongoing issue for a lot of us? I recall reading threads about the death wobble but thought it only applied to the guys with modified tires and suspension. I’m fully stock, anyone else having this issue?

To make things worse, dealership is saying it will take at least a month to receive the steering damper which they’re not even sure will solve the issue. This seems like a major problem to be having on a low mileage vehicle.

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[Lunentucker]

Copy & Paste

Stabilizers (Dampers) do not cure death wobble. They help to mask the symptoms.
Stock stabilizers are junk. Get Falcon or Fox pass-thru adjustable and never look back.
A slight toe OUT will help to mitigate death wobble (Steer Smarts)
Those are the better symptomatic reliefs. Now for the cause...

Check ball joints, tie rod ends, drag link, track bar, sway bar links, wheel bearings, steering gearbox bolts, pitman arm nut, and every other nut and bolt you can see for proper torque.

Death Wobble: Identified, Explained, ELIMINATED! - YouTube

JEEP DEATH WOBBLE - Find and Fix Death Wobble - YouTube

Rancho | Control Arm Geometry Correction Brackets for Jeep Wrangler JK/JL - YouTube

https://metalcloak.com/sector-shaft-brace-jl-wrangler-jt-gladiator.html

https://www.amazon.com/TeraFlex-09-02-22-110-000-Stabilizer-Falcon-Nexus/dp/B07GTQTNZJ/

 

[D10S86]

Thanks for the post, lots of great detail. I’m more so wondering if this is a jeep wide issue as the dealership said the part is on back order. Don’t think it happens to other trucks like the Tacoma or am I wrong in saying that?

 

[AzGladius]

It's not just the JT, I watched a lady in a JLU on the highway experience the same event, she pulled off on the left shoulder to slow, regained control, and then resumed her travel. The problem with death wobble is that when it happens, it compounds the damage and it gets worse after every event. So it stands to reason that anyone with a JL, JLU, or JT could be seeing this issue.

 

[jay21mojave]

Thanks for the post, lots of great detail. I’m more so wondering if this is a jeep wide issue as the dealership said the part is on back order. Don’t think it happens to other trucks like the Tacoma or am I wrong in saying that?

It happens to any solid front axle vehicle.. visit the Ford or GM forums.. it's over there too. IMO it is not a Jeep wide issue - (I have a 21 JT with 15K and 35s plus a 13 JKU on 35s with 100K; It did have an oscillation due to a worn out lower ball joint replaced all BJs No on the Damper still fine today) .. My Friend has a 21 Rubi JT and NO issues at 35k miles .. yes you read about it on the forums from those that experience. As for the Damper yes its on back order from Mopar. It was a tech bulletin replace a few years back on early JL Wrangler and Gladiators - the replacement was updated and improved over the original.

 

[Lunentucker]

Thanks for the post, lots of great detail. I’m more so wondering if this is a jeep wide issue as the dealership said the part is on back order. Don’t think it happens to other trucks like the Tacoma or am I wrong in saying that?

Tacoma is IFS and rack and pinion.
You'd have to go back to the older Toyota solid axles to find DW.
My own opinion is that Jeep builds these things with low caster and they set themselves up for failure at the first sign of things getting loose or out of spec. I'm way over on positive caster and mine drives great.

 

[Lunentucker]

Don't let anyone tell you, "It's a Jeep thing and just something you have to live with." It isn't and you don't.

 

[D10S86]

Tacoma is IFS and rack and pinion.
You'd have to go back to the older Toyota solid axles to find DW.
My own opinion is that Jeep builds these things with low caster and they set themselves up for failure at the first sign of things getting loose or out of spec. I'm way over on positive caster and mine drives great.

What’s the difference between IFS and what the jeep has? Is one better than the other?

 

[kennyglm]

3000 miles and my draglink was bad, covered under factory warranty

 

[Lunentucker]

What’s the difference between IFS and what the jeep has? Is one better than the other?

One of hundreds

 

[seven30]

Don't let anyone tell you, "It's a Jeep thing and just something you have to live with." It isn't and you don't.

That is 100% correct. I have five live axle vehicles. NONE have shimmy or DW. But that said live axle shimmy IS an inherent tendency and the larger the wheel mass the more centrepeal forces are acting on linkages. I did loose the Mojave damper in -19 deg weather. Got a bad shimmy until it was replaced with a new fox non-passthru damper. I blew off the dealer warranty hassle and out of stock wait.

The ball joints Jeep uses, like most, are spring loaded internally. Put enough force on them and they WILL deflect allowing some movement. That is all thats needed to allow shimmy to start.
And keep in mind a pot hole or single end bump puts huge forces right on steering linkages.

I posted a short video of this deflection on some other thread. Multiply that four and its not hard to see how shimmy can commence.

Once started the oscilations tend to overcome ball joints and continue to build.

The dampers job is to quiesce temporary deflections below the point where it can build.
A perfect front end with massive stiffness would probably never allow those forces to build up but if a damper can save 75lbs of unsprung weight it makes more sense.

The problem is aggrevated by increased wheel/tire mass.

 

[swink55]

I have a 20 with 40k miles all stock. Mine ended up being track bar and drag link. Replaced with adjustable teraflex and metalcloak drag link. No more problems

 

[HankB]

9600 miles and it happened on the highway going over a set of bridge expansion joints. I took it in to the dealer and they checked everything and then replaced the steering dampener. They told me the replacement part number was different from the oem, the suggestion being it was an upgrade from the OEM. From my perspective the truck drives better than ever leaving me to conclude the dampener was failing from the beginning.

 

[sharpsicle]

9600 miles and it happened on the highway going over a set of bridge expansion joints. I took it in to the dealer and they checked everything and then replaced the steering dampener. They told me the replacement part number was different from the oem, the suggestion being it was an upgrade from the OEM. From my perspective the truck drives better than ever leaving me to conclude the dampener was failing from the beginning.

The new dampener is just doing a better job hiding the problem. Over time, it will wear out again.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The dampers job is to quiesce temporary deflections below the point where it can build.
A perfect front end with massive stiffness would probably never allow those forces to build up but if a damper can save 75lbs of unsprung weight it makes more sense.

I could be wrong, but seems to me that AMC was the company that introduced the steering damper to Jeep, and to Eagle.
Working on Jeeps and Eagles around 1980 or so, I can't seem to recall them prior to that time period. But then, that was a long time ago.

Having been raped and pillaged and robbed of all cash by Renault, AMC had little cash left for R&D. ->

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