F'in death wobble on my JT

[Bjeepz]

I haven’t been out to drive it yet today. I highly doubt this is a warped rotor, was know what that feels like. This was sudden and violent. I did pull over and slow down to 5mph’ish, i was basically home as this happened so I didn’t bring it back up to speed.

Does anybody know if there is a bolt upgrade kit for the JT like there is for the JL and JK?

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[NC_Gladiato]

I know exactly how you feel. My Sport S did the same thing around 10,000 miles. I was cruising down the interstate around 80 mph and hit a pothole when the whole front end started shaking violently. I had to pull over and come to a complete stop. From that point on, breaks in the pavement and uneven road surfaces would cause the vibration. I immediately made an appointment with my Jeep service department.

Luckily, they took my concern seriously. Even though they said they could not replicate the issue, they still looked at the front end and retorqued the track bar bolts. I assume something had worked loose, because I have not had an issue since.

I had an old Jeep Grand Cherokee that did the exact same thing. It ended up being the track bar. Once that was fixed, it solved the issue. It never failed when I was over 45 mph and hit something in the road, the death wheel wobble happened.

 

[Bjeepz]

So it seems that the braking and wobble must have been a coincidence, just replicated the issue at the same speed. So i aired up my tires to 40 psi and connected the sway bar and tried again, the issue is still there but significantly less violent. The shop that did the lift didn’t mark the bolts so i can’t see anything visually apparent. It otherwise drives fantastic. So i will bring it to the shop tmrw and have everything torqued and get them to check out the ball joints and go from there.

 

[Rocksalt]

have the shop loosen the bolts, put it on the ground.. give her a good shake... then retorque while on the ground

 

[Bjeepz]

have the shop loosen the bolts, put it on the ground.. give her a good shake... then retorque while on the ground

I will report back once i can get it looked into

 

[Bjeepz]

shop insists nothing was or is loose, that all ball joints look good, are suggesting it is my tires.... tires that drive perfectly straight and smooth... i am not buying new tires on a maybe it's the tires!

Have an appointment at the local dealership Friday, because apparently it is acceptable to FCA that owners of such new expensive Jeeps should not have a safe vehicle to drive. I will not take this thing to highway speeds at this time. Dealer says FCA directs them to mess around with the stabilizer, we all know this is bullshit.

Let's see... went Toyota > Ford > JK > JKU > Toyota > JK > Gladiator.... up next probably another Toyota. This is sad. I should have kept my problem free Cement grey TRD access cab :-(

@JeepCares I just sent a PM to you about this. These issues need to be addressed at no cost or downtime to your customers.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

shop insists nothing was or is loose, that all ball joints look good, are suggesting it is my tires.... tires that drive perfectly straight and smooth... i am not buying new tires on a maybe it's the tires!

Have an appointment at the local dealership Friday, because apparently it is acceptable to FCA that owners of such new expensive Jeeps should not have a safe vehicle to drive. I will not take this thing to highway speeds at this time. Dealer says FCA directs them to mess around with the stabilizer, we all know this is bullshit.

Let's see... went Toyota > Ford > JK > JKU > Toyota > JK > Gladiator.... up next probably another Toyota. This is sad. I should have kept my problem free Cement grey TRD access cab :-(

@JeepCares I just sent a PM to you about this. These issues need to be addressed at no cost or downtime to your customers.

I can tell you this without a doubt since that lift kit wasn't factory installed they are 100% going to put it on the lift kit not being properly installed and unless you can prove it was installed properly your going to have a fight on your hand. If I was you, after you get your response from the dealership, then I would start looking at your torque specs and put a torque wrench on everything that was touch by the shop. Inspect the ball joints yourself, you can test them in the driveway. I'd focus on the track bar, tie rod, drag link, sway bar links. Your stabilizer almost never will be the problem. I rode around with a busted steering stabilizer on my JKU for almost 9 months before I replaced it. A good setup doesn't even need one. Good luck at the dealership.

 

[Bjeepz]

I can tell you this without a doubt since that lift kit wasn't factory installed they are 100% going to put it on the lift kit not being properly installed and unless you can prove it was installed properly your going to have a fight on your hand. If I was you, after you get your response from the dealership, then I would start looking at your torque specs and put a torque wrench on everything that was touch by the shop. Inspect the ball joints yourself, you can test them in the driveway. I'd focus on the track bar, tie rod, drag link, sway bar links. Your stabilizer almost never will be the problem. I rode around with a busted steering stabilizer on my JKU for almost 9 months before I replaced it. A good setup doesn't even need one. Good luck at the dealership.

The dealership I see when I am in my current location is actually fantastic! All of my Jeeps have been lifted and they have never once tried to pull the you lifted so it is not covered crap. I agree %100 that FCA's stabilizer BS is full on garbage. The current stabilizer is not damaged, leaking, loose etc... I see a Toyota in my future again :-(

 

[Bjeepz]

This.

Seems like some people call ANY sort of shimmy or shake in a Jeep "death wobble". Makes it seem a lot more prevalent than it actually is. (I'm not talking about people in this thread, but the Jeep world in general.)

Having a tire or wheel out of round, or a wheel out of balance isn't 'death wobble'.

Glad you were in the rig with me so you could offer a helpful opinion. You're a real gem, thanks.

 

[Kent5]

Glad you were in the rig with me so you could offer a helpful opinion. You're a real gem, thanks.

Lighten up. I explicitly said I was talking about people NOT in this thread, but the Jeep world in general.

Here are my exact words -- again: "I'm not talking about people in this thread, but the Jeep world in general ".

Your described experience sounded fairly severe and I honestly don't know what it is (thus my first post in this thread asking for all sorts of info in an attempt to help), but some people call any steering wheel shimmy or mild wobble as "death wobble" and those people muddy the waters as to how prevalent "DW" really is.

 

[Geekjeep]

take it to another shop.....you modified it and issues started after that. most likely something is off from the install. Keep in mind companies have part issues, or send out the wrong part, or things are installed in reversed, torqued too high, etc. I would just pay out of pocket to have another reputable shop look at it FInding the cause can take time going through each piece and bolt at at time.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Lighten up. I explicitly said I was talking about people NOT in this thread, but the Jeep world in general.

Here are my exact words -- again: "I'm not talking about people in this thread, but the Jeep world in general ".

Your described experience sounded fairly severe and I honestly don't know what it is (thus my first post in this thread asking for all sorts of info in an attempt to help), but some people call any steering wheel shimmy or mild wobble as "death wobble" and those people muddy the waters as to how prevalent "DW" really is.

I totally agree with the Death Wobble statement, tons of people take it out context and assume every steering issue or shimmy is Death wobble, but I do feel like @Bjeepz is having some issues dealing with his lift probably based on the info he's posted. There is something off there more than likely. I'm not sure what your relationship is with the shop that install the lift kit @Bjeepz but I would probably get a second opinion on it for sure. I have had some pretty bad experiences at a couple shops around my area but I now use one that I trust and take everything lift related or suspension related to. I hope you can get it worked out but I wouldn't go blaming the Gladiator for the crappy performance since some upgrades have been done and it doesn't appear that you were having issues before.

 

[Jimmy]

More info please:
Caster checked?
Checked track bar mounting bosses for cracks/looseness?

These two items came to my mind also. What I don't see, @Bjeepz , is an answer to these (if I missed them, please accept my apology ahead of time). The JKS lift should have adjustable links, so dialing in the alignment is possible. Did the shop provide a printout of the alignment, and was the caster in spec, or slightly more than stock (which is a good thing so long as the pinion angle isn't thrown off too much)?

On the track bar mount... I'd like to think FCA got their issues corrected when the JLs were having frame-end track bar mount issues where the welds were failing. But, knowing it's happened once would drive me to look at that to ensure it's not happening to the JT.

Good luck getting the issue addressed.

 

[Bjeepz]

take it to another shop.....you modified it and issues started after that. most likely something is off from the install. Keep in mind companies have part issues, or send out the wrong part, or things are installed in reversed, torqued too high, etc. I would just pay out of pocket to have another reputable shop look at it FInding the cause can take time going through each piece and bolt at at time.

The lift was installed in December and has been problem free up until this point. I don’t think the lift is the problem.

 

[Bjeepz]

I totally agree with the Death Wobble statement, tons of people take it out context and assume every steering issue or shimmy is Death wobble, but I do feel like @Bjeepz is having some issues dealing with his lift probably based on the info he's posted. There is something off there more than likely. I'm not sure what your relationship is with the shop that install the lift kit @Bjeepz but I would probably get a second opinion on it for sure. I have had some pretty bad experiences at a couple shops around my area but I now use one that I trust and take everything lift related or suspension related to. I hope you can get it worked out but I wouldn't go blaming the Gladiator for the crappy performance since some upgrades have been done and it doesn't appear that you were having issues before.

I trust the shop, the lift has been there since December. this is nee and many thousand miles later.

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