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My Gladiator just tried to shake itself apart...

JAsh1967

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First some details on the Jeep itself:

  • Sport S w/Tow package
  • **NO** suspension modifications / lift / leveling kit / etc
  • Stock tires and wheels

OK, with that out of the way, wife and I were heading to a friends house, it's currently VERY cold out here (5F according to NWS,) Jeep was parked in the garage all night. Nothing seemed odd or unusual UNTIL we got on the freeway and hit about 70mph.

THEN the Jeep started shaking like we were on a washboard road! I took my foot of the gas and took the off-ramp we were coming up on, as soon as the Jeep started slowing down (I think I might've lightly used the brakes,) the vibration went away. I had checked the tire pressures by the dash shortly before, all four tires were reported to be about 33psi (normally 38psi) and none of them were dropping lower when I checked shortly after the vibration. We drove home, the road we were on had a 55mph speed limit, so I got us up to 55 for a stretch and nothing happened.

So, does anyone have any thoughts? Did I have a mild case of the "death wobbles" or is this potentially something else? We have had cold temps (below 32F consistently) for the last week, most of the time the Jeeps' been in the garage. There's also snow on the ground, but our neighborhood is clear and the roads have been clear.
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legacy_etu

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You could posssibly have snow caked in the back of the rims. Were you out playing in deep snow before this happened? I’ve had this happen before in other vehicles. The added weight of the snow causes a weight imbalance and vibrations.
 
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JAsh1967

JAsh1967

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You could posssibly have snow caked in the back of the rims. Were you out playing in deep snow before this happened? I’ve had this happen before in other vehicles. The added weight of the snow causes a weight imbalance and vibrations.
I've not taken it into any deep snow, although the wife might've backed into the pile of snow on the end of the drive the other day.

We're going to get the Jeep out again later today and I'll crawl under and check the inside of the rims.
 

Artsifrtsi

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How long was it parked? You might have gotten a little bit of flat spots in the tires… usually only noticeable in larger tires, but cold could have made it more obvious…

How many miles on the Jeep? My TJ had DW once, tires were getting close to needing replacement, and the driver shock was completely blown. Replaces the shocks and it went away, then new tires went on, and good to this day.
 

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Start with tires,
Check pressures, abnormal wear and tread depth. If that checks out rotate them.
Depending on mileage you may have worn/loose steering parts developing slack. Out of balance tires will amplify the situation you describe, Death Wobble.
Search the term here to find good information.
 

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JAsh1967

JAsh1967

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@Artsifrtsi and @Jteakus -
It was pretty much only parked overnight, went out yesterday for lunch (nothing over ~50mph) and back with no problems. The tires are lower than I normally have them (according to the TPSMs,) 33psi instead of 38psi.

While it's a 2yr old Jeep, I've only got about 22-23k miles on it so far.

This is the first time I've ever noticed a vibration at freeway speeds, too.
 

Jteakus

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Balance and rotate would be my suggestion.
 

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Same exact thing happened to me. Dealer is replacing steering dampener Tuesday.
 
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JAsh1967

JAsh1967

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Same exact thing happened to me. Dealer is replacing steering dampener Tuesday.
Man, I hope it's nothing like that. The steering wheel wasn't doing anything untowards, so I'm hoping it's just some snow caked up in one of the wheels.
 

Artsifrtsi

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Same exact thing happened to me. Dealer is replacing steering dampener Tuesday.
You need to understand that this is just a bandaid, does not actually fix the issue. 4x4s ( solid front axles specifically) were driven for decades before the steering dampers were fitted without issues. 90% of the time wobbles are initiated by tire/wheel irregularities…. Try rotating the tires first, if issue goes away, have them checked for balance, and wheels for out of round or bent.
 

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JAsh1967

JAsh1967

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So I took a look from underneath to see if there was snow packed into one of the wheels and didn't see anything.

Which is when I checked something else easy to see...
Turns out, one of the wheels has NO (that I could see) wheel balance weights on it...
So I'm hopeful enough that I scheduled an appointment at a local tire place to check the balance on the tires on Monday and the Jeep will just spend the weekend in the garage (the earliest they could get me in today? 7pm and that was at 1pm)

Fingers crossed!
 

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You need to understand that this is just a bandaid, does not actually fix the issue. 4x4s ( solid front axles specifically) were driven for decades before the steering dampers were fitted without issues. 90% of the time wobbles are initiated by tire/wheel irregularities…. Try rotating the tires first, if issue goes away, have them checked for balance, and wheels for out of round or bent.
Should have specified, tires were rotated and balanced several weeks prior and didn't fix the problem. This is step 2.
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