GreenJK713

This is probably going to be a little long but bear with me.

So today I had a pretty traumatic experience with the dreaded death wobble however this time it almost ended up with someone in the hospital. Here's some background.

I just bought a 2007 Sahara Unlimited 3 weeks ago. You can look at the modifications on it in my signature as they were all equipped at the time of the event. Most of the modifications already came with the jeep but the 2.5 inch TF coil lift did not. I just installed it about a week ago. I have had no problems with the car so far but I did notice some metal creaking under the car when turning my wheel.

Well, I drove home last night and have a circular driveway. When pulling into my garage through the gate I heard a loud popping sound and a slight jerk of the wheel, nothing major. I parked it and looked to see if I had ran over something (sounded identical to running over and snapping a thick twig or a puncture of the tire). After I had parked and looked around, I saw nothing. I checked my tire to see if anything had happened, again nothing. This morning I was with my mom and we decided we needed to go Target to pick up some stuff. We decided to take my car as it's less than a month old and she hasn't been in it much.

We headed on the road and I noticed some stronger jerking when making a uturn but still nothing major. This was until I soon realized that my steering wheel was turned 90 degrees from it's original position and I was driving straight. Now things were getting weird. I turned to get on the freeway and the jerk was there again, I had no idea what was going on. I picked up some speed to get on the highway and all of a sudden at about 45 mph the car started violently shaking left to right, the steering wheel was violently jerking, and I lost control of the car. I applied the brakes as quick as I could and tried to slow down, but still had a hard time getting the car under control. Once I came to a stop I had to try and move again to get out of the way and into the shoulder lane. However, I had lost almost all of my turning capabilities and almost hit the freeway wall. I managed to gain control of the car and crawl onto the side. It was horrible.

I go out to look at the car and turns out the front track bar bracket ripped off from where it was welded. ( I think to the front differential but forgive me if I'm wrong, I'm new to all of this) I spoke to a guy at 4wheel parts and he explained to me what had happened. I would explain further but I do not want to give incorrect info about it as I'm not sure of all the terminology. But from what I understood the steering stabilizer is connected to the front track bar bracket and once the bracket ripped off out of place....well...all hell broke loose. The bracket is also supposed to have three points where it should be welded onto the car. Apparently my bracket was only welded onto two of those sections (Only two of the sections revealed fresh metal from the bracket coming off....my guess is that the other broke sometime earlier and weakened it even more)

I will post pictures to show everyone. I am not writing this thread to look for sympathy and attention. I am just writing this to make people aware of this danger. It is not to be joked around with. I am extremely lucky I did not get into a wreck (Everyone managed to swerve away from me in time). I lost control of the car and if I had been going any faster than 45 I am not sure I would be here writing this right now. To be honest, the factory track bar bracket is extremely fragile and very thin. I would HIGHLY recommend getting a reinforcement for the front track bar bracket. I am getting one from 4 wheel parts after my Jeep dealership replaces my whole front differential. The only company that I believe has one available is skyjacker...at least thats what the 4 wheel parts guy said, he could be wrong.

Be safe. Here are some pictures of what happened. Sorry for the quality, they were taken from my phone.

wayoflife

i glad that you're okay and that nobody got hurt. this is a WAY COMMON BREAK with JK's running a track bar relocation bracket like this. there is absolutely no reinforcement to the axle and the bracket actually acts as a lever working the factory mount back and forth. it's just a matter of time before metalurgy breaks the thing off. after you get your factory mount repaired, please do yourself a favor and remove that relocation bracket. if you have a dropped pitman arm and need to install relocation bracket, get something that welds on like what JKS or currie makes.

GreenJK713

I'm sorry I'm pretty new to all of this I'm not sure which relocation bracket you mean. Once I understand which one you are talking about though I will be sure to remove the relocation bracket

JK-Tex

I'm glad everyone is OK. I've had one DW experience and it scared the hell out of me. You're sure that's not piss on your garage floor underneath your Jeep?

Next time you suddenly and inexplicably find your steering wheel at a 90-degree angle but still steering straight ahead, perhaps you should avoid getting on the freeway.

WOL is right: get yourself the JKS or Currie weld-on bracket. I've got one on the way from Northridge right now.

Muffins

Glad you and your mom are ok

FlameRed

From your picture above....remove the bright shiney metal bracket from the black metal bracket. Black = stock, shiney = aftermarket.

GreenJK713

Ok I appreciate the input. Being as noobish as I am though. Should I just remove the relocation bracket or get the weld on bracket that others are talking about?. My jeep is at the dealership right now and they are replacing the whole front differential so I guess I will see how it looks when it gets back but I definitely want to be sure this doesn't happen again so whatever needs to be done. Please let me know

JKU Rubicon

Sorry for you dude!

Wayoflife is right, the front TB bracket broke because you have a front relocation bracket. A relocation bracket makes too much stress on the bracket.

It happened to me in 2008. I had the RC 4" lift with relocation brackets front and rear. Fortunately, the bracket broke while I was wheeling

If you have a 2.5 lift, you don't need to install a relocation bracket.

sm_rubi

Glad to hear you are okay...really pretty scary story for sure!

GreenJK713

So I think I discovered part of the issue. My car was a trade in at the dealership so they did not know much about it. When I received it, it had a 2 inch budget boost. The dealership couldn't tell me anything about it but I tried to figure out what company made the lift but with no success. I just searched for kits including the relocation bracket (because I think most don't have them) and discovered that I had a 2" full traction econo suspension lift. On the 4 wheel parts website I found this kit and found the bracket that was installed on my factory bracket, which is what everyone is saying caused the problem. I guess it wasn't removed when I got the lift switched out for a TF 2.5 coil lift kit. I checked all the old parts that were given back to me after the new lift was installed and...you guessed it...every part from the full traction kit is there, besides the relocation bracket. I will definitely make sure this is removed before I get the car back!! I hope there aren't any other unknown parts installed that I'm unaware of.

And again if I am wrong in any way please feel free to correct me