Every time I see a DW thread, I break out in a cold sweat, having been through 6-8 episodes and 3 dealership visits to repair. I did Planman's checks and ended up telling the service manager what the problem was. Ditto on the Firestone lifetime alignment. That was where I went after the dealer did their thing. IMO the dealers still guess even though they have a step-by-step directive. I strongly recommend that every DW Jeep owner send a complaint to the NHTSA web site. How many have had DW and not been in an accident? How many have had an accident due to DW. How many worse? Fiat/Chrysler needs to step up to the problem and train all Jeep dealerships to fix the problem right the first time. Not just throw in a steering stabilizer and send us on our way only to have it happen again and again. After all, us taxpayers and JK owners bailed out Chrysler when they were in difficult times. BTW search Google for the Representative Waxman letter to the Chrysler CEO. Maccione by the way did nothing.

 

See Service Bulletin 19-002-12. It has been distributed to the dealers.
Also http://www.autosafety.org/sites/defa...o_Chrysler.pdf

 

18,000 miles on my rubicon replaced stabilizer , not the problem , adjusted alignment not the problem ,
guess im going back again . I don't get why they don't go through the steps that will reveal the problem ( love my jeep but this is rather crazy after spending $31,000
dosent make good sence to me )

hope they nail this down and shoot it this time !

 

My point exactly! Did the dealership say "It's all set" and send you on your way, only to have it happen again at speed, when you hit a bump/pothole, usually with the right front tire? You need to give the front end a good "Planman" test with a friend doing the steering wheel thing. Find a warm garage, take your time, go through ALL steps, note where you are "feeling" the clunking of a component and tell the service manager. The bad part of DW is that an episode can ruin other front suspension parts. The service manager, at the dealership where I finally got it fixed, didn't believe me that it wasn't fixed and sent the shop foreman to go for a test ride with me. I had to go to a spot 10 miles away, where I had DW occur. We had a wild ride and the JK went into FULL DW. BTW, recently when I went in for my 5 year drivetrain warranty inspection, I asked the service writer to inspect the front end components for wear, to try and be pro active and avoid another episode. They looked at me like I had 2 heads. The question, are you experiencing DW now? If no, they don't know what to examine yet the cure or way to avoid DW, according to Jeep, is to check front end components for wear. .??? WTF

 

Caster angle has everything to do DW. After reading this thread and many others similar, I still see the problems lingering. That is because while having all the bolts and high quality bushings replaced is a good thing, it is still directly related to alignment.

If you lift the Jeep, you change the alignment specs because the axle rotates forward as you go up in height, losing positive Caster angle. If you keep the stock control arms, the Jeep cannot be aligned like it was from the factory. Going up just 2" changes the Caster and your problem begins. You may find a shop or the dealership that can get it within "safe specs" (ie. rolling straight-according to the alignment computer) but it still needs adjustable control arms to rotate the axle back to what it was from the factory.

There is a point at which the combination of correct Caster and the rest of the steering linkage and steering stabilizer all work together to control DW. When you change the geometry of the Caster or steering linkage, that goes right out the window. Do yourself a favor and go buy some adjustable upper control arms and adjust them so you have the same stock pinion angle, then go get it aligned. If you have over 3" of lift, you may get away with an additional degree of pinion angle so your driveshaft doesn't give you issues. We have lifted two jeeps and adjustable controls arms with the correct length ensured we never had any DW. My wife's JK on 35's rolls at 80mph without any swim or sway and certainly no DW.

Just my .02

 

Low Caster is not a source of Death Wobble. It can be a trigger, just like out of balance tires, but it isn't a source of Death Wobble.

Death Wobble is more than just a shimmy or annoying wobble. It is so violent that it destroys your ball joints, ovals your bracket bolt holes, destroys your drag link and tie rod ends, etc.

Death Wobble on an unmaintained, unlifted, stock caster spec'd rig on stock tires is just as likely as Death Wobble on an unmaintained or improperly installed lifted rig on larger tires, with stock spec'd caster from using adjustable front control arms.

Death Wobble happens due to poor maintenance, improper installation of aftermarket parts, poorly designed stock or aftermarket parts, and/or worn components.

 

why does the Northridge 4x4 grade 8 bolt kit come with ~ ( 8 ) 4" bolts and ( 4 ) 3 "bolts and says added for 2012 two 14mm bolts for track bar ( I thought the whole idea of this was to change the 14mm bolts to 9/16 bolts so why are they giving you 14mm to put back in ?????

1 . why ( 4) 3" bolts ? theres only two bolts in the track bar ?
2. why give you two 14mm bolts for 2012 when the whole idea is to replace the 14mm with 9/16 ?

My jeep is a early 2012 built in November 2011 extra bolts in this kit??

 

8 bolts 4" long for all 4 lower control arms.
4 bolts 3" long for the front and rear trackbars

Sometime in 2012, Chrysler changed the frame side trackbar bushing and bracket bolt hole to be smaller. So, a 9/16" bolt wouldn't fit that side without drilling. So, Northridge and Synergy started to include 14mm shouldered (partially threaded) bolts for those with a mid 2012 or newer JK to be able to use on the frame side.

So, 2 extra 3" bolts are now included.

 

HELLLLLLL NOOOOO....

Ditch the dealership on this matter they won't fix it.

Grab a beer and follow Planman's vid I guarantee you will find your problem.

And, you will be a Jeep expert in the end.

 

The other day my wife said "I drove the Jeep and it did this scary shaking thing."

I said "Shit are you serious? Was it Death Wobble? I thought I f'in fixed that! Argh!"

Wife: "What's death wobble?"

"Did the shaking trigger your period."

Wife:"?"

"DW is so frightening you crap your pants, or in your case, have a period or something. Did you period on the seat? Did you just start perioding all over the ****ing place as it shook?! Like a slaughter house was in the front seat?!"

Wife: "Uhhh no. I did not, um... What's wrong with you? Of course not. Freak."

"Whew. Okay no period eh? Then it's not DW."

Turns out I forgot to torque the lug nuts.