While coming off of the highway and decelerating to get off the ramp, the car started violently shaking. The car could not be controlled and braking was the only way to stop the car. Following that event the car would shake when hitting a bump over 60 MPH. Jeep replaced the front stabilizer at my expense for $280.
2008 Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4 steering complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 84, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On the 2008 jeep wrangler (left hand drive) dashboard, the airbag warning light flashes on every other minute with a chime, an indication that there is something malfunctioning or interfering with the vehicle's airbags (clock spring).this has been a recurring issue and concern for many 2008 jeep wrangler (left hand drive) owners, including myself, and has been shown time and time again to be caused by a faulty within the vehicle's steering wheel. This faulty clockspring is the culprit for airbag failure in the 2008 jeep wrangler (left hand drive) during an accident or premature deployment when simply driving around, horn failure, elec. Stability control, cruise control (if equipped), failure in turn signals, and difficulty with steering . Chrysler has refused to address this safety concern of their faulty clockspring that can cause most importunely failure of the vehicle's airbags from properly deploying. Chrysler has made a recall for the 2007 jeep wrangler and certain 2008 right hand drive jeep wranglers. Chrysler states that the 2008+ left hand drive jeep wranglers are unaffected by their faulty clock springs, which is not the case for my motor vehicle and several others like myself.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4x4. While driving approximately 60-65 MPH, the front end of the vehicle began to shake violently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the steering damper was replaced. The failure recurred after the repairs and the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure was approximately 60,000.
While driving down the road if the vehicle hits a big enough bump it will begin an increasing wobble in the suspension, known around the community as the "death wobble", it will continue to get worse until the vehicle is slowed to a speed where it can recover. This has happened many times. Not only when traveling the posted speed limit but sometimes 5 to 10 miles and hour slower, causing a disrupt in traffic. Made sure tires were properly inflated, balanced and the front end aligned and the problem still occurs.
It would hit a small bump and the steering wheel would loose control had to stop completely to get it under control.
On the 2008 jeep wrangler (lhd) dashboard, the airbag warning light flashes on every other minute with a chime, an indication that there is something malfunctioning or interfering with the vehicle's airbags. This has been a recurring issue and concern for many 2008 jeep wrangler (lhd) owners, including myself, and has been shown time and time again to be caused by a faulty clockspring within the vehicle's steering wheel. This faulty clockspring is the culprit for potential airbag failure in the 2008 jeep wrangler (lhd) during an accident or premature deployment when simply driving around. Daimler chrysler has refused to address the safety concern of their faulty clockspring that can cause failure of the vehicle's airbags from properly deploying. This same clockspring is used in rhd jeep wranglers and has been recalled, as well as 2007 lhd jeep wranglers which have been placed under an extended warranty specific to the clockspring.
The airbag warning light just started illuminating and making a warning chime. The vehicle has not been manu type of accident what so ever.
Driving eastbound on I-40 at approximately 65mph, bump where bridge meets rd, front axle started vibrating tremendously and had to pull off rd to stop vibration. Have had this occurrence happen numerous times at 60-70mph and at 40-50mph at different places in nc. Recent occurrence happened 7-12-2012 at 40-50mph on regular rd. I have 2 small kids riding in jeep with me. At 60-70mph, it can be very dangerous due to wanting to slow down quickly on highways with traffic...
2008 jeep wrangler jk 4 door 4x4, air bag light came on, took to dealer they said it is the clock spring in the steering column, jeep extended the warranty in the 2007, but not the 2008 which the dealer said they have had alot of the 2008 go out as they are the same part, they need to extend the warranty to the 2008 model being a safety issue [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
It was a dry sunny late morning when I was driving on a colorado interstate at approx. 65mph. I went over a rough patch of road and the steering wheel started to shake from side to side. I thought it was just the rough road but it did not subside after passing back onto smooth road, in fact it got worse. The shaking did not stop until I slowed down under 10mph. This happened four more times on this trip, always after hitting a bump at 50mph or faster. After a little research I determined the symptoms were consistent with a well know problem, "death wobble". My 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited x is 4 years old, has 30k miles on it and is completely stock and well maintained. It has the stock 32" goodyear sra tires on 17" rims, filled to 35 psi. I checked the torque on the track bar and the bolts were to spec at 125 lb/ft. I took the jeep to a local shop where they determined the ball joints were bad as well as the steering stabilizer. Those have been replaced with aftermarket components and so far there have been no further occurrences. That was about 3k miles ago and I have tested the jeep at highway speeds with a severe bump which did not induce death wobble. My first experience with death wobble was in the left lane on a crowded highway; it is amazing that I was able to maintain control and did not cause a major accident just by having to slow down to such a slow speed in the left lane. I have seen chrysler's comments on the non-existence of death wobble due to inferior engineering/design of the steering components and can tell you they are wrong when they say it happens only on lifted vehicles. This is highly irresponsible of them to not take this seriously when it is so easy to find so many people with this problem.
I started experiencing the jeep "death wobble" in february of 2012. While traveling at speeds of 50mph or faster and driving over any small bump or pot hole on the road, it causes the jeep to "wobble" out of control. There was a few times I actually lost control of the vehicle and swayed onto the opposite side of the road. The only way to stop the jeep from wobbling is to slow the jeep down to about 10-15mph and which is very unsafe when you are on a highway. I spent $1500 to have this fixed covering everything jeep said to do (suspension, shocks, torsion bar, bushings, tire pressure, tire balance, steering stabilizer, caster angle, draglink and tierod) and it still has not been fixed. I am now left with a vehicle I owe $17,000 with only 44,000 miles that is too unsafe to drive.
2008 jeep wrangler unlimited: "death wobble" - front end began shaking violently at between 50mph and 55mph. Did this several times. Replaced steering stabilizer with a more heavy duty one. Had tires rotated and balanced. Helped for a while. Started again. Always on highway, not a bumpy road. Got new tires. Still occasionally does it. Tires helped some, but still does it occasionally. Not a fun experience!
Noticed the airbag light going on and off on and off... Has something to do with the clock spring.
Started experiencing the jeep "death wobble" at least 2 years ago. I am the sole owner of a stock 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited. My wife and I are afraid to drive this vehicle that we continue to make payments on. I have put thousands of dollars into repairs with no long term fix, and I do have regular maintenance done at the dealership. Multiple replaced steering shocks, and recently a front right u-joint replacement, and a front right break caliper locking up. Even after repairs and the dealership checking tension of all suspension parts, the third time out driving the vehicle again...death wobble. Very frustrated owners, we should not be paying on a vehicle we are scared to drive and now sits mostly unused except in emergencies.
Vehicle experiences violent shaking known as the "death wobble". Problem began just under a year after purchasing brand new. The vehicle has been in for repairs numerous times the past 3 years and have spend thousands of dollars and has yet to be fixed. Worst incident occurred a day after I got the jeep back from the dealership for "repairs" and was driving over independence pass. "death wobble" occurred several times causing us to almost fall of the cliff!!! I had to drive 5 MPH in order to make it down this road safely. Someone is going to get seriously injured or killed if chrysler does not correct this hazardous defect.
My 2008 wrangler 4 door has had a consistent and unrepaired case of front end wobble that first occurred at 8000 miles. This a dealer show room model, everything is stock, there are no modifications at all. Three years and 60,000 miles later the dealership has tried 9 times to fix this with no success and nothing but stonewalling from chrysler corp. They have changed the track bar three times, and done numerous other "fixes" which in some cases worked for a few weeks then I am back to wobbling. Now after three years of waiting and now being out of warranty due to mileage jeep has decided my car has bad wheels and they expect me to pay to replace the ones that were installed by them at the factory! This might have been something they considered at any of the prior 7 times it was in the shop while under warranty. Someone has to hold chrysler accountable for this, get a recall, a buy back, whatever. Any of us owners who have any decency can't even sell the car given the safety concern. So I am stuck with a very dangerous car that I won't let my wife or kids drive and that I have to drive, reluctantly. This problem has nothing to do with bad tires, alignments, owner modifications or wheels. It is a design defect, chrysler knows it, and is playing for time hoping we all go away.
This is an update on a previous complaint of the dreaded jeep wrangler "death wobble".the odi number for my previous complaint is 10259486.my 2008 jeep wrangler now has 52,000 miles on it and the "death wobble" has gotten worse since the last complaint report at 15,000 miles.I drive 24 miles round trip to work each day and on average the "death wobble" occurs once per day.some days it occurs more, up to 4 times per trip on several occasions.I continue to get the same answer from the local dealership I.e.there is nothing wrong with the vehicle and there is no common problem with jeep wranglers with regards to the common name for the occurrence,"death wobble".I can only imagine that their denial of a common problem with these vehicles is that no one has crashed as a result of it yet.I came very close last week when it occurred traveling down the left lane of 4 lane us 41 with a semi tractor trailer along side me in the right lane and 2 vehicles following close behind me.I was forced to hit the brakes and I can assure you there was a lot of scrambling behind me. I consider all vehicles in the vicinity very lucky.
Was driving at freeway speed on ca hwy 24 and hit minor bump due to change in road type and vehicle front end began to shimmy as if I had blown a tire. I moved to far right lane and began to pull off to the side of the road. Once my speed dropped below 40 MPH shimmy stopped suddenly. I took vehicle to dealer and was told there's a service advisory about this and they would likely replace steering dampener. They did. Problem has reoccurred a year later at 28k miles, and jeep dealer says my front end appears fine as do my tires and alignment. They escalated to jeep corporate, who said replied that I should buy new tires, even though my tires appear fine, and that this is to be expected on a single axle vehicle. I have researched this issue, and find this is a common issue known as 'death wobble', and that is previously occurred mostly in jeeps with a modified suspension or lift kit. Based on the amount of the federal safety agency complaints on file, it appears that this is now a known issue since the 2007 suspension redesign and addition of the 4dr wrangler to the line up. Jeep completely redesigned the suspension on the wrangler in 2011, and those of us with 2007 to 2010 model year jeeps are left driving unsafe vehicles. This was marketed to me as a family car at the time of purchase, and jeep did not disclose that death wobble was likely to occur in a single axle vehicle and would require replacement of front end parts that show no wear beyond the normal use. This is unacceptable, since I use this vehicle to transport my family, and jeep seems to think this is a known enough problem to expect me to pay for repairs related to poor unsafe design by them. This needs to be recalled. How many fatalities need to occur before the federal safety agency take notice of this design flaw? More info on dw: http://answers.edmunds.com/question-class-action-suits-for-poor-design-jeep-wrangler-death-wobble-16258.aspx
My jeep wrangler is experiencing a " death wobble" when I travel between 55-60mph the front end of my jeep shakes uncontrollably. This occurs when I hit a small bump but also seems to be occurring even on flat pavement. My jeep has stock parts and has never been off roaded. I belong to a jeep community and know numerous other individuals who have had this same problem some dating back to the 1990s. It seems an ongoing issue like this would have warranted an investigation and a product recall on the flawed parts.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4x4. The contact was driving approximately 65-70 MPH when the vehicle began to wobble and shake violently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they advised the contact that the failure could have been contributed by a failure in the steering damper or the factory steering stabilizer. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer had not been contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4x4 unlimited. The contact stated that the vehicle would wobble violently when driving 55 MPH and above or when driving over a road bump. The dealer diagnosed that the steering stabilizer was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 2,000 and the current mileage was 25,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4-dr 4x4. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle would wobble very excessively and whenever the vehicle was driven over bumps, it would wobble uncontrollably. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, who stated that they could not locate the failure. The manufacturer was notified, but offered no assistance and referred the contact to the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was 40,000. The VIN was unknown.
Jeep wrangler death wobble. Everybody who buys a jeep wrangler experiences this problem. Its a manufacturer defect and has not ever been addressed. At 50 MPH jeep began shaking to the point where control of the vehicle was not possible. Went off the road with my kids in the car. Thank god I didn't hit anything.
Shotty steering on 2008 jeep wrangler. Clunks and shimmies and makes all kinds of noise. Dealer says there is nothing wrong with it. All they say is that it is a jeep and drives different than other vehicles. I have done some research online and it appears that it may be a steering box issue. It has always been a problem, but continues to get worse.
I was driving my 2008 jeep wrangler on the interstate highway when suddenly the front end shook so violently that I almost hit the cement divided and was almost struck from the rear by another vehicle as I slowed to gain control. I am told that this is called the death wobble. I was also told by the dealer that this was caused by a bad steering stabilizer which I would have to replace at my own cost and chrysler knew of the problem but there wasn't any recall. This is a very dangerous condition.
I have a 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited x. I was driving 70 miles an hour and steering wheel started violently shaking. I could not control the vehicle and almost went off the road into a river. I immediately pulled over and called my chrysler dealership who told me this is a known defect but not recalled or covered since my mfr warranty has run out. When I spoke to chrysler rep, they said this is a known problem and since I can't order the original part from mfr because they've replaced it with a "safer" one. So I have to pay out of pocket to put a safer part on my jeep so it is safe to drive down the highway and chrysler is aware of this, but not helping at all.
2008 jeep wrangler unlimited had death wobble at 20k and 55k mileage. It is very dangerous as the front end goes out into the death wobble on the interstate or on curves. Chrysler service dealerships say to replace the steering shock, tires etc...these cars only have 20k on them. Read the stories on edmunds. All of them are the same. How many stories does it take? I never posted my first story but this is now my second incident at 55k. Someone is going to get killed. Who knew and when is all I can say. I think there is a design error. I have owned cars for 30 years and have never experienced this sort of problem. This is the 5th recall on some sort of jeep wrangler unlimited part. I have not read about any deaths yet however there will be if this problem does not get addressed. A group is getting together to hopefully file a class action lawsuit. What does it take? Working american citizens don't have time or money to fight for safety. I assume american cars are safe and companies will do what is right if there is a problem. Doing the right thing is hopefully still an american value. I hope the government will help us and do the right thing. I have never asked the gov to do anything for me other than the basic services that all americans get. Don't fail me. I know it is complicated. Are you willing to do the right thing?
While driving approximately 50 MPH, went over an expansion join on an interstate overpass and the front end of the jeep began shaking violently (found numerous online sites regarding the problem- jeep wrangler death wobble). Shaking stopped once speed was below 20 MPH. Problem continued to occur when going over small bumps above 35 MPH. Mechanic inspected and found both stock front shocks and steering stabilizer shock needed replacing. Problem still occurring, so jeep was brought to dealership. Dealership acknowledged that they have had similar complaints with jeep wranglers. Dealership installed steering stabilizer relocation brackets and a new stock steering stabilizer shock. Problem is still occurring and the jeep will be brought back to the dealership for further repair.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4-dr 4x4. The contact was driving approximately 60 MPH over an uneven road surface when the front end began shaking violently. The failure progressed into an ongoing occurrence for approximately six weeks when driving 40 MPH and above over any uneven road surface. The contact was unable to locate any reason for the failure by visually inspecting the vehicle. He then called the manufacturer and was advised to take the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer did not provide any assistance because the vehicle was no longer under factory warranty. The failure mileage was 33,650 and the current mileage was 40,000.
My airbag light continuously has been coming on. I took it to the dealer and they said that my "clock spring" had gone out. This is not a cheap piece of equipment. It costs over $200. I was reading up on other instances and this seems to be a common issue. If my airbag doesn't deploy, who do I sew?
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2008 Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history