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2008 Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4 suspension complaints

Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 68, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2008 Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4 suspension problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Apr 6, 2015 · Suspension · 115,000 miles · PA

Driving 60 MPH on highway when front end of car began to shake uncontrollably . Had to pull over and stop. It happened two more times during my trip. 2008 jeep wrangler.

Filed Sep 21, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 90,000 miles · PA

Search internet for jk death wobble. Chrysler llc has a huge problem with jk wrangler than need recall before some one dies due to losing control to the front end of their vehicle. Our 2008 jeep wrangler has been plagued with suspension and front axle steering issues for its entire existence including a stabilizer replacement at approx 20,000 miles 6 years ago. Most recently we have had catastrophic death wobble that has resulted in attempts by dealer to fix under warranty and service contract with no success. The front axle housing, and the trac bar, and the ball joints and the steering stabilizer geometry on the jk wrangler is all wrong. See this a/m bolt kit http://northridge4x4.com/shop/nr4x4-jeep-jk-hardware-kit see this video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=diydwqhc7qq and this video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9uqwlmlhif4 I have all of these problems with the VIN for this complaint and some one needs to force a recall on these vehicles. My vehicle needs new lower control arms, new track bar, new frame mount for track bar, new front axle housing, new steering gear, new knuckles, and new tie rods. And it needs the a/m correct bolt kit listed above used to install all of the above components. My vehicle shakes violently at times nearly causing accidents. I can't drive my vehicle with my wife and children because it is too dangerous. Please address immediately. There are 100,000 or more vehicles on the road with this se problem.

Filed Sep 2, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 10,000 miles · AR

While driving I experienced shaking in my front end that cause me to pull off the off. After much research I can safely say it known as the death wobble. This problem is ridiculous and no one cares to make jeep fix this problem. Is it going to take someone dying for you and jeep to wake up and have this addressed. You suck and so does jeep.

Filed Jul 30, 2014 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 15,000 miles · TX

My jeep has the "jeep death wobble", which is widely discussed on the internet. By googling that term, you can see that it's a very violent shaking of the front end of the vehicle, causing the car to ultimately shake out of control if the vehicle cannot be slowed down very quickly. Unfortunately, it's cause is unclear, though there is a list of a dozen or so "fixes" that sometimes fix the problem for 20,000 miles or so at a time. I had the death wobble at about 15k miles, 35k miles and now again at 65k miles. The dealer acknowledged the problem and was scared when he drove my car to see the problem for himself. It's unsafe for me and my 2-year old daughter in the back. My car needs this repaired again right now, and I assume will need it every 20k miles or so. On the last occasion this happened (yesterday), I hit a small gap in the pavement (for example, the normal seam where two pieces of concrete come together) at about 45mph. The front end started vibrating and then the vibration increases (almost like the car is resonating), until you can't hold the steering wheel and the car is about to vibrate off the road uncontrollably. This is how the issue always occurs and it occurs between 45-70mph. It's begins with a small bump or imperfection on the pavement. It's easily reproduced.

Filed Jul 6, 2014 · Acceleration, Steering · 20,800 miles · PA

My vehicle has had the "death wobble" multiple times. My vehicle has been repaired twice, once in october of 2013 and once in march of 2014. It is happening again. I will need to get it fixed for the third time. It makes the jeep uncontrollable. I have to slow down to almost a complete stop. When it happened continuously in march of 2014 I had to have it towed 60 miles from my home. I have come close to two accidents on major roadways. There is less than 23k miles on my jeep.

Filed Jul 4, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 39,600 miles · PA

While driving downhill on an improved multi-lane highway, and braking as needed, the front end of the jeep began to shake violently. This is the third episode of this extremely unsafe behavior. The first two episodes involved accelerating between 50 and 55 on an interstate highway on-ramp. All instances required immediate deceleration and/or modest braking and/or needing to come to a complete stop to arrest the violent shaking and regain normal steering control. Research yields information that this is a known occurrence with jeep wranglers and may be the result of substandard engineering and design. See "jeep wrangler -death wobble".

Filed Jun 12, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 122,000 miles · AR

Myself, spouse, and children were going to dinner and I'm on cruise at 50 and a violent vibration begins to occur. I have researched it and it is often referred to as the "death wobble" and it is bad. I would like to know why there has not been a recall issued by you on this. Is it going to take someone dying for you to issue one. Mine caused me to almost wreck head on and there would probably be kids without parents today if there would have been a wreck head on. Please consider issuing a recall on this and make the manufacturer's fix this problem. It's not like we can go out and trade it in or pay to have it fixed. Yes we have jobs, but we have responsibilities of being parents and paying bills to, and are becoming parents again early next year. This is a serious problem and should have to fixed by the company.

Filed May 28, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 100,150 miles · VT

I'm not sure what caused the problem the first couple of times but when it started to occur more frequently I started to notice my speed and the road conditions when it happened. It was a combination of driving over 50 miles/ hour and rolling over a pothole, bump or simply uneven pavement that would cause the front end of the jeep to wobble and shake violently. The steering wheel vibrates and shakes which makes it very hard to steer the vehicle and it becomes impossible to maintain highway speed while this is happening. The only way to stop the violent shaking is to quickly slow the car down, which is extremely dangerous on the busy interstate which I travel everyday to get to and from work. Recently I narrowly avoided getting rear-ended by a tractor trailer which was barreling down the highway behind me when the shaking occurred. I had to slam on the brakes to stop the vibrations. Luckily the truck driver changed lanes just in time. This condition is unpredictable and presents a serious safety threat because it generally happens at high speeds.

Filed Feb 21, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 35,700 miles · IL

Hit small bump on expressway causing 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited to shake violently like the wheels were loose. I had to immediately get off the expressway to check wheels. This could have caused an accident by the initial reaction is to slow down and would have caused a chain reaction (crash). After inspecting vehicle shaking had stopped.

Filed Dec 14, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 70,000 miles · FL

The much documented death wobble associated with jeeps. I never realized until I googled it how many people are experiencing this. I don't understand why you haven't forced jeep to do a recall and replace the track bar, steering knuckle or whatever the parts are that are needed to fix this problem. I don't get it. I guess you have never driven a jeep when this happens going 65 MPH. There are some aftermarket parts that are beefed up that consumers say have fixed the problem..... So jeep can do the same.

Filed Jul 24, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 50,400 miles · FL

I am the second owner of this 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited 4 door that I purchase at dealership. While driving home at approx. 25 MPH in heavy traffic on I ran over a reflector probably on more than 1 inch high on the road. The car began to violently shake and scare my wife and grandchildren. The steering wheel shaked so violently that I had to come to a complete stop in the middle of the lane, on a busy highway, to stop the shaking. I feel I have been ripped off from chrysler motor company, I spent 10's of thousands of dollars on a vehicle that may kill me or someone else. An immediate recall should be sent out to all owners of jeep wrangler jk unlimited 4 doors. Also the news media should be informed and broadcast the recall and what they should do. Chrysler corp.must immediately fix this dangerous "death wooble" at their expense with no cost to the owners of such vehicles. There should be no exceptions. . Looks like chrysler corporation is puting profits over vehicle safety. Force chrysler to be accountable and fix the "death wooble".

Filed Jun 19, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 45,500 miles · CA

Front end oscillation internet term commonly called "death wobble " this vehicle was returned to the dealer to diagnose the problem and it was returned with no fault found as this is a friends car I haven't a record of the serial number but I was asked to give a second opinion ,I found nothing loose the steering damper was functioning correctly tires were rotated with no adverse wear or pattern I can only surmise that this having occurred many times to this vehicle that there must be metal fatigue between the mounting of the steering gear and axle mounting points and that an engineered brace will be required to damp out oscillation.

Filed May 21, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 60,000 miles · CO

While on the highway going at a speed 55mph or higher, the car will go over a small bump while on a slight hill or turn, and begin to violently shake the car, only stopping when the car has been slowed to a stop - requiring the vehicle to pull off the highway to stop the shaking. Due to the violent wobble, the car is difficult to control, and feels as though it could create a significant accident at high mile per hour speeds, or concerns about causing an accident on the highway due to the vehicle needing to pull off in order to stop the wobbling. Incredibly dangerous when any type of inclement weather exists. Have had to pull off the highway several times in order to stop the violent shaking, making this driver extremely fearful to drive on the highway. This vehicle is stock, no alterations done.

Filed Apr 1, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 50,000 miles · IN

While driving on interstate, I hit a small bump while making slight turn to the left. This caused the vehicle to shake violently out of control. I cannot emphasize enough how violent the shaking was... It felt as if the vehicle might actually come apart. I had to pull of the road to get it to stop. This has happened four times in the past six months. I have only owned the jeep for a year.

Filed Mar 29, 2013 · Suspension · 94,000 miles · OK

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 4x4. The contact stated that when driving approximately 30 MPH and above, the steering wheel would shake violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised him that the front stabilizer bar was fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred several months later. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000. The current mileage was approximately 117,000.

Filed Jan 25, 2013 · Steering, Suspension · 80,000 miles · NM

"death wobble" horrible cavitation and vibration of front axle at speeds of around 65 MPH. Became very dangerous and very hard to control, braking to slow down actually caused greater vibration and cavitation making it harder to control. All jeep owners seem to know of this issue ( just check on line).

Filed Nov 20, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 68,000 miles · MO

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.

Filed Jul 13, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 85,843 miles · NC

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...

Filed Jun 22, 2012 · Suspension · 20,210 miles · TX

Condition-dry pavement. Extreme shimmy front end. Applied brakes until vehicle slowed to about 5 MPH at which time extreme shaking stopped. Very dangerous. Modification- none. Off road use-none.

Filed May 19, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 30,227 miles · CO

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.

Filed May 15, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 40,000 miles · NY

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.

Filed Apr 23, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 50,000 miles · MI

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.

Filed Mar 28, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 13,000 miles · CO

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.

Filed Mar 21, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 8,000 miles · CT

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.

Filed Mar 4, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 52,000 miles · WI

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.

Filed Jan 31, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 14,000 miles · CA

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

Filed Jan 17, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 35,000 miles · PA

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.

Filed Dec 16, 2011 · Body, Suspension · 65,000 miles · VA

I have heard rumors about massive front-end shimmy happening on '07 and newer jeep wranglers, but never had any trouble. Starting last week the slightest road irregularity causes the front wheels of my jeep to shimmy back and forth violently, with lack of directional control. Inspection could find no defects visual to the eye, but I have had to quit driving my jeep. This vehicle and others that may be showing this same problem will lead to fatalities......I am a professional motor vehicle repairman and have never seen this severe shimmy before.

Filed Nov 18, 2011 · Suspension · 20,500 miles · ME

I drove over an expansion joint on the road with a few minor bumps after it. The front end of the car began to shake uncontrollably. When the brakes were applied the shaking got much worse. I had to coast to a stop before I could control the car. Still under warranty, the dealer checked the car and could find nothing wrong. It has happened again this past week on a 3 lane interstate. My wife was driving in the center lane at about 60 MPH. Went over some bumps in the road and the "death wobble" happened again. The car started shaking so violently that the other cars around her backed away and let her coast to a stop on the road shoulder. It was very scary !! She will not get in the car again. I have only 40,000 miles on it. I have since found that this has happened mostly to jeep wranglers. The cars need to be recalled before people get killed. If this was to happen on snowy or slick roads there would be a major accident and injury or deaths caused by defectively designed cars by chrysler.

Filed Oct 7, 2011 · Suspension · 44,000 miles · FL

My jeep started violently shaking forcing me to stop the vehicle in the middle of traffic. I tried to get the vehicle back up to speed, but at 15 miles per hour the violent shaking resumed and I was forced to stop again. Luckily I was less than two miles from home and was able to limp my way home and call a tow truck. Upon inspection of the front end of my jeep, I noticed that the weld on the front axle that holds the steering components in place had been snapped off due to this violent shaking. I had the vehicle towed to a jeep dealer and was told that it was my problem, not theirs because my warranty had expired. I have since discovered that this is a very common problem for this vehicle and the internet is littered with similar horror stories as mine. This is a life and death safety hazard that needs to be addressed.

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