When my jeep hits a bump the front end shakes violently. It will continue until I come to a complete stop.
2009 Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4 suspension complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 32 of 32, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving down the road at approx 50mph, hit a small bump and the jeep started to shake violently back and forth. I had to grab the wheel with both hands push on the brake. I pulled to the side of the road, thinking my tire had fallen off (everything was still there). When I got home I did some research on the internet and found this is a common problem with jeeps, they have labelled it "jeep death wobble". I live in yosemite national park, which has windy roads with no guard rails. If this happens again while driving on tioga rd. I don't doubt it could end in a fatality. This "death wobble" now has me scared to drive my jeep and I'm not the only jeep owner that feels the same way.
Esp/bas check engine light on, took it to the dealership, they said it was a bad clock spring, they fixed it since it was just under the 50k mile warranty, three weeks later I was over the 50k warranty and the light came on again, took it back and it was the clock spring again dealership fixed it again then a bit over a year later it went again, I don't go off roading or anything crazy now I have to drop 600 bucks (parts+labor) to fix it again in order to make sure the airbag goes off in the event of an accident crazy this is not a recall yet, a common jeep problem that effects airbags and suspension.
The whole jeep started shaking violently, and the steering wheel was difficult to hold on to. Had to slow down almost to a stop before the shaking stopped. My jeep is stock, and the dealer has replaced the trackbar which seemed to help for a while, but it's back again.
I was driving the jeep down the highway through construction zone and it vibrated violently after I drove over a bump. I had to slow down very quickly during rush hour and was almost hit in the rear by another care so the wobble would go away. I took it to have it fixed and was told this is common. I looked it up online and was amazed. For a newer vehicle I was floored that it was not covered by jeep. I have an extended warranty too. I took it to jeep and they told me I had to pay to fix it, so what was I going to do drive and unsafe car (and it is unsafe, another car almost hit me). I paid to have it fixed. They replaced a damper and guess what there is still a wobble. This is the most ridiculous issue and yet jeep will not stand behind a poor design that they clearly know is a problem. So, I am looking for help making it know that if there is an accident involving this problem I have advised jeep and now the federal safety agency. I will surely contact an attorney and become very public that there has been warning of this. All I want is for my wife and kids to be safe in a car. Jeep should step up and correct there problem.
Driving on the highway and the vehicle started to shake uncontrollably. You have to slow down to a dangerous speed if you cant pull over right away to stop. The car shakes as if it is falling apart. This has happened on several occasions and we brought it to our mechanic. They informed us that it was the steering dampener and it needed to be replaced and that it is happening to jeeps all over and that chrysler is not covering repairs. After my mechanic fixed the steering dampener, they test drove it and found the shake to still be there and did further investigating. They found that most of the parts in the steering system were damaged, ie. Tie rods and steering drag link. I am bringing the vehicle to my jeep dealer and have informed chrysler of the situation. I am hoping that they will replace the bad parts but do not have a good feeling.
Violent front wheels wobble after hitting a bump on a road.
The vehicle's suspension and steering became uncontrollable when driving 60 MPH and I hit a small bump in the road. This is commonly known as the jeep death wobble. I was unable to control jeep until I slammed on my brakes and brought the jeep to under 40 MPH or a complete stop.
Driving down the road and I hit a unleveled surfaced jeep went jumping all over the road. I thought it was a fluke and didn't think about it later. But it is continuing to get worse. I have a appt. Tuesday with dealership and they don't know if my warranty will cover this. I didn't know anything about this death wobble until the service man told me it sounded like I have the death wobble. Why is there not a recall on this? This is my only vehicle so I don't have a choice but drive it. This is a severe safety issue!!!!!!!!
I live in sacramento, california. I experienced what is being referred to as "wrangler death wobble" on or about 11:55 p.m. On march 15, 2012, while I driving southbound on interstate 5 near east los angeles. This incident resulted in and substantial physical damage to the undercarriage/suspension/steering components of the vehicle. The weld of the track bar housing/bracket on the axle side was ripped completely off of the front axle. There was a total loss of control of the vehicle. It took about 30 seconds to bring it under control by applying brakes and holding on to the violently shaking steering wheel. The car swerved into adjacent lanes. Fortunately, there were no cars next to me a the time. I purchased the 2009 wrangler from folsom lake ford in folsom, ca on january 28, 2012, only 46 days before I experienced the wrangler death wobble. The track bar housing was re-welded to the axle and a gusset added in los angeles to allow me to return home. I incurred significant costs for repairs. Two expert technicians have examined the suspension and concluded that there is no question the defect existed when I purchased the vehicle and that the obvious defect and "play" should have been detected by routine visual inspection. Folsom lake ford v.p. Of operations, john sears refuses to even inspect the vehicle to see whether it is now safe to drive or take any action at all to fix the damage. [xxx] has stated in writing that my only recourse is to take legal action against folsom lake ford. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Jeep front end begins to violently shaking causing loss of control when crossing highway seams, small bumps, etc especially when tires hit them one tire at a time. Jeep must be stopped to correct shaking. No modifications completely stock. Dealer claims everything is good with vehicle and in proper working order. Has happened multiple times over and over.
At 55 MPH on interstate 35 south of 635 in dallas my 2009 jeep wrangler ( with 28,000 miles ) unlimited's steering and front suspension started shaking uncontrollably upon driving across the section of the highway where the road and overpass seam meets ...I had to slow to 35mph to get the wobbling and shaking to stop. I have now had this re-occur at least 10 times in less than 2000 miles with 6 services visits in 2000 miles! On the fourth visit to the jeep dealer the service agent actually wrote that I was experiencing the jeep "death wobble" !! What?!? The issue actually has a name called the "death wobble, that a chrysler jeep service agent uses???? My first visit was to ntb tire to get the tires, rotated and balanced, then two weeks later after the second, same incident, I took it the last 5 times to huffines jeep dealer where they , balanced the tires 3 more times , did an alignment, tightened the front suspension and replaced the steering stabilizer twice?!? I now video taped the car shaking profusely on hwy35 9/12/11 45 miles after the last service visit .. No class action, no recall, how do I sell this defective car with carfax and not take a huge loss on this manufacturer defect lemon?
While driving on interstate 95 in a 2009 jeep wrangler unlimited (stock) approximately 60 miles into a trip the vehicle hit a defect in the roadway at 65mph and we experienced severe death wobble, ie the front of the vehicle started shaking so violently that it was not steerable. When slowed to 30mph the car returned to normal and we stopped to check the front components nothing was broken or appeared to be askew. As we continued our trip we encountered the same condition/problem 5 more times at speeds of anywhere from 55-70 MPH and this did not happen everytime we hit a bump/pothole only on some. After this condition happened for the 3rd time I jacked up the front end and checked thelugs again nothing visual showed why this was happening. We had to cancel our trip at that time due to this safety concern. The 4th and 5th times were on what was supposed to be the return home however we eventually had to park the vehicle until it could be looked at again. ( my best guess is that the dealer will again say there is no problem) this vehicle was recently serviced by a dealer and after they were told that we had this problem when going over railroad tracks at 40 MPH.they could not recreate the problem and told us that there was no defects in the front suspension. In addition 3 days prior to this trip we also had the tires and wheels rotated and balanced to see if this would fix this condition which I had never experienced ( however owning a jeep vehicles for 24 years I have experienced death wobble before but not like this) but my wife had.
2009 jeep wrangler x-unlimited (completely stock) with 20k miles. This is a notorious problem that has been labeled the "death wobble" by many other jeep owners after a simple google search, as well as horrific youtube videos. At highway speeds, a pot hole or bridge joint initiates a horrific wobble in the front end. Countless incidents over the last 3k miles where the steering wheel begins jerking left and right and tires begin hopping on the road. The wobble forces you to have to immediately slow down as low as 30 MPH or even almost stop to eliminate the wobble. Although we have not been involved in an accident due to the wobble, it is extremely likely to happen someday. Slowing or stopping suddenly on a three lane highway when other motorists are not anticipating any need to stop or slow will result in a rear end collision. If unable to safely slow down, continuing driving with the wobble will likely result in loss of control of the vehicle. Extensive research on this topic concluded that there is no known fix. Many have experienced temporary improvement by changing various front end components but the wobble returns. A jeep engineer stated "it is not a jeep issue it is more of an issue related to the fundamental architecture of a solid front axle suspension systems". A very common problem, onset at 17k miles on our jeep and as low as 6k miles on other jeeps, is a jeep problem. Based on accounts of many other owners, dealing with a jeep dealership is a very long process of many expensive repairs, with no end result and the problem still exists. This is a serious problem that I feel needs the attention of a higher entity before the number of property damage or worse, personal injury accidents climb as a result of this 'non-jeep' problem.
I have recently been experiencing the "death wobble" that a lot of jeeps have experienced. I have not had time to take it into the dealership to get repaired but this is the 2nd 4dr jeep wrangler that I have experienced this in. The first jeep was my fathers 2007 and his ended up being repaired by replacing the steering stabilizer. My jeep recently has been doing this whenever I am on the highway going over 60 MPH. The steering wheel turns back and fourth violently and the whole front end of the jeep shakes so hard I feel like I can hardly control it. I have to reduce my speed to about 35 MPH for it to finally recover, which is not an easy task on a busy highway. My wife has become frightful to drive the vehicle and I am not that comfortable myself since it is certainly lack of control of a massive amount of weight at such a high speed. This is defiantly a safety concern and it will be awful when someone's life will be the cost to have this brought to attention.
2009 jeep wrangler unlimited x 4 door 4x4 stock: experienced "death wobble" while traveling anywhere between 40-65 MPH front end shakes violently especially when hitting small or large bumps or pot holes. Has happened for the past 10,000 miles and the car has just under 30k now. Shaking was so violent that vehicle had to be brought to a completed stop even in the lane of travel on the highway. Very dangerous as a car slammed on its brakes behind me on the left lane of the nj garden state parkway nearly setting off a chain reaction accident. Steering damper replaced by dealer claiming that should fix the problem. After picking the vehicle up it happened again. Next time the dealer replaced ruined ball bearings due to the death wobble and realigned & wheels balanced and rotated. A few days later the vehicle has the same problem. My wife is afraid to drive the car. Please don't wait until someone is hurt or dies to intervene. Clearly this is a big problem for these jeeps, just google and you will see many complaints not formally lodged here! Manufacture needs to come out with a viable resolution as the dealers seem stumped.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 jeep wrangler 4x4. The contact was driving 45 MPH when the front end of the vehicle began to wobble excessively. The vehicle was taken to the dealer many times and they were unable to resolve the failure. The tires were changed and balanced but to no avail. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 30,000 and the current mileage was 34,000.
Driving vehicle at speeds above 45 MPH, vehicle begins to shake violently. Commonly called "death wobble" on jeep forums. Wife is now afraid to drive the jeep.
2009 jeep wrangler unlimited x 4 door 4x4 stock: experienced "death wobble" while traveling anywhere between 50-65 MPH front end would shake violently especially when hitting a bump or pot hole. Shaking was so violent that vehicle had to be brought to a completed stop even in the lane of travel on the highway. Vehicle was brought to jeep dealer who replaced steering damper, claiming that should fix the problem. After picking the vehicle up it happened aprox 10 times vehicle was brought back to dealer the next day, where damper, as well as two other pieces were replaced and wheels balanced and rotated. Once it was picked up to days after it was brought in, the vehicle did the same thing again. However now it does it at random times without hitting a bump. Dealer claim they will open a case with jeep to investigate. Vehicle is unsafe.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 jeep wrangler 4x4. The contact stated that when driving over any uneven road surface, the vehicle would shake violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times in regards to the failure and the front shock absorbers were replaced twice but to no avail. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 8,000 and the current mileage was 34,000.
I experienced the"death wobble" in a 2009 4dr jeep wrangler last week. Shortly after hitting a small bump in the road,we experienced very erratic shaking of the steering wheel and the front wheels were shaking as if they were going to fall off. When we slowed down to a slow speed of about 25 MPH,the shaking stopped. We proceeded to our destination and two more times this action happened after hitting small bumps in the road. One time on a three lane highway in new jersey,we had a tractor trailer driver pull up next to us and tell us to pull over,because it looked like our front wheel was falling off.we had the vehicle taken to a nearby chrysler dealer where they diagnosed the problem as the jeep death wobble which happens when something goes wrong in the front suspension. He made it out to be a common problem and I just wonder why I've never heard of this anywhere before.I searched death wobble" on my web browser and got thousands of hits and video on u-tube. Could you please check into this and find out why this so secret ,but yet so common.
I bought my 2009 jeep wrangler around october, november 2009, used with about 16,000 miles from world car nissan with a one hundred thousand mile warranty. The jeep came with an after market lift kit of approx 4 inches with 33 inch toyo open country tires "rancho shocks, sky jacker lift" world car told me the jeep came like this originally from the dealer. World car encouraged me to take the jeep and test drive it for a couple of days. After returning the jeep I told them that I liked the jeep but it had handling issues on the road. While test driving the jeep on normal roads I noticed the jeep would track hard and pull to the left and to the right almost causing me to run off the road on multiple occasions. World car said they would check out the front end alignment and balance the tires. I purchased the jeep. When picking up the jeep they told me they took care of all the problems. Jeep assured me the handling issues were due to the lift and larger tires. About two weeks later leaving work I turned a corner and my right front tire started klunking and wobbling. The right front tire was missing 4 of 5 lug nuts and had one broken stud. Only one lug nut was holding my tire on. The jeep had to be towed. World car gave me a loaner car, repaired the problem, with no apology and no explanation. Around july 2009, I drove to port arkansas texas, I drove to the beach. I only drove in the normal traffic lanes no four wheeling. The next week on friday while driving down ih 35 the vehicle suddenly jerked to the left almost causing me to have an accident. On saturday I noticed the right rear shock hanging down.the upper shock support pin was broken off. Jeep accused me of four wheeling and abusing the jeep, they repaired it at no cost to me. Some times the traction control system comes on pre-maturely while making corners making the jeep hard to handle. Now the esp bas light came on and stays on. On jeepforum.com esp bas failure appears to be a common problem.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2009 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