Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4x4 ball joint problems

Filed Aug 13, 2019 · Steering · 3,600 miles · NV

Purchased 2008 jeep wrangler and at around 3600 miles noticed severe steering issues. Steering was wandering and has become erratic. Excessive side to side movement, excessive jiggles on small bumps at lower speeds. Dangerous steering at 65mph on highway to the extent that vehicle swerves into next lane unexpectedly. Jeep refuses to acknowledge dangerous issue with 2008 and 2009 steering issues that involvesteering gear box, shafts and ball joints. Second opinion from outside agency stated gear box is junk, shafts need replacement due to faulty engineering from chrysler. Many many jeep owners are having these issues and involved in accidents to due to the faulty steering on these vehicles.

Filed Aug 8, 2016 · Fuel system, Suspension · 150,000 miles · VA

Driving vehicle over 60mph resulted in multiple episodes of the death wobble within a 3 week period of time. Vehicle was purchased at used car dealership and state inspection was performed on the day of purchase. Within 24 hours of having the vehicle, I experienced the first encounter. I was driving down a hill at approximately 60mph and the steering felt shakey and the wheel began to wobble. It subsided as I slowed down. The next day, this occured on a major interstate at 65mph and car was towed to a jeep dealership. I was informed the ball joints should never have passed inspection along with the fuel system. I took the car back to the dealer and he claimed to have fixed the problem. Within 3 days of getting the jeep back, once again the wobble occurred at a speed of 65mph and I almost lost control of vehicle. This vehicle should not be on the road. The dealer returned a portion of my purchase price and I returned the jeep. The jeep is now back on the lot for sale.

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 Jan 25, 2013 · Brakes, Locks · 55,000 miles · AZ

I bought a used 2007 jeep wrangler 4-door sahara in march of 2012. About 30 days after the purchase (which is when dealer warranty expired) the vehicle's brakes starting squeaking. I took it to the dealership and they said it was because the brakes were dirty. They "cleaned" the brakes and sent me on my way. The next day the brakes started squeaking again every time I brake. I took it back and they said there was nothing they could do because the brakes were brand new. At this time, the front passenger door also stopped locking correctly. The warranty I had purchased for $2,000 did not cover electronics! A couple months go by and I experienced the popular death wobble after getting an oil change and tire rotation. It turns out the rear trackbar bracket was cracked and eventually completely broke in half. I bought a heavy duty adjustable rear trackbar and had a new bracket welded on which seemed to fix the problem for a few days. Then the death wobble started again. I then took the jeep to get the tires rotated and balanced and the death wobble started at just 30mph as we were leaving the shop. I took it back and they were dumbfounded as to what the problem was. So they placed the tires back where they were when I took it in and it stopped for a couple more days. Since then I have replaced the front trackbar, steering stabilizer, and shocks, which all seemed to have put it at bay. However, now I have $340-a-piece tires that have been worn out and I have been told I cannot get the alignment fixed until I replace the front ball joints! I paid about $30,000 for this vehicle out of the dealership and have had to put in around $2500 in repairs and upgrades due to poor craftsmanship of this vehicle. On top of that I cannot even drive it with my family for fear of our safety. I have seen many online forums with people having the same exact problem. The dealership won't help me. The manufacturer won't help. Something must be done before a serious injury or death occurs.

Filed Oct 19, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 45,000 miles · NJ

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.

Filed Sep 11, 2012 · Steering · 54,500 miles · NM

Driving down a 2 lane road at 55 MPH I hit a bump on a small bridge. The vehicle started shaking violently and moved into the oncoming traffics lane and almost off the road. The vehicle was difficult to stop due the front tires shaking so bad. It has happened at least 5 more times at higher speeds (65-75 MPH) and usually on small bridges where the pavement is slightly uneven and on the highway when I hit a large pot hole. I have replaced the front track bar, steering damper, upper and lower control arms, tie rod ends, and drag link mostly with upgraded parts in an attempt to stop it but it continues to happen. It has also been aligned 4 times at 2 different shops and this does not help. When this happens traffic on the highway moves to get away from vehicle. With all new parts this is definitely a defect in design by jeep. If nothing is done by jeep someone is going to get hurt or killed due to this problem.

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 Apr 23, 2012 · Suspension · 90,102 miles · VA

At certain speeds, my front end shimmies on the road. I took the jeep into a dealership in early april to address the vibration and they changed out the ball joints. They said they could find no evidence of the vibration. I picked the jeep up and it was still there. I scheduled a follow up appointment with them but, on the 9th of april, I was driving on I 495 in washington dc and the vehicle began shaking so bad that I had to pull over and get off the road. I thought I was going to be flung into a guardrail or another vehicle, it was shaking so bad. I called jeep and they opined that I had screwed something up with an aftermarket install for a suspension. However, my jeep is completely stock. I have not altered anything on it and certainly hadn't added a suspension. I have checked around and apparently, this problem is pretty rampant. The violence of the shaking is extreme and I am surprised somebody hasn't lost control and died over this already. I am a large man and it took all my strength to get the thing under control and into a safe area where I could decrease speed. I sincerely hope you will look into this matter before someone gets hurt., thank you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Apr 18, 2012 · Steering, Suspension · 50,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle vibrated. No warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer for diagnosis. The dealer stated that the front suspension and tie rods needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacture had not been notified. The failure mileages was 50,000 and the current mileages was 110,000.

Filed Jan 2, 2012 · Steering · 74,000 miles · MO

We purchased this jeep in september 2011 for our granddaughter and within one month after purchasing it she was driving on the highway about 60 MPH when the front end began shaking violently and she was barely able to slow down, at which time the shaking quit. This same incident has been occurring sporadically ever since so we took it to a tire shop/mechanic and they replaced the shimmy shock and checked the tires at a cost of $201.22 on 6 october. The vehicle continued to shake on occasion so we took it back to the repair shop on 17 october and they suggested changing out the outer tie rod ends to see if that works at a cost of $184.46, but would not guarantee that it would solve the problem. I have since "googled" the words "death wobble" on the internet and have found that this is a common problem with the jeeps but apparently chrysler is not acknowledging that is a problem and most people are spending around $1000 in hopes of fixing the problem although it sounds like the only solution is to trade it in and let someone else deal with the problem. We went to visit family over the weekend in arkansas and the shaking was fairly frequent and now the granddaughter is afraid to even drive the vehicle. I would like to know why this vehicle is allowed to stay on the road since it is a hazard to not only the vehicle driver and passengers but to other vehicles on the road since the only way to stop the shaking is to stop rapidly on the road totally disregarding cars in front or behind you. I would also like to see some stats on vehicle accidents, specifically rear end collisions involving jeeps.