My 16 year old daughter was driving the vehicle on normal dry pavement when the casting that anchors the tie rod to the front left wheel snapped off. The vehicle violently pulled to the right causing it to go off the paved road surface and crashing into a tree. The vehicle has the original factory suspension and to my knowledge has never been modified.
2004 Jeep Wrangler steering complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 67, newest first, as owners wrote them.
"jeep death wobble"....violent shaking of front end called......after highway bump or uneven road surface......had to pull over onto shoulder to stop it.......... I have had this fixed numerous times, with new tires, alignment, and it keeps coming back....
The vehicle has exhibited the "death wobble" almost as long as I've had it. I purchased the vehicle brand new. At 50-55 MPH, the front-end shakes uncontrollably. Sometimes the shaking is instigated by a bump - most often it starts simply by reaching the aforementioned speed. The only way to stop it is to slow down (which is not always an easy option at highway speeds) or put it into 4wd while moving. I've take it to multiple dealers and mechanics, and no one has been able to rectify the condition. While it doesn't happen every single time I cross the 50-55 MPH threshold, shakes more often than not. It's terribly alarming, certainly unsafe, and completely appropriate for a recall and cost-free fix.
My jeep wrangler shakes sporadically at 45 MPH as described in previous posts by others. When my jeep shakes it is very aggressive and I often have to apply my brakes suddenly to ease the jolting of my vehicle. I have almost wrecked my jeep a couple times, I have sprained my wrist, and have had bruises merely from maintaining my vehicle. I just traded in my other car for this in april 2013 and can't afford to trade again. I am very disappointed. I can't even take my children in my jeep or tow my camper. All because I can't even reasonably begin to fix the problems that I purchased with my jeep. I wish I had known I was purchasing a death trap before hand. There is a very good reason these low milage jeep's have made way to used car dealerships.
When driving the wrangler down any road surface the wheels will start to wobble and shake very hard like you are loosing control. Then you have to stop quickly inorder to keep your car from driving off the road.
While driving over 45 MPH, if you hit a small bump or even uneven pavement, the jeep shakes uncontrollably until you either slam on the brakes and slow down to 10 MPH or you have to completely stop, if you are in traffic, it is extremely dangerous. The vehicle shakes and the tires bounce up and off the pavement. The stirring wheel shakes so much you can barely hang on to it. Very dangerous!!
Driving onto highway. Speeding up to 35-40 MPH. Just shifted to 4th gear. Whole vehicle began wobbling violently. Had to almost stop in the middle of the highway to get it stop shaking violently. Vehicle behind me had to swerve to miss me. Steep shoulder couldn't pull over. I think this is referred to as the "death wobble". Have read about numerous complaints of this with jeep wranglers on the internet after this happened today. I wish I would of known of this dangerous problem before I bought this vehicle.
The first time I had death wobble was while towing my kayaks and kayak trailer after hitting a bump.since then I have stopped driving it till I get some cash to start diving in to find the fix.
2004 jeep wrangler. Consumer writes in regards to several issues found during inspection after purchase of vehicle *tgw the consumer stated the day she test drove the vehicle, she noticed some play in the steering, the engine seemed to miss a little, and the cd player in the radio seemed to work whenever it wanted to. The next day, the consumer noticed the front differential leaked an oil spot on the concrete driveway. The consumer took the vehicle to a pre-sales establishment and the inspection revealed, the rear axles were leaking on both sides, the pinion seal in the front differential needed to be replaced, the front track bar had play, the transmission needed a new pilot bearing; as there was a noise when accelerating and the rear sway bar links were loose.
A week after I purchased the vehicle I hit a small, sharp bump in the road and the vehicle front end began to shake and wobble uncontrollably. Only by slowing down to 45 MPH was I able to gain control of the vehicle again. This has happened numerous times after this. I had the tires balanced, rotated and an alignment done on it. The wobble happened again, sometimes at even higher speeds and sometimes, not at all. I took it to an authorized chrysler jeep dealer and according to their recommendation, had a new steering stabilizer, new sway bar links and tie rod installed and again had the tires balanced and an alignment done on it. The vehicle still exhibits the same behavior. I have had it happen three times on interstate highways and lucky enough each time I was in the right lane and able to pull over onto the shoulder to reduce speed and gain control again. Each time on the interstate my speed was between 60 and 65 MPH. The last time it happened I drove 20 miles back home on city streets in order to keep my speed below 50 MPH. The "death wobble" does not happen below 50 MPH although I can sometimes feel it starting to shake as I approach that speed. As I have had the vehicle inspected by an authorized chrysler dealer, replaced the recommended parts and have done the required maintenance, I feel that there is a safety issue built into some of the vehicles like mine. I think this needs to be investigated as many jeep wrangler owners that I have talked to and authorized dealers also were very familiar with the term "death wobble" in conjunction with jeep wranglers. In fact, as I was describing the problem to one of the authorized chrysler jeep dealers, he interrupted me by saying, "ah, the "death wobble". Once it happens to you, you know that it is a very apt description of the behavior.
Turned onto the county highway and as I approached approximately 50 MPH, I hit a bump in the road and the front end of the vehicle started to shake violently. Had to pull over and stop for it to stop. I then proceeded to drive. Asked my mechanic if he could see anything that would cause this and he didn't mention anything. It has happened since then as well one time being on the interstate during rush hour. I will not drive the vehicle as it is completely unsafe. I have researched this online and there are many reports of this "death wobble" happening on jeeps all over the country. No one seems to know what the problem is or the fix is.
I have been a proud owner of my jeep since 2004 until towards the end of last year when I began to experience problems with a violent shaking when I was driving at 55mph and would hit a bump. I took it to my mechanic a few times but they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They checked my tires, the brakes, etc. It happened again and again so my mechanic thought it possible needed to be aligned so I tried that. That didn't help either. Then the tires became a topic of discussion so I bought new tires and still the problem occurred. I recently took it in and had the gear box tightened and the tires rotated and again, no fixing the problem. My jeeps shakes so violently and gets me so scared because it feels like the jeeps tires are going to fall off the jeep and cause a major accident and injuries. I searched the internet looking to see if anyone else has ever had this problem and sure enough, I'm not alone. I have a young son and I use my jeep as our transportation and my son is getting ready to get his license and it's sad, but I won't let him drive our jeep because of this problem. Chrsler needs to become aware of this problem and something should be done for us jeep owners who are being affected by this problem. If I would have known of this problem, I would have never bought a jeep. I can't afford to keep spending all this money to try and figure out what to get repaired nor can I afford a new car. Chrsler needs to step up to the plate and fix these jeeps!
Violent shaking of the suspension when I reach about 55 MPH, usually on the nys thruway. In order to stop the shake I need to slow down to about 40 MPH. Very dangerous and unnerving, especially in traffic. Brought to my mechanic who stated he saw nothing wrong with my vehicle. Replaced and balanced tires. Was fine but then ,as now , unexpectedly goes into convulsions. I feel very uncomfortable when driving my vehicle, which is my sole mode of transportation. Is there a recall? I am not aware of any. Would really like to resolve this situation. This has been going on for several years.
Front end shakes violently. This has happened before, usually when the jeep is approaching 50 MPH on the highway. Feels like the jeep is going to explode. Putting on the brakes, and praying, and down shifting from 5th to 4th, and praying, and eventually slowing down to below 40 is the only thing that allows the vehicle to stop shaking. This apparently has been reported many, many times, and is known as the "death wobble". Is there a governmental cover-up about this? How is this known issue allowed to go un-addressed?
Steering wheel shakes, most recently made whole vehicle shake uncontrollably. Has not been off road or altered in any way. Lady driven only.
Sudden onset of violent front end and steering wheel vibration, requiring 2 hands tightly gripping the steering wheel to coax it onto the shoulder. 5 incidents in 8 months at 60mph on both smooth and rough pavement. Narrowly missed smashing into a cement barrier, tractor trailer and car during 3 of the 5 incidents.
I own a jeep wrangler x 2004. I have experienced the jeep "death wobble" on numerous occassions in the past year. This past sunday being the worst. I have had my entire front end replaced with no results. I have been searching the internet for answers and every suggestion that I have found has already been done on my jeep. We have spoken with a jeep mechanic that we know and he stated that it is a "known problem" and they do not know how to fix it. At this point I am extremely frustrated and I am looking for answers. I have found a website for congresswoman eshoo and I am aware of the request for an investigation into this matter. Please, I hope that you are taking this matter very seriously. This is a very scary and dangerous problem that is occuring in jeeps.
Like so many, I've now experienced the infamous 'death wobble.' the vehicle starts to violently shake after hitting a bump and becomes essentially unable to be controlled. All you can do is brake hard and hope to stay in your lane/on the road as you decelerate. After spending many hours on the internet and at the place where I purchased it, things are no better. This seems like an obvious design flaw and renders the vehicle unsafe. Jeep seems to have no interest in fixing the problem and it's hard to believe that nobody has been killed because of it. I wish I had known about this as I now have an unsafe and unusable vehicle that nobody seems to know how to fix. There is a tsb out regarding this issue, but jeep keeps that information 'secret'. I cannot imagine why there hasn't been a recall, if I keep driving this vehicle, it's not a question of 'if' I'm going to wreck it, it's a matter of 'when' it's going to occur.
Power steering pressure hose develops leaks at the crimped connection. Power steering fluid can come in contact with hot engine components.
Multiple incidents of violent vibration in the vehicle front end, including the steering wheel and front wheels, are occurring after hitting a minor pot hole in the road. Incidents occur at highways speeds, normally 45 - 55 MPH. The driver must reduce speed to near zero in order to recover safe and effective control of the vehicle. This vehicle defect appears to be the well-known and major safety issue in jeep wrangler vehicles known as "the death wobble". I purchased this vehicle new from a jeep dealership and have had it professionally maintained per the manufacturer's instructions since the day I bought it. My spouse and I have both experienced this defect several times in the past few years, most recently on december 15, 2011. At this point, we've had the vehicle inspected several times and replaced a number of components on the vehicle, including the steering damper, four shock absorbers, and all 4 tires., in addition, the suspension has been inspected numerous times in the past 3 years. Given the shear number of similar complaints by other owners, I feel that this is an obvious manufacturer defect that should be acknowledged and corrected by the manufacturer.
The problem has occurred several times since oct 18, 2011. The jeep experienced the "death wobble" whereby the jeeps' wheels suddenly began to wobble to the point that one almost must slow down immediately. The condition appears to be quite common with the jeep wrangler. Portable received via u.s. Mail. A portion of the complaint was illegible. 02/28/12 updated 02/28/12
Steering wobbles at speeds 40 to 55mph and is especially worse after hitting a bump. This happens every day and not once in a while. Very scary when you have no control because it shakes so bad. It actually gives you little or no control over the vehicle. Have had tires balanced and rotated the steering damper replaced. Have had it looked at several times and no one really knows what to do about it. It is a life and death situation and feel that nothing will be done about it until someone is actually killed. Looking at blogs there are many people who experienced the same thing known as the death wobble.
My 2004 wrangler rubicon has a violent wobble/shake at 55-60 MPH. The wobble is so violent I have to immediately brake and it stops around 40. I have had it aligned and balanced. I was considering pouring more into the repair but after reading all of the complaints I fell it is not worth the effort. The jeep is stock and I am the original owner. I am going to approach the dealer but since it is out of warranty I have the feeling it is going to be in vain.
The multifunction switch with the fog lights cuts the lights on when the driver does not put the on. When the vehicle is sitting still, the fog lights will flip on, when I apply the signal light on the fog light switch pops on. I had to remove the fuse to get the fog lights off.
Front end of my 2007 jeep wrangler unlimited has dangerous wobble between 50 and 60 miles per hour. Tires are good, tires have been balanced but the problem remains. Usually triggered by a bump in the road.
Jeep wrangler (2004) has the steering shake violently when driven over 45mph. No dealership or garage could resolve the problem. I spent over $2000 in new tires all new steering components and suspension as well as wheels to fix a problem the company refuses to acknowledge exists so they can continue to support their unions rediculios commands while putting me and other drivers at risk.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 jeep wrangler. While driving over 55 MPH, the contact stated that the vehicle would begin to shake violently. The dealer and manufacturer were notified, but denied assistance with repairs to the failure. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 25,000 and the current mileage was 58,500.
Severe shaking (coined death wobble) at 55 MPH. This has happened (3) times. I have replaced steering dampener, front end alignment, (4) new tires all within last week. There are countless complaints for this same problem, yet no resolution to be found. There seems to be with all of the complaints a "head in sand" mentality hoping that this will go away. I'm shocked, after the experience of trying to get veh off of highway during this event, that there have not been any fatalities.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 to 65 MPH, he noticed that the front wheels would wobble violently. The vehicle was inspected by the dealer and they advised him that they were unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 31,500. The VIN was unavailable.
I purchased a used 2004 jeep wrangler 5 months ago. It had only 15k miles on it. Shortly after purchase it began shaking violently between the speeds of 55-60, and when there are road imperfections. I had the tires balanced. No fix. The shop kept the jeep for three days last week and cannot locate the source of the problem. Appears this is a "death wobble" issue from the strongly-documented cases in jeep wranglers. There appears to be no permanent fix. There have been no recalls that I can find. I owe for this vehicle that I cannot even drive!
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