Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the steering wheel began to shake uncontrollably. The contact slowed down to approximately 30 MPH and the shaking decreased. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician stated that the tires would have to be balanced. The failure continued after the balancing of the tires. The vehicle was not further repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 67,500.
2008 Jeep Wrangler steering complaints
Page 6 of 6: complaints 131 to 156 of 156, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Steering went into extreme shimmy I.e. Death wobble after small bumps on highway. Vehicle lost control and required evasive maneuver to pull over and stop shimmy. Extremely dangerous defect in design.
My jeep is experiencing what jeep owners refer to as the death wobble. Violent, intense shaking of the front end after hitting the smallest of bumps. Must slow down immediately to gain control of vehicle.
Death wobble 2008 jeep wrangler. Bought vehicle in oct 2011, 5 occurrances of death wobble, all on freeways through jan 10th 2012. Only recourse is to pull over & stop after hitting a bump or groove in the road. Newtons law, every action causes a reaction. Front wheels will start shaking begin gradually then violantly until you can luckily pull over & stop. Once stopped, you can start again & not experience it again for weeks & then it happens again whenever you least expect it. Very hard to even control the vehicle once it abruptly starts. Dealer says it's damper needs replaced for 250$. Doing this... But this really feels like this should be a recall issue or covered under a easy care warranty that I was duped into buying as well. After 4 months of owning a 20,000$ car & nearly killed 5 times is outrageous. Many people wouldn't have been able to control a vehicle if this happened to them. This is a chrysler defect & they should be addressing this before someone is killed by their faulty engineering and/or parts.
This is my second online complaint regarding the "death wobble" I have experienced in my jeep. I had the issue "fixed" in september, though it began to happen again in early december. I took my jeep back in to the dealership and they replaced the steering damper with a "high performance" model. They did this at no charge because they said the original "fix" was still under warranty. I thought this took care of things. Two days ago, I was driving about 45 MPH on a busy service road and the vehicle began to shake violently again. I immediately had to slow down and almost come to a stop before it would stop. Nearby drivers had to swerve to miss me and the guy behind me almost rear-ended me. This has got to stop. I took my jeep back to the dealership this morning and they said they would look into it and call me back. The saga continues.
I was driving down the highway and all the sudden the whole vehicle including the steering wheel started to shake horribly. I don't feel like I can control the steering when this occurs. Stepping on the brakes to slow down/stop makes it worse. Once I drop back below 40 MPH it stops, til the next time it happens. In the beginning it was only occasionally. Recently it has been occurring more frequently. It is very scary when this occurs. My mechanic replaced the steering dampener but that did not fix this issue. I have no idea what this issue is but it is not safe to be driving while this is occurring.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact was driving 45 MPH when the vehicle began to shake abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 25,000 and the current mileage was 26,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60-70 MPH, the steering wheel would shake violently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where they advised her that they were unable to diagnose the failure. The tires were replaced and a wheel alignment was performed but none of the attempts corrected the failure. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The vehicle's front end began to vibrate with resonance until the entire vehicle was shaking so badly that it had to be pulled off the side of the road. This phenomenon is well documented by many sources as "death wobble." the initial incident happened while driving on a two-lane highway in good condition. On this same drive, there were two more incidents of death wobble. After these occurrences, the vehicle was taken in to a mechanic for inspection, front-end alignment and tire balancing. There were no more incidents of death wobble until nearly a month later when it occurred on the highway at approximately 70 MPH. After this incident, the vehicle was taken to a mechanic that specializes in jeep maintenance and customization. The cause of the problem was identified as slop in the stock track bar. The vehicle has stock suspension, wheels and tires. The vehicle has been well maintained with tire rotations done at regular intervals. Other than these incidents of death wobble, the vehicle does not have any other noticeable problems. Following the track bar diagnosis, the vehicle was taken to a dealership for inspection. The dealership diagnosed several other front end components as being in need of replacement, at a significantly higher cost, contradictory to the two previous independent inspections.
Vehicle begins to shudder from road conditions, then when you strike a bump, or the road surface changes, the vehicles then violently shakes and will not cease until slowed to 30mph or increased to 70mph. Very dangerous situation on freeways. It appears that the entire front end is about to shake the wheels loose, then transfers to the rear wheels sometimes. Then when it appears the phenomena is over, it can reoccur again just as quickly. My wife refuses to drive it, nor will she allow my son to ride in it until it is resolved.
My 2008 jeep wrangler started shaking violently while going down the highway at 60-65 MPH. I had my family in the vehicle and it scared them to death. I had to try to pull over to avoid a collision. It would not stop shaking until I was under 30 MPH. I have been to the dealer 8 times to get this problem addressed. They have done alignments changed steering stabilizers and still cannot find the problem. I just had it back into chrysler service dept on 10-24-11 for the same problem. I have seen hundreds of posts on the internet with people having the same problem. This need to be fixed!!!! Please help
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle and steering wheel began to violently shake. The contact slowed the vehicle down until she could regain control. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer and was in the process of having the failure diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileages were 56,600.
Jeep experienced violent shaking of the front wheels when driven over rough surface/terrain at speeds above 30 MPH. Owner had difficulty duplicating this anomaly for jeep repair service, but was able to duplicate it via a test drive with jeep service representative; jeep service determined that the steering stabilizer had failed, which was replaced under warranty; after ~16 months, this same anomaly returned & now the steering stabilizer needs to be replaced again; after another jeep owner told me he had the same problem, it seems that certain jeeps have faulty steering stabilizers; this is a very dangerous situation which could result in a crash/wreck & loss of life.
The jeep shakes violently when it hits a bump in the road. It seems to happen mostly on the highways, although it will occur on a city road. During this shaking the brakes do not slow the car down and it is impossible to steer to the side of the road. This is extremely scary and dangerous. The car has been in numerous times and nothing seems to fix the problem.
I was driving on interstate 70 at approximately 65mph, I hit a bump, and my jeep started to shake and vibrate so dramatically that I had to slow down to about 35mph before it would stop. I was so frightened that I pulled over and was afraid to continue driving. Thinking it was my tires about ready to fall off, I creeped off of the interstate and drove about 15mph back to the tire dealership where I had bought my tires. They could find nothing wrong. I then took it to the jeep dealership and they replaced the steering dampner and updated a bracket. It did not fix the problem. I took it back to the dealership where they then replaced the drag link end. They then told me it had to be the tires. They, not one time, mentioned what I have now researched and found to be a "death wobble" problem that many jeep owners have experienced. I don't know what to do next. The problem has not been fixed and my tires only have 15k miles on them and I am thinking this is not the problem. The wobble that I have experienced now dozens of times is not only frightening but I fear is very dangerous. I'm not sure what my recourse is at this point.
The vehicle shakes out of control at 50mph or after hitting a bump or flaw in the black top road. The steering wheel shakes out of my hands and you can not get the vehicle controlled until you come to a complete stop. I have replaced tires, shocks and control arms but this will not fix the problem. No one can tell me how to fix the problem and I am unable to drive on a freeway, because I will either hit someone or someone will hit me. People will not drive in my vehicle because of this problem and when someone see it happen, they tell me it looks like the front wheels are going to fall off.
I own a jeep tour company and this is the third clockspring I have had to replace in two different jeeps. While traveling at 5mph or under the airbag light illuminated. After having the dealer check it out I was advised it was a clockspring issue. I replaced this one on my own. They charge $1450 just to check what part, then $280 for the part. This has been done at tto seperate local dealer ships. I have saved two clocksprings, one done from a 2007 jeep and one from this 2008.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited x. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle and steering wheel would jerk violently. The failure would not stop until the brakes were depressed. The vehicle was not taken to an authorized dealer, but the manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 98,000.
2008 jeep wrangler "x". Very bad front end wobble when hitting small bump at freeway speeds and/or braking going down hill. Serious control loss. Known as "death wobble". Blamed on front steering dampener. This will be the third time the front steering dampeners were replaced. First occurred 5 months ago. Replaced dampener. Happened again 3 months ago. Replaced dampener once again. Occurred again today. Taking into shop for same procedure. Read a lot of complaints on this problem. Seems to transcend multiple model years. I'm searching to see if any class action law suits against chrysler for this poor design feature exists. Paying over $22,500. For a vehicle shouldn't have this problem and if discovered, shouldn't have to pay $400.00 every time to fix. Chrysler is aware of this serious condition and refuses to warn customers or perform a recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH over a bump in the road, the front end of the vehicle began to shake violently. The contact referred to the shaking as the "death wobble" which caused the contact to slightly lose control of the vehicle. The contact was forced to slow down and pull over in order to regain control of the vehicle. Previously, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to have a steering stabilizer replaced for the "death wobble" but that did not remedy the issue. The contact did not have the current failure diagnosed by the dealer; however, the manufacturer was notified and provided no assistance. The contact was concerned since the failure could result in a crash. The failure mileage was 48,000.
Driving westbound on m-59 in hartland, mi I hit a very small bump in the road and the jeep started to shudder very violently. I had to pull over to the side of the road and stop in order for the shudder to go away. After doing much research on the internet, I have now found out that this is called the death wobble and is a highly common problem that chrysler is aware of and has not done anything to let the public know of the issue.
We were driving on a limited access highway when I hit a section of rough a rough road about 6 feet long. The front end, steering wheel & transmission shook violently! Once I got below 45 MPH it stopped. I could not steer the vehicle. This has happened 6 times now at speeds as low as 50 MPH. It would happen a lot more if I did not slow down when I come across patched spots in the road or where overpasses and bridges meet the solid road bed. On smooth roads, there is no vibration that I can feel. I talked to the previous owner and he never had a problem. It has never been off road, lifted or wrecked. The garage replaced the steering gear box under warranty and I paid for the alignment check and tire balance. I rotated the tired and then put a new tire on the right front. I checked for play in all the suspension and steering and found very little. The garage said they found none. I then installed a heavy duty steering stabilizer. It did not help. The garage said there was nothing more they could do. When I asked jeep was their a problem called death wobble, because there are a lot of postings, they did not answer. Instead, the service manager suggested I buy 4 new tires and get a road force balance. A friend sent me to another jeep dealer to talk to his friend, who was well aware of the problem and had not been able to fix it on other jeeps. There was no remedy or help from chrysler jeep. He has had it happen to him and will not ride in or drive one again. He suggested not driving interstates and below 55 MPH on the highway. I am 68 year old retired car, truck, heavy equipment and industrial mechanic supervisor. The jeep is unsafe to drive on the highway. Bf
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that while driving at high speeds (40 MPH or more) she drove over a bump in the road, the front end would was shaking violently. The contact had to drive under 30 MPH in order to regain control of the vehicle. The contact referred the shake as a "death wobble". The failure also occurred twice when the contact was applying the brakes. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the steering damper was replaced. The contact called the manufacturer who offered to reimburse her for the repair fees as a goodwill repair. The current mileage was 36,500. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler unlimited (na). While driving approximately 60 MPH, the contact noticed that the steering wheel would shake excessively, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. The dealer made six attempts to diagnose a failure; the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle in for diagnosis. The current mileage was approximately 30,000. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50-70 MPH over a pothole, the vehicle began to shake uncontrollably until she came to a complete stop. The problem was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the ball joints needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the problem continued. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and a steering damper was installed on the vehicle. The contact noticed no problems since the latest repair. The contact called the manufacturer who took a complaint and stated that someone would call her back. The current mileage was 48,730. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
The vehicle has the notorious death wobble, in that on certain downhill grades and or hitting a series of small bumps between 45 -55 MPH the front end violently begins to wobble, the cab begins rocking, the steering wheel is out of control, and after braking to 35mph control of the vehicle is regained. The vehicle has not been altered in any way from the factory. It was purchased with 12 miles on odometer and know has 28.889 miles. The vehicle has been in service at the dealer numerous time for repairs, and each time the dealer says that should solve the problem, but does not, in fact the jeep goes back in next monday for further repairs. I've contacted jeep twice to no avail, they pretend to never have heard of the problem as does the dealer although they still find something to repair but never fully fixing the problem. If one goes to google and types in death wobble up come jeep, with videos of the wobble but I guess they don't have internet access for their eyes glaze over in incomprehension and denial. Is there a solution for this? I do not feel safe in this vehicle.
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