Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||
| 03/01/2013 | 45000 | ||
| While travelling on route 95 at 65mph, i hit a bump and my fornt end began to violently shake requiring me to pull into the breakdown lane and come to a stop. this occurred 2 more times and the vehicle was very difficult to control scaring me beyond belief. the phenomenon is known as death wobble by people that have had it happen. i have maintained my vehicle on a regular basis and the really concerning part is the number of reports on various web forums. there is no way to know it is going to happen and the unsuspecting driver can lose control and crash very easily. if you need any further information, please don't hesitate to call me. thanks | |||
| 02/06/2012 | 40000 | ||
| Death wobble on a 2008 jeep wrangler. vehicle has a predictable vibration between 55-60 mph. on one occasion, the vehicle shook so violently that it took the steering wheel out of my wife's hands. she was going around 55 mph around a curve. on a second occasion, i was slowing down to take an exit ramp. slowing from 75 mph to around 60 mph and entering the exit ramp curve, the steering wheel was almost shaken out of my hands. on a third occasion, at around 60 mph on a straight road with no bumps, the jeep began to shake violently and again pulled the steering wheel out of another drivers hands. the minor vibration happens everyday between 55-60 mph. the dealership says nothing is wrong. i have replaced the steering stabilizer with a rancho heavy duty stabilizer. vibration went away for about 500 miles. i religiously do a 5 tire rotation and balance. no change. i have had a 4 wheel alignment completed. no change. jeep will not drive the vehicle. they say if there is a vibration to have the tires balanced and the front end aligned. when i tell them that has been done, their reply is that it was not completed properly and they would do it for $300. i am getting to the point of selling or trading it in since i cannot fix the issue. i am almost ready to try to replace ball joints, but at 47,700 miles and no suspension or engine modifications. the jeep has never been off-roaded, never been mistreated. what now? jeep also offered to replace the ball joints, pitman arm, tie rod ends, sway bar end links, etc. for a nice sum of the $2500. ouch. | |||
| 10/29/2012 | 29000 | 1 | |
| 2008 jeep wrangler began to violently shake. automobile is unmodified. very difficult to control under these conditions. *tr | |||
| 10/29/2012 | 29000 | ||
| 2008 jeep wrangler began to violently shake. automobile is unmodified. very difficult to control under these conditions. | |||
| 10/05/2012 | 40000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler safari. the contact stated that when the vehicle reaches 45 mph the front end starts to shake. when the contact tried to slow the vehicle down the shaking becomes worse. the contact stated that the track arm broke from the vehicle when they tried to slow the vehicle down. the contact was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road without having an accident. the contact had the vehicle towed to the dealer and was told that the front brackets and axle will need to be replaced. the dealer stated that they will also have to add two additional brackets to re-enforce the axle. the failure mileage and current mileages were 40,000.rl | |||
| 10/08/2012 | 57989 | 1 | |
| I was driving approx. 55 mph, when my 2008 jeep wrangler began to shake violently. braking, i pulled to the side of the road to check for a blown tire. i walked around the jeep and saw nothing wrong. as luck would have it, i was in front of a jeep dealership. i pulled across the highway and left the jeep for inspection and repairs. the following day i was contacted and told that i had experienced the death wobble. i was told i needed to replace the steering damper shock, lower control arms and damper brackets. then i had to pay for tire rotation and wheel alignment. i have found plenty of complaints on the internet about this problem. after reading some, i am afraid it could still happen again. i am considering selling the jeep. i think that jeep owes the jeep owners a recall. these repairs cost my $650.00. i have owned 5 jeep wranglers, i won't buy another one, unless jeep makes this right!! *tr | |||
| 10/05/2012 | 29000 | 1 | |
| Experienced the notorious death wobble again today. this has happened plenty of times to me, but today it was the most severe and worrisome. the vehicle shakes and rattles so much that i expect pieces to fall off. other cars pull up to me on the highway off ramp (where it often happens on our bumpy massachusetts roads) and ask if everything is okay. i'm not sure if i would buy this jeep again. they really need to fix this. articles online seem to suggest that it is the stock track bar, and if so, why won't chrysler just replace them? *tr | |||
| 10/02/2012 | 48400 | ||
| 2008 jeep wrangler sahara stock. violent wobble. death wobble while taveling at highway speed, 60mph, i crossed over an expansion crack for a bridge. the front end of the jeep began a violent wobble back and forth until slowing down to approximatly 10 mph. this wobble almost contributed to a head on collision with a tractor trailor in the opposing traffic due to an almost complete loss of steering capability. the problem happened again at the same speed after another small bump. this is an extremely dangerous situation. after researching the problem further, there are endless factors that trigger the wobble. each problem may be fixed, but it will only provide a temporary solution. the wobble itself cannot be fixed under most circumstances, you can only fix what sets it off. the problem has been documented multiple times on the internet. it was also displayed publicly on the news, however chrystler has not been held accountable. | |||
| 01/01/2011 | 40000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 2-dr 4x4. while driving approximately 45 mph over a road bump, the front end of the vehicle began to violently vibrate. the contact decelerated to 10 mph which caused the failure to stop. the malfunction recurred whenever driving over uneven road surfaces or bumps at speeds between 45-60 mph. the authorized dealer and manufacturer were notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 40,000. kmj | |||
| 01/01/2011 | 40000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler 2-dr 4x4. while driving approximately 45 mph over a bump, the front end of the vehicle began to violently vibrate. the contact decelerated to 10 mph which caused the failure to stop. the malfunction occurred whenever driving over uneven road surfaces or bumps at the speed between 45-60 mph. the authorized dealer and manufacturer were notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 40,000. js | |||
| 12/30/2008 | 6700 | 1 | |
| Excessive front end wobble, wheel hop at speeds between 35-65 mph when encountering small changes in road surface(ie. slight pothole, expansion joint, rippling of road). also known as the death wobble among jeep owners and dealers. *tr | |||
| 03/07/2008 | 550 | 5 | 02/15/2008 |
| My brand new 2008 jeep wrangler x 4x4 began the dreaded death wobble (loss of steering control) around 550 miles. thought i was about to die. happened 4 more times until i got it to the dealer. after searching jeep forums and such, i found that 1000s of jeep owners have experienced this problem, with many jeep models. and learned that chrysler does not consider the death wobble an issue. my faith in manufacturers has dropped to the bottom of the pit. this is an exceedingly dangerous problem. i'm going to see what i can do to get this jeep defect on national tv. i am lucky to be alive. *tr | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||
| 02/11/2011 | 39500 | ||
| Extreme vibration in the front end brought on by (1) hitting a rough spot in the road and (2) hitting the brakes hard. i now understand that this is referred to as the jeep death wobble. it is, as yet, unrepaired. vehicle damage is inknown at this point. | |||
| 02/03/2011 | 40141 | ||
| Severe front end wobble causing loss of control when driving above 50 mph. it occurs 90% of the time when driving above 50 mph. | |||
| 04/03/2010 | 30000 | ||
| I have a 2008 jeep wrangler 2 door. i recently noticed the death wobble occasionally at around 40 mph. while driving my young son, all was fine and smooth and then all of a sudden the front end started violently shaking and banging around. it steered itself off the road, luckily into a parking lot, but i was still going about 35 mph. i had to pull the emergency brake to get it stopped before slamming into a parked vehicle. upon inspection of the front end, i found that my front trac bar bracket welds had broken from the front axle. had i been in a curve, the front axle would have slid out from under the vehicle! this would have been catastrophic and would have totaled the jeep and most likely caused serious injuries. i have since spoken to a couple of buddies that have the same model wranglers. they both had the same issue! i called my dealership, but they said they have never heard of this and it must have been a freak deal. this is the same response my buddies got from the same dealership! | |||
| 06/05/2009 | 9500 | 1 | |
| While driving my 2008 jeep wrangler at about 35-40 mph over a rough spot on the road, i experienced horrible front end shake that i could not control until i pulled the car over. i'm very lucky there was nobody else in front or in back of me because i had no control of my vehicle. i looked into this online and have learned it's called the death wobble and it's happened to many other jeep owners. *tr | |||
| 12/30/2008 | 6700 | 1 | |
| Excessive front end wobble, wheel hop at speeds between 35-65 mph when encountering small changes in road surface(ie. slight pothole, expansion joint, rippling of road). also known as the death wobble among jeep owners and dealers. *tr | |||