So the "death wobble" seems both pretty common and nearly unfixable to an extent. After my OEM tires wore a bit, some funky set of circumstances (like crossing railroad tracks while eating a sandwich or turning your head) would induce it....and it's a life-changing event! The thing just goes into resonance and you literally have to stop the vehicle or risk bouncing off the atmosphere. Several trips to the dealership, but they couldn't get it to happen.

Finally, I went to the dealer and had the mechanic ride with me. I hit some washboard, closed one eye, and viola! death wobble! The mechanic just about peed his pants.

Several components were replaced, tie-rod ends, steering arm, even the power steering unit. This all calmed it down quite a bit, I never had the loss-of-control again but you could always feel it taunting you at around 55 mph.

I put a nice lift kit on it around 60k miles, new springs, new shocks, 33" tires. Guess what, wobble taunt still there, just now at 45 mph. But no regulatory experiences. Once the big tires began to wear and cup, the wobble started getting stronger. I replaced the steering damper in a feeble attempt against the beast. Finally, just rotating and re-balancing the tires kept it at bay. So there's something inherent in the design I think, and it's sensitive to misalignment, bouncy tires, anything that starts the front end searching.

I've pretty much forgotten about it, I have 153k miles on the Jeep and the taunt is still there, but it hasn't gone into resonance mode since the dealership repair and my mindfulness to keeping the wheels in good shape and aligned.

I have had several mechanics try and fix the issue of the death wobble in my 2005 wrangler, it seems to be they can't figure it out, even the jeep dealership mechanics are baffled. I have basically put in a whole new front end, control arms, shocks ,bearings, tire rods, axles, u joints ,trackbar, steering stabilizer, aligned rotated tires the list goes on! Did I mention I have spent over 2000.00 dollars and they can't fix it! not to mention Jeep themselves don't want to even deal with the issue. Needless to say I'm paying for a jeep that I can't even drive!!!

Is there a solution to the "death wobble" of my 2005 Jeep Wrangler? When my Jeep reaches 50+ mph and hits a bump in the road, it shakes horribly and slowing down, stopping and then starting again will NOT stop the horrible shaking. I've had so many near misses on the Interstate that I don't drive it. I need to drive the Interstate to get to work and home! My jeep wrangler only has 70,000 miles, and is only driven on pavement! I had to buy a car to get back and forth...I love my Jeep, but am terrified to drive it! Chrysler has NO recalls? NONE on a defect that could kill somebody? I've heard MANY suggestions on what needs fixing...am totally confused and don't have a ton of money (thanks to buying another car) to fix it.

I am terrified every time I drive my Jeep over 40 mph. The death wobble usually occurs between 45-55 mph on the highway, sometimes on a curve, sometimes on a straightaway. I have also experienced the death wobble at other speeds, even as high as 80 mph. This is more than a mere annoyance, it is life-threatening! I have had several mechanics attempt to diagnose the problem to no avail. One mechanic experienced the death wobble on a test drive, but was not able to find the source of the problem. I have had my tires/wheels inspected, balanced, and aligned - all to no avail!

No one has been able to offer a solution, yet I feel I am entering a coffin for my final death ride each time I enter my Jeep for a drive!

So, I'm driving along the freeway and the front end starts to wobble, it's getting pretty bad and it just about feels like the Jeep is trying to jump off the road; a back and forth wobble that's trying to wrench the steering wheel away from you. The Death wobble, as I read up later it was referred to.

I did some looking around and people have huge lists of things that could contribute to this. Apparently it's the coil suspension with a solid front axle that does this if any of the parts involved have enough play. After crawling around under it for an hour with a buddy, occasionally turning the wheels I've found one of my sway links has maybe a sixteenth inch play-driver side and my trackbar has a bit of play in the bearing on the lower end. Waiting for parts to get in, then try 'em out on the freeway again to see if this resolves it.

Update: it came back

My High School daughter was driving our 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited from school to work and the DEATH WOBBLE occurred so bad. when she was able to stop the vehicle movement, called and was so distressed emotionally was unable to explain what occurred.

Researched the issue and am now reporting that I too have a vehicle which is UNSAFE and seeking solutions as the VA State Inspection, Automotive shops, and the Dealer have not identified this problem nor have outlined any parts failures since I purchased it NEW in 2005.

4 Wheel utilization is WINTER HWY (SNOW) and SCOUTING events.