This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The car experienced the so-called "Jeep death wobble." At about 65 mph on the freeway, the front end of the car began to shake so violently and uncontrollably that I had no choice but to slow to a stop in the emergency lane. After attempting to drive at highway speed again several minutes later, the wobble occurred a second time, forcing me to pull over once more. Had I let go of the steering wheel during the incident, the car would surely have swerved and possibly spun out.
Airbag warning light in instrument panel consistently goes off during irregular speed, steering wheel operation, and temperature. There is no pattern that correlates with the timing of the airbag warning light. When it first started, it would only come during at brief moments and turn off again. Now, April, it turns off after vehicle start (like normal operation), comes back on immediately, and only briefly does it turn off at random times. The majority of the time the warning light fluctuates is during steering wheel turning. Turning to one particular side does not alter the light more than the other. Sometimes hard bumps in the road or off-road scenarios will change the light too. Knowing very well this could be the clockspring, no other lights or functions involved with this device confirm this is the problem. The horn works at all turning angles, esp and ABS all function normally. There are also no dtc codes from the computer. All visible electrical plugs in the cabin and behind dash have been unplugged, cleaned from debris and reconnected. I find the current recall for only the 2007S and right hand drive 2008S very frustrating! the assumption that only rhds will have their windows down more on dirt roads might be factual; however, there are numerous of 2008 Jeep Wrangler owners that use their vehicle for work, or off-road scenarios that will easily bypass the RHD assumption. This is a very scary problem to have. I do no feel safe that any accident I have the airbags will deploy properly. The faith of my vehicle saving my life is completely lost.
Driving on the highway at approximately 65 miles per hour my front end began to shake and the steering became so erratic that I had to grip the steering wheel to keep the car from veering into another lane of traffic. I was able to slow the car down and pull over to the side of the road. Once I began again there was no vibration. This is the second time this has happened within two month. There are many cases of this happening on the internet. It's called the "death wobble" and I don't feel safe in the car anymore. The dealership has told me that its a worn sway bar but 25K miles shouldn't wear out this type of part.
Known to many who have Jeep, the "death wobble". when this first happened to my daughter's car, thankfully I was the one driving. It was on the interstate and I thought a tire had blown. The steering wheel vibrated uncontrollably and I pulled over. Nothing looked wrong but I called a tow truck regardless. They looked at it at the station and could not find anything wrong. I had no idea this was a problem Jeep created when they built the vehicle. It is a situation where the front axle begins oscillating with such violence that control of the Jeep is difficult until slowed down, and the entire vehicle shakes to the point you feel it will come apart.
The contact owns a 2008 Jeep Wrangler limited. The contact was driving 55 mph when the vehicle began to shake abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was confirmed that the steering dampener needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 80,000.
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
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Front wheels and steering began to shake and vibrate violently while making a right-hand turn from a stop and after accelerating to about 40 mph. Vibration stopped after braking to almost a stop. Same symptoms occurred twice more after hitting small bumps in road at between 50 and 60 mph and again stopped after braking. Dealer said they duplicated the condition and replaced steering dampener at 35726 miles but vibration has occurred once more since repair. I have owned the Jeep since new and it is completely stock with no modifications and original P255-75-R17 tires which were at proper inflation. Tires have also been checked and do not have any damage or abnormal wear.
2008 Jeep Wrangler. Consumer writes in regards to mechanical problems and brake line routing defect the consumer stated the first problem he had with the vehicle was the transmission. It began failing to engage and shifting out of gear. The dealer discovered that the transmission oil filter had not been installed and was lying on the bottom of the transmission oil pan. In January 2011, while driving at highway speeds, the consumer began to experience intermittent violent shaking of the entire vehicle, which seemed to be originating from the front end. The consumer stated it felt as though a wheel was loose. The consumer went to a repair shop, where the tie rod and pitman were replaced. Two weeks later, the shaking occurred again and soon it became increasingly violent, making it nearly impossible to control the vehicle and stay in his lane. The consumer returned to the repair shop where they replaced the steering damper, which seemed to correct the problem for awhile. In July, the consumer took the vehicle for a routine maintenance check. While checking the front end, the mechanic was able to get two full turns on a nut on the track bar. Since then, the shaking has not occurred. The consumer stated as he approached a line of vehicles stopped at a light, he attempted to apply the brake, but it went soft and to the floor. An inspection revealed a hole in the brake line above the right front wheel, where the line left the wheel well and went into the engine compartment. The hole was caused by rubbing on the line by the edge of the plastic wheel well lining.
When my Jeep hits a bump on the highway (left tire first) the entire Jeep starts shaking violently. It feels like the tires are about to fall off. This happens whenever I go over 50mph (which could be extremely dangerous on the highway with other cars). It doesn't stop until I come to a complete stop. I have found hundreds of posting about this issue and every single one says that Chrysler says nothing is wrong. If most Jeep built after 2007 have this issue, maybe it's a manufacturer defect?
Once my vehicle reaches a speed of 50 mph, goes over a bump, or around some turns, it starts to shake uncontrollably. This shaking does not subside until I stop the vehicle. It has gotten worse and worse to the point where it happens about every 2 miles if I am going 50 mph. I can not go above 50 mph which is quite dangerous on the freeway because the speed limits here are 65-70 mph. When I go over a bump and it starts to happen, if there is no place to pull over (which has happened) I must come to a complete stop right where I am, or continue to drive while the vehicle is shaking uncontrollably, and I am unable to steer. This is completely visible to others not inside the vehicle as well, as I have been pulled over, verbally yelled at, honked at, etc...
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.
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.
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.
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.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Corona, CA, USA