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.
Every time since February when I hit a bump the Jeep starts shaking violently. I keep hearing of it being the Jeep death wobble. It has torn up my tires and affected many parts and now I can not even hit a bump at 30 mph without it starting to shake. Not sure what to do to fix. I called my dealer to see what they suggested and they had never heard of the Jeep death wobble which Chrysler had apparently sent out a notice to all companies about it. I have heard of several complaints on this. My Jeep is stock and never been modified and never been taken off road. It is a family vehicle and now I just want to get rid of it!
Anytime you hit a pothole or bump in the road the vehicle goes into a violent shimmy/shake. When this occurs you must exit the roadway immediately and come to a complete stop before you can gain control of the vehicle. This vehicle is straight from the factory, no modifications have been made. I work in a garage on vehicles and have knowledge of mechanics of vehicles. There is no ball joints, tie rods, bushings etc. That has wear that would be responsible for this vehicle to have this dangerous issue. When you contact Jeep, they say to replace the steering stabilizer shock. There is a design flaw in the Jeep. This is why I have had to replace the steering stabilizer shock twice so far.
While driving approximately 45mph I experienced a violet shaking of the steering wheel and could not control the vehicle until the speed slowed to approximately 15mph. I researched on the internet and someone said Jeep used a bolt smaller than the hole on a track bar that connects the front axle to the vehicle and this gets wallowed out and causes this.
I was traveling at 65 mph when I heard a sound from the rear passenger side. I immediately pulled over to discover my tire was completely flat and the valve stem had come loose. This is the second time this has happened, the first was back in November. The time span for the latest incident was approx. 10-15 seconds. A rapid deflation. I had just put new tires on the Jeep in Nov. Now one of them is destroyed. I talked to two Jeep dealers since the event on 3/8/13. Both of them said that there is a problem with these parts failing in northern states due to corrosion and that if " I lived in California, this would not be an issue." I was offered new rubber tmps stems for $433. Not satisfactory. I feel I was lucky that this was not a front tire!
I have experience what is commonly referred to as the "Wrangler death wobble" on over three occasions. These are dangerous situations where the steering begins to wobble uncontrollably side to side. The violence of the wobble increases quickly making it tough to hold onto the steering wheel and maintain control, especially if this occurs in multi-lane roads. Increasing speed results in the wobble becoming more violent. The only way to recover is to brake quickly and bring your vehicle to a near stop (at least under 5 mph) before the wobbling subsides. The "death wobble" appears to be brought on by the Jeep tires hitting a pot hole, railroad crossing, or other rough spots in the road at a slight angle. Usually around 35+ mph. Faster speeds, such as highway (55-75) do not seem to create the issue but accelerating to enter a highway does, and has in my case as you pass between 30-40mph. To recover the driver aggressively apply the brakes (without warning to those behind them) as the wobble severity increases quickly. This creates a safety issue. The wobble also has an adverse affect on the steering dampers which soon begin leaking fluids from the violent wobbles.
- Glendale, AZ, USA
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I was driving on the interstate going 65 mph and all of a sudden the Jeep started shaking uncontrollably. I thought I was going to wreck and I was in a panic. I slowed down to an unsafe speed to make it stop. Then I exited and checked the vehicle out to my surprise everything was fine. So I got back on the road and continued on. Then I had to exit and it started doing it again. This time is was so violent I thought I was going to go off the exit and crash. I have never had a lift on my Jeep or anything it is all manufacture parts. I believe with all my heart that Jeep has made a faulty front end. When I contacted them they said they didn't know how to fix it. Please recall this it is very dangerous and going to get someone killed.
The contact owns a 2009 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving over 40 mph, the entire vehicle began to shake uncontrollably. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle shook violently. The accelerator pedal had to be released in order for the contact to regain control of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure. The front suspension bushing was replaced. Also, the contact had an independent mechanic perform a front end alignment however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle continued to shake violently. The manufacturer was made a ware of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 64,000. Updated 12/21/12 updated 01/09/13
While driving my vehicle down the interstate for about 10 min at a speed of about 72miles per hr, my Jeep started shaking from the front and back. It was so intense I felt as though I was going to crash. I have had tires blow and U joints go bad and this didn't compare. I don't drive in a rough terrain and not often at these speeds. But I felt as though I had no control. When I decelerated to 50 the shaking had stopped. There had been no previous warning of this problem. When taking it in to get looked at the dealer said there was nothing wrong. The next day I took it in for the same problem and my universals need replaced, axle seals are bad and my drive shaft needs to be replace.
While driving at 55 mph on a slight turning radius, the right front started to vibrate, then it went to the left side, back to the left side, back and forth. Each time it transferred, it increased.the severity of the wobble effect. I had to put a "death grip" on the steering wheel to maintain control of the vehicle. The only way that I could stop the "death wobble" was to pull off the road and stop the vehicle. It was like a demon took control of the vehicle. The next day the vehicle did the same thing while I was driving with my daughter(age 29). This time on a straight section of road going at 45 mph. She thought that the tire fell off! again, the only way that I was able to stop the wobble was to stop the vehicle. Both of these incidents could have ended in serious accidents! this is a well maintained stock vehicle with balanced tires.
The contact owns a 2009 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, he drove over a road bump and the vehicle shook violently. The contact had to apply immediate pressure to the brake pedal to control the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and a lift kit was installed on the suspension. The failure recurred approximately 14,000 miles later. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The contact also stated that various dealers offered no assistance. The failure recurred repeatedly. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 13,000.
My wife had just taken our 2009 Jeep Wrangler to the dealership for routine maintenance, which included an oil change and tire rotation. On her way home from the dealership the vehicle started shaking dramatically so she pulled off the road and called me. I told her that if the tires were rebalanced then a weight might have fallen off causing one of the tires to be out of balance and told her to try and drive it home at a slow speed. She was able to get the vehicle home and the shaking did not happen again. A couple days later she took the Jeep back to the dealer and asked them to recheck the tire balancing. They indicated that one of the tires was out of balance so they fixed it and we thought the problem was solved. A couple weeks later I was driving the Jeep at about 55mph when we hit a small bump in the road and it started a rather violent shaking and wobbling in the front end of the vehicle. I had to slow down significantly to regain control of the vehicle. My wife took it back to the dealership and they drove the vehicle but said they were unable to get it to duplicate the shaking and they indicated that there might be a problem with the drive shaft. I started driving the vehicle more often in order to take note of all the conditions present when the shaking occurs and to try to diagnose the problem. I was surprised when I started to research it on the internet and immediately found several websites discussing a condition referred to as a "death wobble". the symptons described are precisely what we have experienced. There is a violent shaking and wobbling of the vehicle and you have to slow down immediately to regain control. Our Jeep is stock and no after-market modifications have been made to the suspension system. I consider this to be a significant safety issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
While driving down the highway @ roughly 55 mph, my 2009 Jeep Wrangler hit a small bump in the road. My steering wheel began violently shaking side to side. I immediately pushed on the brake and tried to safely slow the vehicle without causing the vehicle behind me to crash into me. I pulled-over to the shoulder. This vibration referred to as "death wobble" occurs each and every time I am traveling between 55 and 60 mph and, I brake or hit a bump in the road. It is an awful sensation.
Jeep "death wobble" steering wheel oscillates violently back and forth at various speeds after hitting small bump in road, car taken to Jeep dealer tsb which calls for larger steering stablizer installation done, all suspension parts found to be good including tires and balance, however, problem still occurs, fear for life for myself and family when driving car especially in winter.
Death wobble as shown on websites, going 50 or so miles per hour, front end wobbles uncontrollably!! uncontrollable, extremely unsafe at time, when shaking and wobble starts!!! has almost caused an accident on each of the <<<3>>> times this has occurred!!! why is NHTSA and Jeep waiting for people to be killed before something is done to help everyone on the highway with this obvious safety issue"?? very scary and frustrating. Think of your family's life as well as all of us!!! we are all at risk. How many lives need to be lost???"
I was driving on the highway around 65 mph during rush hour traffic. I hit a bump in the road and the front end of my Jeep felt like it was violently bouncing from side to side. I could hardly keep the vehicle in my own lane. I was terrified. I got off the road as soon as possible. I got out, looked at it and saw nothing wrong. I called my husband, and he would not let me drive it home. He drove it to our mechanic, and other than my brakes needing work, he found nothing wrong. The mechanic fixed my brakes and I took it home. The next time I took it out, it did it again. My mechanic took it back, drove it himself, and the Jeep did the same thing. My mechanic did some research online and said it was the "death wobble". he tightened some bolts on the bar that aren't the right size for the vehicle.. it didn't help. Now I have a Jeep that I am afraid to drive, and really can't afford to fix, if it can even be fixed. From what I researched online, it seems to only get better for awhile, then the problem returns. Why isn't Jeep taking care of this problem" do people have to get injured or killed before they do something" the lemon law may be my only option if it can't be fixed, and I may have to keep the vehicle for some time before that could go through. Please do something about these Jeep with the "death wobble".
I experienced a classic "death wobble" as described on Jeep problems.com. Extreme shaking from side to side and loss of ability to steer until I slowed down below 20 mph.
I have had this Jeep in to the dealer 5 times now for the same problem. It is only 2 and a half years old. The first time I brought it in was approx 4 months after I bought the truck brand new. They have yet to fix the problem. When you drive approx. 55 mph on a highway, and possibly hit a little bump, the car will shake uncontrolably. You cannot hit the break or it gets worse but sometimes your forced to because you will crash otherwise. The whole front end wobbles to a point where you loose all control of the vehicle. The dealship stated the first time after it happened that they fixed it... the other two times they said the same thing. The fourth time they decided to say it was my tires. ( I dont know why they all of a sudden changed the problem). Rotating the tires fixed the problem for about 6 months until I had to bring it in again and they now state they can't find anything wrong with it. But apparantly there is. Very fed up with the whole situation. And very nervous driving the truck.
While driving on highway at approximately 55-60 mph my Jeep has started to violently shake and shudder after hitting a bump. It will only stop shaking after pulling over to the side of the road and slowing down to 15-20 mph or stopping all together. The day it started we were taking a trip to new orleans and it happened 6 or 7 times in less than 100 miles. I will be taking it in to the dealer in the morning, but after a quick search of the NHTSA database it seem this has been a regular occurrence and recurrence with Jeep for many years. Luckily we were on a secondary highway when this occurred and not on a major interstate at 70-75 mph (yet). The wife is now terrified to drive the vehicle and I'm not to comfortable with it at this point. To make matters worse we're being stationed overseas and planned on letting our son in college use the vehicle which doesn't seem like a great option at this point. We've also noticed, for the past few weeks, the manual transmission will jump out of 1st gear when taking off. I looked forward to owning a Jeep 4-door for some time and this is rather disappointing and I wouldn't have even considered buying it if I had been told this would happen, especially with less than 20,000 miles on it, none of which are off-roading miles. I believe Jeep should have to warn it's potential customers if they do not want to bother fixing an obvious design flaw and should have to remove all their "trail rated" badges from all vehicles. It's no wonder Chrysler is having financial troubles since they can't make a 4X4 that can handle a bump.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lakeland, TN, USA