Death Wobble or WTH

[Storman]

I have had death wobble before but yesterday was messed up.  2009 JK Unlimited not lifted, just state inspected and front suspension checked on 8/29, tires and wheels just rebalanced and rotated.  38,000 miles.  Anyway 65mph on I95 and hit a bump that caused the front end to violently shake so bad that the vehicle could not be steered even an18 wheeler in the number 3 lane turned on his hazards to help  slow traffic.  Once speed was slowed to 30mph it stopped and I was once again able to steer vehicle.  This was about 50 miles into the trip,    this continued to occur 5 more times in the next 150 miles that the vehicle was driven. 

Slowest speed this happened at was 55mph and other then that all I can say is this was caused by something as simple as a dip in the roadway.  Any suggestions as to what may be the root cause of the problem.

Does anyone know if a warped front drive shaft could cause this since the garage said nothing was wrong with the front suspension?

[hillbilly]

sounds like a steering stabilizer, the little shock on the tierod, theres no way to tell when they go out during an inspection.

[Lockers]

Had the same thing happen with my Dodge pickup.  I checked everything in the frontend and all was fine (only 25000 miles on the truck).  Turned out to be the tires, it had the BFG Rugged Trails on it, I put a new set of Nittos on it and haven't had a problem since.

[Rick_Bear]

Look into your steering linkage Norm, you didn't have it in 4WD so the front drive shaft would NOT have been an issue or cause IMO.
I'm glad that you are safe to make this post.

[(Tattoo) Jack]

   I agree wih Rick, the Front DS won't cause D.W., bent/ out of balance DS's  just give ya high frequency vibs. I've have issues with steering components that I only found when I had Colleen start it up and "Yank" (or sometimes turn it completely side to side) the steering wheel back and forth while I laid under it and watched for "any" movement from the Tie Rod ends, Upper or Lower Track Bar ends, etc. Sometimes it came down to me putting a finger on the ends of these components to be able to feel any movement.

   Lots of suggestions, hope you find the problem. I read, in one of the Jeep Mags, that  Steering Dampeners can "Mask" other problems till they go bad. So if a new Dampener seems to solve the problem, I wouldn't quit looking.

   Glad ur OK.

[Storman]

thanks for the advice guys I will definately have it back at the dealer after this vacation.  Hillbilly the steering stabilizer was replaced about a month ago.  It was interesting to see that there are 8 complaints on the NHTSA website about 2009 unlimited owners with the exact same issue and most have the dealer throw parts at it to no avail.

[MUDDY]

I WOULD CHECK THE FRONT DRIVE SHAFT AT THE VEROSITY JOINT IF YOUR JEEPS FRT SHAFT HAS ONE. MINE BROKE AT 65 MPH ON THE WAY BACK FROM TN ON I-81.

[Storman]

To update it appears as we had a total failure of the aftermarket 5 week old steerting stabilizer.  I will be contacting that manufacturer.  All I can say is the failure in the 2009 was many times worse then when I had a bad stabilizer in my 2006.