2019 Jeep Wrangler STEERING,SUSPENSION
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
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The steering wheel started to shake and then escalated to the whole car shaking at which time I had to stop the vehicle on the highway to make it stop shaking. This isn’t the first time this has happened.
Our 2019 Jeep recently experienced the “death rattle” where the steering and suspension shake violently at speeds 65 mph and above. This recently occurred on a 70 mph freeway and nearly caused a sideswipe accident with a large semi as I was thrown from my travel lane. The Jeep owners forum (and Fiat Chrysler America) know about this issue with the steering dampener, but neither the NHTSA nor FCA has seen fit to issue a warning or recall. Our Jeep is never taken off-road and is under 60,000 miles. We are the original owners, and the Jeep is currently with the dealer.
while driving on Interstate Highyway aproximately 65 MPH and passing over a bridge the front end started shaking violently. I hit the brakes and it finally stopped as I slowed. It did this 6 times on the same trip and has repeated multiple times. I took it to the dealer and told them it had done this when I first bought it and they said they would have to evalaute it. When I first bought the car it had 19k miles on it with this death wobble. They said it needed a recall accomplished and it never happened again. Now the car has 71k miles on it and it is happening again. The dealer says they have to order a part. I believe the car is unsafe to drive on an interstate with this condition. Also owners with similar Jeeps have to be aware that this condition which was fixed with a recall can return after so many miles. They will not tell me the component or part number of the component.
I hit a bump at 65 mph. Then my jeep started to shake from side to side so viciously that I thought it was going to fall apart. I did some research and it’s called a death wobble! For some reason there are no recalls on my specific Vehicle .
While driving at interstate speed and passing over an irregular surface the jeep started to shimmy and I later found out it was called "Death Wobble". The jeep started to wonder across the lanes of the highway and I had to slow to 45 mph to stop the shimmy and get control of the vehicle, I assume the the problem is in the steering or the front suspension. After talking to a mechanic I found out that a recall has already been performed to replace the steering vibration damper. The mechanic could not find any loose or damaged front end parts upon inspection. Since the initial incident the shimmy has happened multiple times at slower and slower speeds. There was no prior warning by the jeep instrument panel.
Had damper replaced due to death wobble at 39k miles under extended warranty related to FCA lawsuit. At 59k miles experienced same death wobble and nearly crashed at highway speeds. Took it in and they said the cause was the tie rods were bad, damper was within threshold, but would replace it too as a courtesy and abundance of caution. Wouldn’t do damper replacement without tie rod fix though. Didn’t have damper and would take 5 days to get in (1 day for tie rod part), but when I stated I wanted to repair it they miraculously came up with all the parts and had it finished before tie rod part even showed up. My complaint is that the original FCA lawsuit where they replaced damper was a bandaid for the real problem which is the tie rods. I paid the $2500 but will be pushing this up the chain of command. I know the lawsuit alluded to the damper not being the root of the problem but a cheaper fix for Jeep. The entire experience has been shady at best. Stew Hansen’s in Des Moines, Iowa was the service department.
When driving at speeds of approximately 45+ the front end for no apparent reason begins to violently shake back & forth making the vehicle impossible to control. You must immediately put on the brakes to slow the vehicle until the wobbling stops. This has progressively gotten worse. It’s what is referred to as the Jeep death wobble. It is in the shop now waiting to be looked at.
When I was driving on a plane road with no bumps my steering wheel started to shake violently making the whole car and dashboard shake. I’ve called jeep to inform them but they said it is not covered and there is no recall for my vehicle instead want to run a diagnostic and have me pay for the repairs and diagnostic even though it’s a leased vehicle.
I purchased this vehicle used and out of warranty in February of this year 2023. I've had continuous issues with the steering. I have contacted my local dealerships explaining my issues. I've contacted FCA explaining my issues. By both I'm told I need to bring my vehicle in for a diagnostic test that will cost me $250 plus dollars and then ANY REPAIR will cost out of pocket. The vehicle wonders while driving at speeds any speed, but more so at highway speeds, I have almost 2" of slop in my steering wheel, a shimmy in the front and have experienced DEATH WOBBLE numerous times. My family will not ride in my wrangler and I personally feel it is UNSAFE as well. I have already personally replaced ball joints and an aftermarket steering stabilizer in hopes of correcting these issues. I learned that FCA is aware of an issue with the aluminum steering gear of which my wrangler still has. I also learned of a TSB for the steering stabilizer, track bar and software update for the power steering itself. As previously stated ALL MY SYMPTOMS ARE EXACTLY AS THESE TSB'S DESCRIBE, and I had no knowledge of them prior to purchasing and experiencing these issues.
Driving 60+ miles you hit a bump and the truck starts shaking real bad the whole truck That the only way to make the vehicle stop from shaking is slowing down the speed to 30 mph or complete stop until it goes away the terrible shaking. I already reemplace many suspension parts like the track bar,tie rod and the drag link and still having that issue
I have experienced the death wobble 4-5 times. The dealer says they have already replaced the steering damper once already. I am concerned there are more issues with the steering system on this Jeep.
Was driving interstate in San Diego, CA about 65 mph and on 4 different occasions when I hit a bump or rough patch of road the front end of the car and steering wheel started shaking violently. It was hard to control the vehicle and I had nowhere I could go because I was in traffic at high speeds. Was finally able to move over to a side lane and slow the vehicle down which caused the shaking to stop. No lights of any kind came on in the vehicle. Very dangerous for this to be happening on CA roads with such heavy traffic. Not only does it put me at risk, but others as I have to slow down to 40-45 mph for the shaking to stop. Will be taking it in to dealership for inspection. As I have researched...this appears to be another case of the "death wobble".
Vehicle's front end violently shakes harmonically side to side when driving over 50 mph upon hitting uneven surfaces on highway and interested. When this occurs, the driver loses the ability to safely steer and must brake which is also unsafe to do on the highway or interstate. The harmonic vibration resonates until the speed is reduced to approximately 35 mph.
At any speed over 55 mph any bump or irregularity on the road causes the front tires to rapidly bounce up and down from the left side wheel to the right side wheel. There's almost zero steering control. Emergency braking to under 20 mph is necessary to stop the vibration and regain steering control. Sometimes a complete stop in the travel lane of a highway is necessary. The vehicle was purchased used with 18K miles. After 5K miles a vibration was felt at the front wheels anytime driving over bridge or overpass. At 30K miles the vibration/bounce occasionally required emergency braking. The closest dealer was booked during the Holidays and it was over 30 days for an appointment. During the appointment was told it was the steering dampener, a "known issue" but, the parts are on backorder, no ETA provided. The vehicle is currently unable to drive over 50 mph over any surface. Found almost 500 related posts online for this model vehicle going back to 1980. Why is there not a recall on this failing part?
Death wobble where the Jeep shakes so violently that you can lose control. It has done this since new. I take it back to the dealer and they say Jeep is aware of the problem and they are working on a fix. Jeeps fix is a replacement steering damper. When I reported it to the dealer, I was told I had to wait until a fix was released. finally at 2125 miles they replaced the first damper. On the way home it death wobbled again. I had to wait again; at 2285 miles they replaced the track bar. The Jeep didn't handle or feel right but it didn't death wobble until Thanksgiving 2022 250 miles from home. I brought it back in and they replaced the steering damper again at 14668 miles. I was told by the service department there are over 6000 dampers on back order. This needs to be a recall since it affects thousands of Jeep Wranglers. My wife refuses to drive the Jeep.
“Death wobble” is happening on Highway when going over 65mph. Took it to the dealership and said there is nothing wrong with the Jeep. Steering wheel shakes violently causing entire vehicle to rattle. Very scary and hard to control
On 10-23-2022 while driving on I64 in West Virginia I experienced extreme shaking in the steering wheel and bouncing in the front end of my Jeep. I took the vehicle to the Jeep dealer in Beckley, WV and when I explained the problem a member of the service department stated "That is the shimmy shock." I was told there had been an information bulletin put out on this problem and a temporary solution recommended. On September 5, 2019, I took my Jeep into the dealer I bought it from in ref. to recall# V41 and had the steering damper replaced. On October 31, 2022, I took it in to the dealer for repair and the mechanic noted the wrong damper is installed, the right shock is leaking, and they recommended replacing the Michelin tires that have only 39121 miles on them.
Both front shocks broke and needed to be replaced. Needed a 4-wheel alignment because of this. Broke steering damper. Part not able to get fixed as Chrysler won't release the required part until November 15th even though other Jeeps of this year have been recalled due to this issue. I have the repair paperwork. Experienced a "Death Wobble" on Thursday, October 27th. I'm lucky that I didn't panic and was able to get it out of traffic and on the right side of the road. The Jeep and cab shook violently. Issue confirmed by an independent repair shop. Have paperwork to backup claim. No one else besides the independent shop verified the issue. Dealership claimed it couldn't exist because my vehicle style is not part of the original recall for this issue they are aware of. No, there was no prior warning before this occured.
purchased vehicle in sept 2019 and had no issues until recently. Hitting bumps on freeway causes extreme shaking which lasts upwards of 6 to 10 seconds. Having this occur on icy roads can result in total loss of stability. I've taken this into the dealership already once, and issue still occurs. From research it looks like this issue has been present in jeeps for decades. Why hasn't the NHTSA forced jeep to notify the public of the issue?
Experienced the death wobble. Front tires began to oscillate violently causing loss of steering control on a highway. Went on for ~20 seconds, almost ran off the road and would have crashed. No indications prior to event, smooth highway speed driving right up to extreme violent shaking. Fighting with the wheel to steer to stay on the road was ineffective. The only thing that saved us was it suddenly stopped on its own. Before this event there were several short, less severe instances of wobbling.
While driving on the highway out of the blue my jeep starts to shake and vibrate. It happens without warning a makes it hard to control steering.
My Jeep wanders tremendously, at times it’s hard to keep it on the road. And sometimes it will veer to the left or right unexpectedly. I’ve almost hit two incoming cars because of this. This problem needs to be fixed on this model vehicle immediately or someone is going to get hurt or killed. Sometimes if you hit a bump the steering will vibrate tremendously until you come to a stop. There’s no way to control the vehicle when this happens.
at 70mph or higher driving over rough highway transition joints will cause steering wheel and entire car to shake violently until slowing down to 60 mph
DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY BETWEEN 65/70 MPH ON A STRAIGHT AWAY. I HIT A BUMP/POTHOLE IN THE ROAD. MY JEEP BEGAN TO WOBBLE, RATTLE AND SHAKE CAUSING THE STEERING WHEEL TO STUTTER IN MY HANDS. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO CRASH! I LET OFF THE GAS AND SLOWLY APPLIED THE BRAKES WHILE MAKING MY WAY TO THE SHOULDER AWAY FROM TRAFFIC. I HAD TO COM TO A COMPLETE STOP FOR IT TO STOP SHAKING. IT HAPPENED AGAIN ON MY WAY HOME, EXCEPT THIS TIME THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BEING I WAS GOING 55/60 MPH.
TRAVELING I81 N AT 62 MPH AT APROX 1129 JUST BEFORE THE I80 EXIT AT THE BRIDGE. IT IS A SLIGHT CURVE IN THE ROAD. WE HIT A BUMP AND MY JEEP WENT NUTS AGAIN. IT WOBBLE, STUTTERED, AND SHOOK. SIMILAR TO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE A TIRE BLOWOUT. THE STEERING WHEEL SHOOK CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL. LET OFF THE GAS AND SLOWLY APPLIED THE BRAKE. AT 50 MPH REGAINED CONTROL AND CONTINUED ON OUR WAY. MY CELLPHONE WAS NOT SHOOK OUT OF ITS HOLDER LIKE LAST TIME. SO I GUESS THAT'S A PLUS.
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The 2019 Jeep Wrangler has 61 STEERING,SUSPENSION complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.