general problems of the 2008 Jeep Wrangler - part 1

Defective wheel spacers causing vehicle failure and safety hazard while driving, the front driver-side wheel spacer failed, leading to the complete detachment of the wheel from my vehicle. This unexpected and catastrophic failure left us stranded on the highway for several hours, waiting for roadside assistance. Additionally, the front end of the Jeep sustained significant damage, requiring extensive repairs. Fortunately, we were able to bring the vehicle to a stop without injuries, but the situation could have resulted in a far more serious accident. Upon further inspection by road side assistance, it became evident that the wheel spacer had completely failed, raising concerns about the safety and reliability of this product. I immediately contacted yitamotor to seek an explanation, reimbursement for damages, and information on whether this issue is a known defect in their product. In my formal request to the company, I outlined the following concerns: investigation: I requested a thorough investigation into why the wheel spacer failed and whether similar failures have been reported. The supplier has no interest in investigating the failure. The part failed without warning. There are no direct sensors or indicators for this particular part. They claim the part is made of forged metal.

While traveling down the road when you slow to turn a slight curve and press brakes the Jeep goes into a uncontrollable shake in the entire front end. You can not stop it by applying brakes because it makes it worse. You have no control of the shake and it even shakes the steering wheel and whole front end of the Jeep. Eventually it pulls out of it after several feet but you feel the whole front end is gong to come off the shake is that violent. I have almost wrecked my vehicle trying to hold it on the road while turning and had other cars almost plow me from the back. It is very scarey and you have no warning when it is going to happen.

Driving 40 mph or over will cause car to harshly shake uncontrollably making it extremely difficult to steer and control the vehicle. Completely unsafe to drive on a freeway as the only way to get the car to stop shaking is to completely stop. Because of all the shaking causes other suspension and wheel problems. Bolts on suspension and wheel start to loosen up causing another safety issue. Very common problem for Jeep Wranglers from 2006 to present.

I experience the "death wobble" daily. It starts around 45 mph and continues until I stop. It makes the Jeep shake and hard to control. The shaking is so bad, it will cause drinks to get thrown from the cupholder. It has progressively gotten worse over the past year or so.

Tl the contact owns a 2008 Jeep Wrangler. While driving 50 mph, the front end of the vehicle and steering wheel shook without warning. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact mentioned the failure to an independent mechanic who stated that the issue could be related to the tires. The manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact to take the vehicle to a Jeep dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was 90,000.

While driving approx 60 mph I hit a bump in the road. . . Car started shaking uncontrollably. . Steering wheel was shaking . . Had to slow immediately. . . Was almost rear ended on highway. . . Luckily the person behind me wasn't too close and able to slow to a stop. . . This is an incredibly dangerous situation and Jeep is claiming there is nothing wrong. . . My car was purchased new and is totally stock. . . I read that its described as the "death wobble". Is Jeep waiting for someone to die before acknowledging the problem?.

My issue is commonly referred to on the internet as the Jeep "death wobble". At around 50-60mph the front of the vehicle, wheels and steering begin to shake violently and uncontrollably. The only way to stop it is to brake to a complete stop. It's very dangerous and disconcerting wen this happens in busy traffic on the freeway. Have had wheels balanced and tracking done several times, but issue still occurs - starting around 3 or 4 year ago.

At highway speed, approximately 50+ mph, when the car goes over a bump or pothole (it doesn't need to be a major bump or hole) the front shakes violently until the car is slowed and then it returns to normal. Searching on the internet I have found discussions describing this exact situation. They call it the "death wobble".

While driving at speeds of 60 mph and above, when braking or hitting a bump in the road the wheels wobble, steering is uncontrollable and you cannot accelerate or stop completely until the wobbling subsides. I was passing a semi truck when a slower vehicle pulled in front of me, I gently braked to slow down and the wobbling was so bad I could not steer, brake further or accelerate to stop the wobbling or move out of the way of cars behind me. I ended up in the median since I could not follow the curve of the road and was lucky to not be hit by other cars or the semi-truck.

In three separate instances wheel studs have busted off the back tires. 1st time all 5 broke. 2nd time - 2 broke and this 3rd time - 1 broke. Jeep customer service is of no help with the problem. We have to put on new studs and lugs every time and if the tire comes fully off, this could cause a serious accident. Twice the Jeep was in motion when it happened and once while during a tire rotation, taking off a lug by hand the wheel stud snapped in half.

The contact owns a 2008 Jeep Wrangler. While traveling at an unknown speed, the rear tires started wobbling. The contact heard the sound, but the failure was not visible unless someone was traveling behind the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who diagnosed that the axle housing and the cv joints needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop who diagnosed that the axle shafts needed to be replaced due to the axle shaft being bent. There was also a presence of a leak. The seal on the passenger side fractured without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 92,350.

This Jeep has been nothing but a issue. Have been to shops for a year. Check engine light wont stay off, wheels shake at certain speeds, over heats, radiator issues, you name it. The dealer would not cover anything and went out of business shortly after. This Jeep is a lemon. There has to be recalls on this. Jeep is currently at garage again and they are saying possible computer issues again maybe 02 yada. Came out of grocery store the other night and the Jeep would not start. Not the battery. Again the garage called and said it may be a electrical issue with the security of the vehicle. Just had new plugs and wires installed. This is absurd and there should be recalls on these Jeeps. There is definitely safety concerns!!!!!!!! haven't been able to get the engine light off as previously stated and thus still cant get a inspection going on a year! someone please help!!!.

I was driving down us rt. 60 headed back to phoenix arizona. During my time traveling down the road doing approximately 55-60 mph I ran over train tracks and immediately my Jeep began shaking uncontrollably. I was able to pull over my vehicle to stop violent shaking. I have looked into this on the internet and it seems to be a common problem referred to as, " death wobble. "this is the second time this has happened to me. I have owned the vehicle for 5 months. It was purchased at a Chrysler dealership.

I have had my brake lines, and calipers replaced twice due to the front tires rubbing the brake lines when tires are turned to max capacity. The brake lines wear though and leak fluid onto calipers, pads, rotors, etc. Causing them damage. My tires are the stock size and no modifications have been done besides replacing tires due to normal wear and tear, but again, tires are stock size. I have spent over $1200 due to this issue.

Tl-the contact owns a 2008 Jeep Wrangler 2-door 4x4. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, the vehicle hit a bump and the steering wheel and the front tires vibrated without warning. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000. The VIN was unavailable. Sg.

This happened on 76th st north, between whirlpool dr and lakewood Ave. Owasso, ok. I was driving to work, at t 5:45 am, I smelled smoke, looked out my drivers side door and saw a orange glow. I opened the door and saw flames coming out from the engine. I stopped, got out and called 911.

While driving downhill on an improved multi-lane highway, and braking as needed, the front end of the Jeep began to shake violently. This is the third episode of this extremely unsafe behavior. The first two episodes involved accelerating between 50 and 55 on an interstate highway on-ramp. All instances required immediate deceleration and/or modest braking and/or needing to come to a complete stop to arrest the violent shaking and regain normal steering control. Research yields information that this is a known occurrence with Jeep Wranglers and may be the result of substandard engineering and design. See "Jeep Wrangler -death wobble".

In may 2014 I purchases a used Jeep from a dealer in kernersville, nc and experienced issues with the vehicle the dealership claims are manufacture issues: -lighting: we have had to replace the taillight bulbs on both sides twice since purchase (less than a year ago). These lights constantly hold water and we have to empty them repeatedly and the water never seems to empty completely. These lights also seem to be affected by wiring as they do not always illuminate despite an effective bulb. We took it in for repairs under our purchased warranty and the dealership states there is water damage due to insufficient wire protection. This is very concerning as water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Regardless of the used condition of the car I see no reason why this should be the case as wiring seems very much like a manufacture only responsibility. -wheels: the vehicle was purchased with all original wheels (not tires) and the valve stems on each wheel have disintegrated completely and crumbled apart. We realized this when the low air light came on and we went to fill the tires this issue seems to effect how well the tires can hold air. -speedometer: originally when we purchased the vehicle the speedometer was off by about 10mph (we did not know this until driving two separate cars and thinking "hmm is the other driver really speeding that much?" call one another on the phone and determined the Subaru would drive 60mph and see what speed the Jeep claimed to be driving when matched. We had this issue "fixed" about two weeks ago and now it is even worse. Upon doing the same speed test the Jeep was now 12mph over what it should be. Other issues non-resolved by dealership: rattling sound near clutch, less than awesome braking, and a tire light that will not go off no matter what actions are taken.

This morning, March 7, 2014, on the way to work on a very busy road, my Jeep started to shake so bad, I had to pull to the side of the road or risk hitting someone. I calmed down, and returned to driving and it started again! it was the "death wobble" that I have experienced before but this is the first time it has happened twice in a row in such a short time. I have changed tires, had 2 different mechanics look at my Jeep and they can find nothing wrong, but there is something wrong!! please help!.

I have a 2008 Jeep Wrangler unlimited x with 42,000 miles. The vehicle has been babied except for one off-road weekend last fall. The death wobble just started about two months ago when applying brakes over 55 mph. Mostly front-end wobble. It happened sporadically and only at speeds around 60 mph. I took it to my mechanic and he replaced the rotors. Just a few days later, the wobble returned, but much worse, and with no braking applied. The whole car violently shook. I returned the vehicle back to my mechanic. He did some research and eventually installed a new steering damper, a bigger one than the original part. I am hopeful the problem will be fixed. In researching this matter and reviewing the various blogs, including this site, I cannot believe that Chrysler Jeep is not doing anything about it. While there has been no reports of death, that is just fortuitous. Something needs to be done about it. Not a coincidence that so many operators are experiencing the same problem with the same model.

While driving my 2008 Jeep Wrangler at speeds of 50 mph or greater and hitting a pothole, small bump, or when crossing a bridge, the Wrangler suddenly shakes violently. It becomes very difficult to steer, and must come to a complete stop in order to stop the shaking. This occurred more than 20 times in a 4 hour period. One incident almost caused an accident, as I tried to slow down and pull over in busy city traffic with a very small berm. I continued my drive at speeds of 40 mph or less, which reduced the number of incidents, but it still happened. I was fearful to move quickly, be in front of other cars or hit potholes, so driving was stressful and slow. I maintain the vehicle regularly, and have replaced the tires. This has happened before, but today was so often, it was difficult to drive the vehicle. I love my Jeep, but am very concerned about this problem. I am now considering purchasing a new vehicle.

Driving home on a Saturday evening accelerating up to 55 mph once the vehicle hit 48-50 mph the front end began to shake/vibrate violently slowing down did not stop the vibrations I needed to pull off the road and come to a complete stop. The above repeated 3-4 times during the course of the trip. Took the vehicle to the dealership the following Monday and was told by the dealership that I experienced the "death wobble" they replaced the steering damper and rotated the tires. I have driven approximately 1,000 miles since that service appointment and am now experiencing the "death wobble" again, I am already out $1,200 for the initial repair attempt. The steering damper replacement appears to have only masked the problem for a short amount of time and is not a fix but a patch job which is likely resulting in further damage to other portions of the steering/suspension system. There are several reports of this both in your system and throughout the internet something is clearly wrong with these vehicles and it needs to be addressed. The complete loss of vehicle steering control during the shaking is going to get someone killed and it seems like that is what all the regulators are waiting for before taking any action to get this issue fixed.

I'm not sure what caused the problem the first couple of times but when it started to occur more frequently I started to notice my speed and the road conditions when it happened. It was a combination of driving over 50 miles/ hour and rolling over a pothole, bump or simply uneven pavement that would cause the front end of the Jeep to wobble and shake violently. The steering wheel vibrates and shakes which makes it very hard to steer the vehicle and it becomes impossible to maintain highway speed while this is happening. The only way to stop the violent shaking is to quickly slow the car down, which is extremely dangerous on the busy interstate which I travel everyday to get to and from work. Recently I narrowly avoided getting rear-ended by a tractor trailer which was barreling down the highway behind me when the shaking occurred. I had to slam on the brakes to stop the vibrations. Luckily the truck driver changed lanes just in time. This condition is unpredictable and presents a serious safety threat because it generally happens at high speeds.

My 2008 Jeep Wrangler has developed a terrible vibration when I hit road bumps at highway speeds. The whole Jeep begins to vibrate to the point I have to pullover and stop the vehicle to gain control. I installed new tires and it is still occurring. I have reported this to Chrysler corp customer service dept they advised me to take it to a dealer to document the problem. This issue began at 50000 miles. I replaced the tires and it went away it has stated again now and replacing the tires has not fixed it I am very concerned that Chrysler is ignoring this problem as Jeep owners know about what they call the "death wobble" . I expect that you will follow up on this as it is totally irresponsible of Chrysler to continue to sell Jeeps that they know have defective parts.

While driving and when speed reached 55 -60 mph, the steering had a small shaking to it. As time and more miles went by, it turned into uncontrollable steering. I had to let off the accelerator and coast to a slower speed. Eventually I could not drive the Jeep until I changed the torsion bar, tie rod ends and steering stabilizer, (twice, the last time with a heavy duty one) and then what fixed it was the steering gear box. But once I changed it, the wobble or uncontrollable shaking stopped so I got a front end alignment and had to change all four ball joints due to the damage the wobble caused. That has been about 10 months and the small shaking has started up again. Getting worse to worse as time and mileage goes by.

While driving 45mph and making a slight bend to the left or right, the vehicle encountered a slight bump and the steering wheel started shaking violently. I had to bring the vehicle to a complete stop along the side of the road in order to get the shaking to stop. This happened several times during this trip. The vehicle was very difficult to control once the shaking started. It felt as though the entire vehicle would just shake apart. There is also a clicking feeling that can be felt in the steering once the vehicle warms up and is driven between 5 to 10 miles. The sterring actually feels more loose once this warmed up condition is met. The click is felt going over any type of bump in the road or even when sitting still and the steering wheel is moved back and forth, (left to right).

My wheel feel off for no reason -- lug nuts broken off - it is a miracle I wasn't killed. Had just exited highway where I was going 60 mph. Wheel bounced across 3 lanes of on coming traffic. I was a miracle someone in oncoming traffic was not killed.

Death wobble. Right front wobbles uncontrolably going at any speed when hitting a small bump in road. Braking makes it worse. You can only try to slow it down & pull off to shoulder without having an accident.

While driving on interstate, I hit a small bump while making slight turn to the left. This caused the vehicle to shake violently out of control. I cannot emphasize enough how violent the shaking was. . . It felt as if the vehicle might actually come apart. I had to pull of of the road to get it to stop. This has happened four times in the past six months. I have only owned the Jeep for a year.

While traveling on route 95 at 65mph, I hit a bump and my front end began to violently shake requiring me to pull into the breakdown lane and come to a stop. This occurred 2 more times and the vehicle was very difficult to control scaring me beyond belief. The phenomenon is known as "death wobble" by people that have had it happen. I have maintained my vehicle on a regular basis and the really concerning part is the number of reports on various web forums. There is no way to know it is going to happen and the unsuspecting driver can lose control and crash very easily. If you need any further information, please don't hesitate to call me. Thanks.

I have now experience the "death wobble"!!!!!!!!! this is a safety issue and needs to be addressed!!! this should be a recall!!!! I have now had this happen 3 out of the 5 times I have drove it!!!!!!!!! I am terrified to drive my used unpaid for vehicle!!!!! this needs to be fixed. I would never had bought this Jeep if I had know about this issue that Jeep knows about. Someone will eventually die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was driving home from work in the slow lane and had to pull off the road to get my vehicle under control. Again!!! I am terrified!!!! help us poor Jeep drives and make Jeep fix this issue.

Driving down the road and the rear passenger wheel fell off. Bolt threads showed to be broken. Brakes were changed 9 months earlier, and after 2 more service checkups no service person mentioned/noticed any issue with wheel/tire or rotor.

The contact owns a 2008 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that when driving over any road bump or uneven road surface at speeds of 45 mph or above, the vehicle would shake violently. The contact was not able to regain control of the vehicle until braking to a complete stop. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer and manufacture were both made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 65,000. The current mileage was 85,000.

2008 Jeep Wrangler began to violently shake. Automobile is unmodified. Very difficult to control under these conditions.

Driving down paved road and front end started to shake violently. Had to pull over and stop for it to stop. Had same problem in March 2011 and took to dealer for repair which only lasted about 4000 mile and 19 months.