Something is Really Wrong! Death Wobble Breakdown - Part 1 | Full-time RV Life
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- It felt like the wheels were falling off our RV! Something was wrong. VERY wrong. This was our experience of the "death wobble" while driving our motorhome, and towing the Jeep.
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ℹ️ About this Episode:
It was our 5th year anniversary of living on the road full-time. The RV started wobbling like crazy, and we ended up on the side of a busy New York Highway, in the rain. But we didn't find out the cause of the issue until later that night. The infamous "death wobble" known to occur on several models of Jeep. Ours shook our RV like crazy!
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I had a Jeep Wrangler that had the dreaded death wobble . The fix was to replace all the front end bushings with aftermarket neoprene bushings. Never had a problem again.
Sorry to hear you had it. Thank you for sharing the fix for your Wrangler.
I have had the death wobble twice in one trip. Both times it occurred on either uneven pavement, or with I went over a double set of railroad tracks. Both times I just slowed down to about 5-20 mph and it corrected itself. Scared the bejezzes out of me the first time but as soon as I looked in my rear camera and saw the jeep shaking, I knew what it was and just turned on the 4 ways, slowed down until it corrected itself and continued on my way to a safe place to double check all the connections. My Jeep Trailhawk has power to it so no issues with the battery dying. I have not heard that Jeep came out with a after market fix. I will look into that. Safe travels.
Wow. twice in one trip. Thanks for sharing your experience. More information about the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk fix in our towing part 2 blog post. Here is a link. rvlove.com/2018/04/12/our-towing-set-up-part-2-braking-and-setting-up-jeep-tow/
I had the same issue towing a Chev Equinox. I attributed it to the play in the receiver hitch. I had a drop down then the tow bar, so the two combined gave the tow bar some wobble room. I added a couple of weld beads to both receivers which tightened up the side to side movement of the two receivers. It drastically reduced the occurences. Or, they make aftermarket bolt on brackets to your hitch to reduce the play.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Sounds like quite a few folks have had similar issue with Chevy Equinox. Glad you have found a solution that helps.
We have experienced death wobble 2 days in a row with bad construction zones in Ohio! Both times, I had to stop to zero then go! Very dangerous!
I had a very minor similar experience that was caused by the baseplate clevises were starting to spread open. A new set of clevises fixed the issue. But when it was happening, it was a little scary. But once again, Marc's calm nature kept you both safe, and he set a great example of how to handle a highway emergency. Which is why I continue to watch you both even though we are getting tired of RV videos. You always provide great content! Thank you both!
HI Mike and Dawn. Yes, Marc stays cool as a cucumber (ex law enforcement) which is a big reason for him being able to troubleshoot most issues himself. Thanks for sharing your experience - it can be very scary for sure! Thanks for the kind words about our videos. We hear you with all those RV videos out there now! LOL Cheers
Our tow vehicle is a 2011 Ram Dulley 4x4 and I have experienced this pulling our bumper pull and our 5th wheel before the Dodge place corrected the Problem. This is not a great feeling at 70 mph.So glad nothing serious happened with y'all.
That would be very unsettling, especially at that speed.
I had that happen under just the right conditions towing our Chevy Equinox. The fix was super simple. I run a bungee cord from one side of the driver’s seat rail up through the steering wheel and down to the other side. Haven’t had an issue since, two years later. Also, I can back up within certain limits with the car hooked up! Thanks for the video.
Sorry to hear you experienced it too with your Chevy. Glad that you fond a solution that has worked for you through. Thanks for sharing.
Phew! I had visions of axle or major suspension problems in my mind. We’re glad everything worked out for you in the end.
We did too! Julie and I seriously thought it was the end of our coach when it first started. Glad it was something less serious in the end.
FYI, 7-pin RV connector plug, the center pin is your charge wire to a towed vehicle. 🤔
Thank you. As mentioned in the video and related blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble we do have a battery charging system installed, this situation was a perfect storm that caused failure. Went 20k miles and 20 months without incident. Have since replaced battery and should be fine again.
Welcome to New York. Lol. Glad you were able to figure out the problem and Thank God it wasn't a expensive one. If you guys went up I87. Aka NYS Thruway and passed Exit 21a Mass Pike , you were about 8 miles from me as a crow flies. I heard the story on the RV Show USA last night and I had to check it out . I also subscribed to your channel ( which I thought I already did). If your ever in the Albany N.Y. area again, I would love to meet you guys. Its about 20 minutes for me. Take care and hope to talk and meet soon. I Will be on the CZcams chat area Wednesday.
Center pin is backup lights.
In 2017 we broke down in our 45 foot Entegra motorhome on the entrance ramp to the Massachusetts Turnpike! During rush hour! It was a nightmare! Ours was due to a simple 30 amp fuse that blew in the chassis. Took a day to get it fixed and then it went again as we were exiting I 75 in northern Michigan and made for another interesting experience!
We also experienced our coach driving like you described but, due to a different reason. There were a couple of times where the airbag had lost more air than it should have in the coach chassis and the coach then starts driving like 5 miles of bad road, wobbling terribly!! One time when my husband took a turn a little too sharp, and the rear wheel went up on the curb and then down, we had to stop and wait for the airbag to air up again fully so we could continue because it was doing the wobble! The things you learn!
We were towing a 2016 jeep Cherokee trail hawk that had the death wobble issue already addressed at the factory before we leased it. We never had any issues with that and we never had the battery going dead. That must be something they also fixed in the newer models. It was a great vehicle to pull behind that motorhome!
Wow! Those would be some very stressful situations. Thanks for sharing, and really glad to hear that your Jeep has been flawless for you.
See this happen back in the 80's when a guy made a 90° turn. The front wheels on the car he was towing started turning left and right. All U have to do is come to a stop then ease forward and it straightened up and pulled right.
Thank you. Sounds like a number of vehicles had issues like that back in the 70s and 80s by other comments below. Yes, ours was remedied by stopping too. But, first time ever happened in 20 months and over 20K miles, just due to perfect storm. More at our blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble
So glad you guys were ok, so glad you guys shared this, this is such valuable information for anyone towing a jeep, or any vehicle for that matter!
Thank you. Glad it all worked out, and that we could share the information to help others. Thank YOU for creating the content you are creating in your Go North Series. There is nothing else like it on CZcams. Absolutely amazing. Your Denali episode was so beautiful, I actually found myself getting emotional watching it.
We have a 2017 Jeep Cherokee TrailHawk and I had the tow mod added to it by the dealership and it’s been great for your tow ,to To keep the battery charge on the Jeep I use a solar battery charger that plugs in to a cigarette lighter socket. Laying it on the dashboard as we go down the road during the daylight
Thanks for sharing. Glad you took the steps for safety like we did too. As mentioned in our video and post, rvlove.com/deathwobble we installed the tow mod at a dealership, and charge our battery with the Invisibrake braking system. Our battery was just too weak and would not accept enough charge that day to offset the abnormally high drain.
Good job staying cool. That was the best decision limping of the freeway. You seem like a real sweet couple.
Thank you for your kind words.
I run a battery charger on the tow vehicle while traveling, powered from the 7-pin trailer port. It really preserves the life of the tow car battery. From your video it is apparent that safety of both vehicles is at issue. Glad you figured out the cause - and kudos for keeping calm while dealing with it!
Thanks for your comment. As mentioned in the video and related blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble we do have battery charging for our towed vehicle via the braking system too. It has worked well for 20 months and 20K miles. This day was just a perfect storm of events, that caused the issue. One of which was an old battery that reached the end of it's life. Glad it all worked out ok in the end though.
You guys need the supplemental charging unit. I made sure I had that installed in my wrangler when I had the Stay-in-play duo installed
Our Invisibrake charges the Jeep battery while being towed. But the battery was (unbeknowst to us) on the way out. We have a new battery now and don't anticipate it being an issue. But we're visiting Roadmaster again next month to check everything over and see if we need something extra. But like we said, we drove 20 months and 20,000 miles without incident.
Thank you for sharing and explaining this in detail. My wife and I are not RV nor Jeep owners but are considering both in the future. I’ll keep this as a reference just in case we’re ever in this situation ourselves.
Glad to be able to help, and wishing you every success and joy in your future travels. -M
@@Rvlove watching your conversion of the bunkhouse to an office at the moment. Back to your beginnings to catch up. Planing on visiting Quartzite in January for a learning adventure, will you two be there?
I had a 1997 Jeep Cherokee with the death wobble. Talk about scary driving up the highway when you can't control your vehicle any longer! I hit the brakes and it would go away for a little while. I have first-hand experience on the stress and fear you felt.. hope you never have to experience anything like that again. Love your videos!
Wow. That would be very scary to have it happen while driving. Glad you were able to stay safe. Hoping either of us need to experience it again. Thank you for your kind words about our videos.
I have the same problem. Took it to the shop to have the front and checked. Luckily I saw your video and one more about the same problem with the trail hawk before I spent any money on the motorhome.
So glad that our video helped you get to the root of the problem, so you can remedy without spending money on things that won't fix it. Wishing you safe travels. -M
My CMax does the death wobble, but generally at low speed and when turning and going over bump or through a dip. Just stop for a second and then starting going and all is good. Glad you all survived NY roads!
Thank you. Seeing that this can happen to many other vehicles as well. Thanks for sharing your experience with others.
Interesting! I guessed the issue when you first described the issue! But I'm familiar with tow vehicle wobbles. Jeeps are not the only vehicles that do this! I had a Geo metro that would do this while under tow!
Good job. Yes, looking through the comments below, many vehicles seem subject to similar wobbles, some while driving them.
So Glad you are ok! Saw you at Escapade 2015 right before we went full time. We have been on the road since February 2019. Thanks!
Thank you and congratulations on going full time.
That must've been terrifying to feel and not know what was going on! You both did incredibly well staying calm and thinking clearly under stress. ❤️
Thank you. Yes, it was pretty scary at the time. Glad we could share our experience to help others. -M
So glad it wasn’t to serious. We had a similar thing happen in our old Class A gas rig. It was just after crossing back in the USA from our Alaska trip in 2017. I was holding on for dear life. But keep stopped as found nothing and it never happened again. Donna kept asking me what was wrong, but I didn’t want to talk I just wanted it to stop. Thanks for another great video. Tom & Donna Boatwright. I finally updated our name on CZcams
Thank you. Wow. Sorry to hear you had a similar situation, but glad you are ok too and has not returned. Safe travels.
We are very familiar with many of the roads in that area. Witnessed a towed vehicle go into the death wobble once as the other coach was passing us. It's terrifying! Glad you stayed calm and safe and figured it out.
Thank you. Wow. amazing that you had witnessed one. Definitely hair raising, but glad it all worked out.
We just ran NY and PA and had tow bar issues, those roads don't help lol glad you figured it out 👍 safe travels guys, cheers!
Dave & Karen
Thank you, and wishing you safe travels too.
The term "death wobble" didnt come from being towed from a rv . It was coined by us auto techs going on 20 some years ago. Let me explain. Jeeps in the past with their front driveline systems had what they call a "track bar" that one end would attach to the frame and the other end would attach to the front axle. On the side that attaches to the frame you have a wearing idem called a ball and socket. Just like your are socket. This over time would wear out because Jeep did not provide a grease fitting to the socket that normally would be greased every oil change. So when this socket would wear out the bar would be allowed to move east and west of the Jeep causing the "death wobble" . The jeeps now days have done away with this. And what you experienced is like a out of control gyro that got out of control. Even though people have called it "death wobble" for this it is not the same "death wobble" that we auto tech use in the industry. just fyi. Just my expreaince as being a ASE master tech of 20 years and jeep owner for as long. Nice infomated video of what can happen.
Thanks for taking the time to explain - am sure it will be interesting and useful to other folks reading the comments too. The main point we hope to convey to people is stay calm, and understand if it happens to them, how to fix it. By stopping. And always put safety first. Cheers!
Thank you for the comment Live-Laugh-Love-Travel, I found the use of the term "death wobble" on this video and blog very misleading as it really is NOT the same issue most Jeep owners know the 'death wobble' to be at all, and I was very confused by the 'fix' here.
However, I learned something new regarding this specific Cherokee power steering issue. Glad it didn't ruin your trip RVLove, and thanks for sharing your experience.
@@adventurewaggin3222 yes it has to do with the sterring that it seems to lock up and causes the ABS brakes to pulse right and left. The wiring harness from jeep keeps the power to the sterring during flat tow. we had the harness installed and you put a fuse to keep power to it during towing. That fixed the problem but interesing that it only started afer we had over 20 k miles on the jeep cherokee. I installed a tow vehicle battery charger that charges the battery from the RV. hook up
Then why couldn't you tell them what it was? I could and I'm not a master tech.
I tow a Trail hawk as well and have experienced the death wobble once. That was enough for me and had the factory mod added. You seem to be missing the charging cable from the motorhome that eliminates that dead battery problem.
Our invisibrake braking system charges the battery from the coach, but we are looking into a way to increase charging capacity. We shared more detail on our blog post rvlove.com/deathwobble
Had a 2008 Wrangler Rubicon. Experienced death wobble at 60 mph. Scared me to death...felt like the vehicle came off the axles. Took to a Jeep shop and they replaced the steering stabilizer with a Fox brand stabilizer. $150 later and never had another issue with it.
That would be really scary having it happen to the vehicle you are driving at 60mph. Thanks for sharing your experience and the solution to help others stay safe.
I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee trail hawk also put the wire harness on to fix and have 7 pin plug and a wire harness it keeps the battery charge, 15,000 miles no problem and battery all ways ok.
Got everything-needed from etrailer.com for the battery.
If you what to check if power steering is ok to tow all you have to do is turn the steering wheel and it should turn easy , I check every time I get gas
Good idea to check steering while at gas stations to make sure our battery charger is still charging.
We have also experienced the death wobble once. The power-steering mod works. We have installed a battery charger from RVi (~$85) and the battery stays charged. We have a 2015 Jeep Cherokee with about 30K miles towing over the last four years.
Agreed. The aftermarket steering mod seems to work great. Went 20K miles before having an issue. As mentioned in the video and related blog post rovlove.com/deathwobble our Invisibrake has been doing a great job of keeping our battery charged for the most part. Just a perfect storm of events that day.
Glad you're okay Mark and Julie! I wanted to tell you that I have over 25 years of experience driving 40 feet and over vehicles and that you can also experience the death wobble in your diesel coach. It will happen upon crossing really bad roads and potholes. Make sure your fingers are on outside of steering wheel cause you can break fingers...Stay safe
Thank you for sharing your experience and insight. That would be very unsettling in the coach. Good tip on hand placement on the wheel. Thanks again.
My Jeep has the death wobble mine was the drivers side Tie Rod. Always happened when I used my brake or I hit a bump. It destroyed my tires before the problem was discovered. Changed the tires to all Michelin’s instead of the Goodyear Wranglers.
Thanks for sharing. Sorry you had issue too, but glad you found solution for yours too.
hi I live in Orlando Florida and I own a Jeep liberty. Watching your experience with your Jeep and how it shook your whole RV helped me really understand what's going on when mine suddenly starts to do that. We tried to tow a trailer and it wobbled so bad scared all of us and found driving slow was the only thing we could do. at least now I understand more of how it's not just a problem with my own. Happy travels to you both.
Thank you. Glad you found our video so helpful. Safe travels.
We had that same problem with our jeep cherokee 2017 on a trip last month and had to have the fix installed at a dealer during our trip... what is interesting is we have towed that jeep for almost 4 years without any problem at all. then Bamb.it started... it is a scary situation when it happens....
Thanks for sharing. Sorry it happened to you too, but glad you are all fixed up. It seems to take a perfect storm of events to set it off, but definitely unsettling when it does. -M
@@Rvlove it required a wiring harness that jeep found out that fixed the wobble... seems that it is common on jeeps flat towing. had to put a battery charging kit on my tow vehicle so not to run the battery down.
So so glad everyone and everything is good,keep on being you ,and stay safe out there
Thank you. Yes, glad it is all ok. Wishing you safe travels as well
Jeep makes a-fix for running electricity to the electric power steering so it functions when the engine is not running.
Yes. Thank you, as mentioned in the video and related blog post rvlove.com/deathwobble we do have that installed. It just didn't work that day because our battery had died and had the perfect storm of events.
Back in the late 70's I towed my 71 CJ5 with a 72 Winnebago Indian D24. Was great unless you took tight turns and then the steering would go sharp left or right depending on the turn and stay there. You could not drive anymore without skidding the tires on the Jeep because they would not come back to straight...had to jump out, straighten the wheels and go on. Fixed that by getting a trailer.....not many choices back then I guess. Never did give me a death wobble though. BTW,. Death wobble also is a common mid 70's Dodge truck problem (4WD versions). Going down the road, hit a bump and then the steering would violently shake left and right. You would have to stop the vehicle to make it stop....and change your pants :-) Fun times
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Sounds like some definitely challenges you had in the past. Trailer is a solid fix. Can only imagine how scary that would be having the vehicle you are driving go into a wobble.
Glad it was only the Death wobble, as you call it. We don't have a Jeep but actually tow a 2012 Chevy Cruze, manual transmission and have had this happen while towing with our Tiffin Allegro Bus. We've towed the same car behind 2 other smaller motorhomes and if my memory serves me correctly maybe had it happen once or twice with them. Seems we are usually coming out of some turn, either a 90 degree or even a slower lane change. It stops usually if I slow down to a creep ( never going very fast when this happens), or completely stop for a few seconds. Maybe's happened a total of 5 times since 2013 when we started towing it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Sounds like yours is very similar, but different in that usually at slow speeds. Glad yours is also easily stopped, and uncommon. Thanks again for sharing and safe travels.
We've noticed the "death wobble" while towing our 2016 Subaru Forester (manual transmission). If we accelerate from zero MPH in a turn, (like from a campground entrance onto a highway) it will start to wobble. As you stated in the video, stopping (not just slowing down, actually stopping, and, waiting a moment), then restarting takes care of the issue. Or for us, just pulling out onto the highway with very little acceleration, until we are lined up with the road helps. Good luck everyone. And don't be afraid to come to a complete stop - even on a highway - if you need to. Maybe put on the flashers.
Thank you for sharing your experience, on when it has happened to you and how you resolve it. That is the first mention we have seen of a Subaru.
So happy there was nothing really wrong. What a miserable weather day too!
Thank you. Yes, the weather definitely added to the discomfort of the situation.
As I watched the video, I thought "Cool... they tow a Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk, just like the new one that we just purchased." Ours is a 2019, and they now come with the "steering fix" factory-installed. I had read the 2018 Owner's Manual prior to purchase, and quizzed the dealer about the steering requirements prior to purchase. I knew a "steering kit" was necessary, but unaware of the reason. Your video was extremely helpful and informative, if not downright scary! Thanks very much for the information.
So glad that our video was helpful. Congratulations on your new Jeep.
I guess you were lucky to get fix pre-installed. Our 2019 must have been. We are correcting that now.
Wow that looked scary. Great job on keeping calm. Glad you were able to figure it out and that it was nothing drastic. Safe travels!
Thank you. Yes, very unsettling at the time, but great that it was not as drastic as we first thought. Safe travels to you too.
We just this happen on our 2018 Grand Cherokee after making a weird turn onto a very sloped highway out of a gas station. Scared me to death but I was able to stop and then resume travel safely. Thanks for the video.
Sorry to hear it happened to you too. Glad you are safe as well. Glad you liked the video.
My only death wobble experience was drinking in college😛 glad u are safe, glad you figured it out, and appreciated the calm under pressure response!
Thanks for the laughs. Yes, I am usually very good at staying calm under pressure.
@@Rvlove It sure is commendable!
Another great video! You handled everything right by making sure the unit was safe, finding a spot off the highway and travelling there to further investigate.
Thank you for your kind words and support.
My girlfriend has a Jeep, and they don’t have real batteries. i am running twin big interstates and I still run low on tow power after about 6-7 hours of towing. Time to put a battle born Lithium in the Jeep, I am so done with lead acid. Note I am towing a 8000 LB Ford E350 with (active) “Stay and Play” braking system. In Process of moving class C body onto a Ford F750, what a process!! Big everything..
Wow that sounds like a big project. surprised at the drain you are seeing. Maybe your charge line isn't working at all. From what I understand, Lithium batteries are not recommended for starters, only 'house' batteries.
Yes, the challenge has begun,,E450,,to F750 RV swap imgur.com/gallery/CeUSG8I.battery type is irrelevant, only thing that matters is charge controllers.why depend on jeep when you can make energy storage so much better..,your 7 connector to tow has an empty lead, use it.
My drain is weight, 4 tons of toad, and active braking. Your lite. Toad with non active braking, key off dead stick,
Wow, I honestly guessed at the problem and waited for the video to play out. 😉
Great that you were able to guess what had happened. We are glad it worked out, and that by sharing it can help others. -M
I used to drive under that bridge 9/35 every day when I worked in the city. Ugh. Glad things worked out! Probably a good time to install a charge line from the RV to the towed. I have one and it's not hard to install. Keeps my battery fully charged which is good as my towed RVIbrake needs power.
Hi Joe. Our Invisibrake system does charge the battery and had worked great for 20K miles, but our old battery wasn't accepting enough charge for the conditions that day. That said. We have replaced our battery, and will be exploring additional charging capacity just to be extra safe in the future.
You should have a hot 12 volt connection at your hitch plug with the coach running. On my coach I ran that wire along the umbilical to the positive post of the jeep battery. Keeps the jeep battery charged all the time while towing.
Thank you. As shared in the video and related blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble we actually do have a charging system in place for our batteries. This was a combination of multiple factors that resulted in a dead battery that could not accept enough charge to offset the drain.
We had the same issue only it happened at the first turn out of having the tow bar package installed. Yes a after market wiring harness solved the problem except for the battery issue caused by the fact the power steering is electric and in days time runs down the battery. For less than 100 dollars a trickle charger install solved the issue. My the way if you bought your Jeep new you should have been able to get the wiring harness at no cost. Factory would reimburse the dealer. Ours was used and it cost abut 200.00 at the dealer. As a after thought the Jeep Manual says nothing about all of this, good going boys...
Crazy it happened to you on the first day. Glad the harness fixed for you too. The battery drain issue is one of the reasons we chose the braking system that we did, as it charges the battery. Worked well for a long time. Just an old battery. That said, we will still explore additional charging ability just in case. We had bought our Jeep used, so Jeep didn't cover the cost. True that the printed owners manual doesn't mention it. BUT... interestingly, the updated, online version of the manual for same year vehicle does.
i had a customer experience a death woggle on a geo tracter a couple of years ago. I used a bungy cord looped through the steering wheel and added hooks on ether side of the steering wheel. Worhed great.
We have heard of that working on other vehicles as well. Definitely not always the best solution, but works for some. Glad it worked for your customer with the Geo.
We had a similar problem with our Wrangler XL. It would go into Death Wobble occasionally when driving and was absolutley terrifying. Even more scary when we were towing a little trailer with the Jeep. Turns out a replacement of the factory steering damper with an aftermarket model (that wasn't crap) seemed to do the trick. We love Jeeps, but we've had lots of mechanical issues with them. They seem to be engineered by folks that aren't quite paying attention to the job at hand.
Wow. that would be very scary having it happen while driving (especially while towing with it). Glad the aftermarket damper fixed yours. Thanks for sharing for anybody else with the same vehicle.
We have had the same thing happen with our 2016 Cherokee Trailhawk. We have the factory modification installed and still had one occurrence. While we have had battery discharge problems in the past, that was not the case when we experienced the wobble. The battery discharge problem has been solved with an RVI Towed Battery charger. The original charging setup by the dealer used a diode. Unfortunately, if for any reason the battery was a little low, it would allow greater than 20 amps through the umbilical cable to the jeep and would blow the fuse in the motorhome. We would not be aware of this when driving, so the Jeep would completely discharge.
Thanks for sharing your experience too. Our battery charing is through our Invisibrake and has worked really well for 20K miles. The battery was just too weak for the perfect storm of events that day. More at our blog post https:rvlove.com/deathwobble.
I felt the frustration when I first read your video description but I had to watch the complete video before I related our experience. First, everyone who has pushed a grocery store shopping cart too fast has had a similar experience. The front wheels, which are caster wheels, will wobble from side to side. Motor vehicles prevent that with proper alignment, specified toe-in, and various combinations of steering rods, bushings, springs, gas struts, shock absorbers, etc.
We were surprised just 19 miles from home one day. An examination showed nothing amiss and we drove home. A few days later our mechanic said we needed new bushings for the steering assembly . . . but they weren't available on a 1996 chassis, except as an assembly with new springs. $4,000 is a lot of money but peace of mind is worth it. In retrospect, it could have been fixed by simply tightening a couple of bolts a quarter turn . . . maybe . . .
Thanks for sharing your experience. agreed that safety and peace of mind are worth it.
The Jeep Cherokee has electric steering. With no power to the steering the front wheels can get into a wobble like the front wheels of a shopping cart sometimes do. The wiring harness kit applies power to the steering and gets rid of the wobble.
Thanks again. Yes, we speak to the electronic steering in other comments below and the related blog post. Not sure if your comment was for us, or helping answer somebody elses question. Glad we installed that extra harness right after buying the Jeep.
You were quite fortunate...NY is not known for its wide shoulders, so I'm very happy that the travel God was watching over your safety! And that there was a logical & quick solution to the problem.
Thank you. Yes. we felt very fortunate that there was a shoulder relatively close by that allowed us to stop. Many cities on the east coast have limited shoulders. Definitely felt that we were watched over us that day.
Interesting! Kindly please do more videos on the technical aspects of your class A diesel pusher.
Thank you. Glad you found it interesting. We appreciate your suggestion for other videos, and will add them to the list.
First off, we're glad your safe. That was interesting about the death wobble. We own a 2012 Jeep Patriot. Kudos for keeping calm and as always take care and be safe.
Thank you. wishing you safe travels as well.
We have a Jeep Wrangler and know well what that feels like! We don't tow ours currently. I'm so glad your issue was just a temporary and unique thing. What a scare though!!
Thank you. Yes, definitely a scare that day. Sounds like you have experienced some wobble with your Wrangler. Hope you have a fix for it.
We tow a 2014 Ford Cmax behind our 1998 Foretravel U320 and had the same thing happen to us once. Glad you are alright!
Thank you. Sounds like quite a few other vehicles are subject to the same issue.
Wow that was scary. Glad y’all are ok. Safe travels.
Thank you. Yes, pretty scary, but all is well that ends well. Safe travels to you too.
We have a class A as well and our toad is on a dolly. Don’t like the dolly at all.
Glad all turned out well and you identified what went on. That was the reason I purchased the Grand Cherokee Overland... I did not want to experience that issue...
Thank you. Wishing you a trouble free expereience.
Yep, know about and have read a lot about the jeep death wobble.
OH...BTW...I was talking to our insurance agent the other day "BOB"...when we were renewing our annual policy, and I told him about our YT channel and he asked me if we knew about you guys because you also are a client of his. We said yes we watch you, but don't personally know you. Maybe someday we can hook up. Anyway good job.
Producing video's takes a lot of time and effort doesn't it? This we know.
Oh, loved the idea of the lime green safety jacket to put out safety cones. On my Amazon to-do-list.
thx guys and safe travels. Supporting you two. LIKED.
Thank you. Fun that we have the same insurance agent. Yes, Videos have been soooo much work over the years, but we love helping others. Glad you liked the extra safety of wearing vest. Maybe someday we will meet up.Wishing you safe travels as well.
Thanks for sharing that experience I've never heard of the death wobble but definitely good to know glad you're safe and happy travels
Thank you. Glad that the information was valuable to you and wishing you safe travels as well.
We tow a Jeep Cherokee and had the "death wobble" happen to us in a curve, coming down a mtn on one of the fabulous (lol) interstates in PA. Like you we pulled over, heavy traffic whizzing by, thinking something awful had happened. We had traffic on 1 side and a shear drop on the other. I had to walk along the top of a metal guard rail to get to the back of the coach. Of course we found nothing wrong so we very cautiously pulled back onto highway. Tada...everything fine. I did some research and learned about the "death wobble". Haven't experienced it since. Like you, we think it takes a certain set of conditions to make it happen.
Than you for sharing your detailed comment of your experience. Sorry to hear you had it too, but glad to hear that it worked our ok for you and haven't had a recurrence. Yes, very specific set of conditions to make it happen.
This is a common problem on Ford and I believe Dodge pickup trucks with solid front axles. The solution for them is to install a steering damper which consists of some additional structural components and shock absorbers to prevent the rapid left to right movement of the front wheels. I have had three Ford F350 trucks and experienced the issue on the first and second truck.
Ford does include a half hearted stabilizer but it tends to fail at fairly low mileage which is when I experienced it on the first F350 so I had a steering damper to that first truck for $200.. When I purchase my second F350 the first thing I did was have my mechanic remove the factory steering damper and install an aftermarket one with two Fox shock absorbers for around $650 and never had an issue with that truck. After about three years and 85,000 miles with that second truck I purchased my 2015 F350 dually and immediately had the steering damper removed from the second truck and installed on the new one and put the factory damper back on the second truck. After removing everything I wanted from the second truck to the new truck, I drove the second truck five miles to the dealer and had to cross a set of railway tracks. The death wobble set in after crossing the track in a serious way at 50 mph so I came to a stop and then continued without incident. I warned the dealer when I dropped the truck off that it definitely had the death wobble.
I now have almost 135,000 miles on the 2015 F350 dually and have had no death wobble issues at all. This is the first I have heard of an electronic steering damper. With all the battery issues you are having I would investigate the possibility of installing a steering damper as well or instead as no power is required with a damper.
Love your videos and the great content you provide to the RVing community.
Lauren
Yes, quite a few vehicles have been known to have this issue. -M
I get that feeling everytime in drive into Pa.
We have had pleasant drives in PA on all our visits. Sometimes surprising how we end up using so many smaller roads instead of major interstates, even on long drives.
You were right near my friend's house! Glad you got it sorted out. And if it's any consolation, you guys looked great throughout the ordeal!
Thank you for the compliments. Turns out many of our audience are familiar with that area.
Yikes! Glad you were safe and figured it out.
Thank you. Yes, very glad it all worked out well.
I got my 2017 Jeep Cherokee because you got yours. You mentioned this issue before. Interestingly, I bought the modification kit ($125) but they wanted $900 to install it! So it’s sitting in my trunk. I’ve had the DDW (dreaded death wobble) quite a few times. I now know when it’s likely to come. It only happens when you are turning on a really bad surface or bumpy driveway curb. It’s the turn and shake that causes it on mine. Answer is to stop. That it. Stop and it goes away and off I go again. Not sure if that helps. We can chat more if you need to. We’ve had email chats before.
Sorry to hear that it has happened so many times for you. Surprised at the cost to install. Ours was $500 (parts and labor combined). Maybe another shop will be better. Would highly recommend taking it out of your trunk and installing it. It works very well. This was the only occurrence we have had, and just because of perfect storm that prevented the mod from being able to do it's job. Thanks for sharing your comment.
Btw i do have a battery charger running when I tow. Only problem is if I Wallydock and forget to unplug my brake system it drains the battery. I got a long charger cable and hook it to my RV battery. The small chargers are not strong enough when it’s fully drained.
We have an old jeep that we go mudding with, it has the death wobble so you can't go over 35 mph. Not a good feeling, but it does fine going through mud and up hills.
LOL. As long as you know it's limitations, it sounds fun.
Been there done that had it happened to us with the 2016 jeep summit pulled behind a 45 foot Entegra made a sharp turn off of the interstate onto an access road hold coach started shaking we didn’t know what was going on until we looked in the rearview camera could see the jeep bouncing back-and-forth stepped on the break and it quit had it one other time we know what to look for now usually a pothole a sudden swerve or something will start it up happening, very scary the first time it happened shakes a 64,000 pound coach. Definitely no mistaking what it is now when it happens hope it doesn’t happen again it’s only happened twice in 20,000 miles
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Sorry to hear it happened to you more than once, but glad no damage or injury, and easy remedy. I wonder if there is a special fix for your summit like our cherokee.
I thought the death wobble was only a Jeep thing. Scary in an RV that size. EDIT: AHA It was the Jeep after all! That is terrifying to have an experience like that in the rain in all that traffic. So glad you figured it out.
Thank you. Yes, ours was caused by the Jeep, but as evidenced in the comments below, it is definitely not exclusively a Jeep thing. Many vehicles (including some motorhomes) have experienced it.
@@Rvlove That is scary! I also have a Jeep Cherokee and would hate to experience this in an RV your size.
My little smart car would wobble but the folks at Roadmaster advised me to just loop a bungee cable around a spoke of the steering wheel and connect the other ends to the seat frame and NO wobble anymore as the bungy keeps that from happening.
Interesting that such a simple fix helped your Smart car. Glad it has worked for you.
Scary watching those vehicles zoom by so close! I always hated to break down on an interstate like that, even with a loaded semi I never liked it. If the vehicle would move at all I would have hit the nearest exit and got it off the busy highway to stop. I've limped off the road like that more than once. Not safe on the shoulder, some tired driver might come along and think you are in the lane ahead of him and plow right into you. :O
We agree that it isn't safe to stop on the shoulder. But, our coach was shaking really bad, and didn't feel safe at all to drive at the time. Concerned that we might cause even worse situation if the vehicle failed in actual lane of traffic. Once we had a quick look at it, we moved to a much safer location to have a better look.
when my motorhome was acting like that..............it was the tire, front passenger, going into Kansas City. went to a big truck travel plaza, they helped with info and stayed overnight there, got 2 new front tires 9 miles away.
Having tires go bad is extra scary. glad you were able to get them replaced without incident.
We are going with the ford f150 for our tow vehicle. $30k new and under 5000 lbs.
We have recently started seeing quite a few F150 towed vehicles. Great to have the extra functionality of a truck.
Glad you figured that out. Scary! Happy 5 year Nomadiversary. Happy travels.
Thank you. Not the way we hoped to celebrate it, but still good.
WOW! That is great information! Sorry that you had to experience that issue, yet so glad you made it through the wobble safely. Safe travels!
Thank you. Glad you liked the information. In the end, we are glad it happened as we are safe, and can share important information with others to keep them safe. Thanks again.
Dang guys! We've all been there (broken down on the side of the highway), and it always sucks! Glad you're all okay!
Thanks Rick. At least this one was an easier end result. Some of our previous breakdowns were much more involved.
Jeep of death!!!, that was the first call don't wait for the next one.
Perfect storm of events in this situation that we are confident we can avoid recurrence, and sharing the information to help others avoid as well. More information at our blog rvlove.com/deathwobble
Why not use the motor home to charge the tow car?
It must be wired for the tail lights.
It couldn't be too hard - to run a charge line from the house alternator back to the tow car.
My Jeep is set up using the motorhome to charge Jeep battery
Ours too. -M
We do run charging from the motorhome. Have since upgraded even more. -M
well glad you are both ok
Thank you. Glad it all worked out ok.
Should have your emergency flashers on.
Glad you figured it out.
Thank you.
We have a 7 pin coupler attached to the Jeep. One of the pins is suppose to maintain the Trailhawk battery.
Yes, as explained in the video, and related blog post ( where we go into even more detail at rvlove.com/deathwobble ) we have an Invisibrake system that DOES charge the Jeep battery while towing. That is why we drove 20 months and over 20K miles without incident. But our 2015 Jeep battery was 5 years old and not holding a charge as well anymore. That vehicle is notorious for having a heavy power draw. And in the stop and go NJ/NY traffic, the brakes were activated much more often than usual. Thus draining the battery faster to a point of it going flat. We did not know the Jeep battery was dead at the time we pulled over. We only discovered it later that night when we went to unhook the Jeep from the RV. This was the first sign our Jeep battery was no longer holding a charge properly, and we had to use our NOCO Jump starter on the Jeep battery several times until we replaced it.
We now have a new battery in the Jeep, and will be visiting Roadmaster next month to have our system inspected, and discuss potential options for additional charging, if necessary. We feel this was a “perfect storm” and don’t anticipate it happening again, now that we have a new Jeep battery. At least we hope not!
4 or 5 years ago, I was driving through Pennsylvania on Rt 80, I was doing about 85 mph, in my Dodge Ram 2500, all of a sudden I experienced a "death wobble". It scared the crap out of me, I lost all control for a few seconds, as my truck violently shook and shuddered....I coasted to the shoulder to take a look underneath. My fiberglass bed cover was cockeyed, it shook so hard, it had sheared the bolts that held it in place! I drove it another 150 miles home, without another incident, but I kept it under 60mph. I sold it a few months later.
Wow. That would have been scary for sure. Glad you made it through without an accident. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Holy crap! That is crazy! Glad you guys are OK.
Yes, it was pretty unsettling. But glad it all worked out ok.
My 1947 Jeep would wobble every once in a while. Would stop and start again and would be fine for a while. You think it was bad in the MH you should be in the Jeep. That is the reason i bought a 2011 grand cherokee because it doesn't have the electronic steering. Also my stop/turn/brake signals come directly from the MH and not tied into Jeep electrical. I have surge brakes on the tow bar instead of electric brake control so save there as well.
I am sure that would be quite a rush when driving the vehicle with the wobble. There were a number of folks in comments below with similar experiences. Sounds like you definitely made some choices to avoid future recurrence.
WOW! That sounds scary!!! Glad you guys were able to figure out what was going on!!!
Thank you. It was scary at the time. But all ended ok.
Yep all good
Best analysis I've seen to date. Please do more troubleshooting videos and be safe.
Thank you. Glad you liked the video. Others seem to like this type of video too. We like to share educational content whenever possible.
if it works we ride. great wisdom in this post. and happy anniversary on the road
Thanks!
Put a charging line from your 7 way plug on your coach to your jeep. Several companies that sell tow bars and base plates sell them. I put one on our saturn.
Thank you. But as mentioned in the video and related blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble we DO have a charging system for our battery via our braking system. This is the first time we had a dead battery in 20K miles and over 20 months. We will look into additional charging capacity, but our current set up has worked very well. This day had a perfect storm ending in the result.
@@Rvlove Maybe it broke( I mean malfunctioned). Things this expensive don't break, they malfunction. Lol. Every time we have something that needs fixing on our 03 Diesel pusher it's between 2000.00 and $3000.00. And so far we haven't had to be towed to the repair shop, we were always able to drive it although at a top speed of around 45 mph one time.(Bad boost sender and restricted muffler). You have a beautiful coach and jeep. Love it!
The death wobble is caused by a defective part on a steering component. On a Dodge Ramp pickup, the most common is the bushings on the track bar (part of the steering assembly).. I think it's odd that an electronic component could fix the death wobble unless they're applying the brakes when it occurs
Thanks for sharing. The electronic component installed on our Jeep keeps the electronic steering active while ignition is off and being towed. Unfortunately it puts a lot of drain on the system. Even with our battery charing system installed, it wasn't quite enough that day for the conditions. More detail at our blog post rvlove.com/deathwobble
My f250 does the same thing. A small stutter bump starts it. I have to slow to 40mph to get it to stop. I heard new tires fix it. But that only worked for a short time. I guess I have to rebuild the whole front end.
Bummer your F250 does it too. Thanks for sharing your experience, hope you find a good fix without a complete rebuild.
So happy you are both ok. Thank you for the info about the death wobble. Scary
Thank you and glad that you found it informative.
Happy to see it worked itself out without major damage. Sounds like a good analysis , I believe you can get devices that enable the RV to continually charge the battery under tow.
Thank you. Glad it worked out ok too. As mentioned in the the video and related blog post at rvlove.com/deathwobble our Invisibrake continually charges the battery while being towed too. The battery was just very weak, and the conditions that day had abnormally high draw killing the battery.
Just found you guys a week ago. Love your videos. You were in my neck of the woods. The new Tappan Zee bridge is very nice indeed. Glad your issue was easily solved, and not something that involved a serious repair to CC.
Thank you and Welcome! Glad you enjoy our content. Fun that we were in your area. And yes, very happy that it was easily solved and no injury or damage.
Thank God you are alright ❤ Safe travels ...
Thank you and safe travels to you too.
Yup, my 04 dodge ram 3500 did it 1 time on me. Had no clue to death wobble at the time. Was towing my 29 ft toyhauler at the time. Scared the beegeebies out of me.
That would definitely be scary having it happen to the vehicle you are driving, especially while towing a trailer. Yikes.
That was terrifying in traffic! I would have been hysterical...on the inside..... SO glad it didn't cost you a dime to fix... well minus a new Jeep battery.
It was definitely pretty stressful at the time. Glad it was no damage or injury and an easy fix in the end.