Jeep Cherokee Death Wobble

[Thomas M]

I think the Cherokee was the only one with the problem and it was with the electronic steering that’s why they added the wiring harness so it would have power while being towed

[MtnBroker]

We had the same problem in our 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk and after the installation of the wiring loom it has gone away HOWEVER I think Jeep needs to take a bit more responsive for this problem at least by installing a remote fuse switch at the dash instead of having to raise the hood to physically install/remove the fuse every time you are going to flat tow. In great weather this is not big deal when when the jeep is muddy, its during rain or it is 107 outside it is a real pain.

If anyone knows of a solution on working around the manual install/remove of the under the hood fuse I would sure like to learn about it. Had one made by Roadmaster for our CRV toad but understand it is not designed to take the load of the Jeep micro fuse.

[Merv Tuttle]

I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I just flat toed from Maine to Utah on our way to California and than back home. It has pulled great no issue at all. I followed the manufactures instruction on Flat towing and it has worked great. Hope you find a solution to your problem, safe travels.

[DaddyDon]

Does a liberty develop this death wobble?

[Bill of Annapolis]

The wiring harness was put on at Jeep's expense by the local dealer where I purchased the 2015 Cherokee. Before the installation, I experienced what I assumed was reaction to driving over roads with seams in the concrete, sometimes called corduroy roads. Once the harness was installed, I had no such problem. Mine is a Trail Hawk.

[JohnR]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee experiences the "Death Wobble" effect?

JohnR
2018 Chateau 31W
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee

[RichS]

Never had it on mine before the wire harness. I did put the wire harness on just for warranty reasons.

[Lbatt]

An Update. I did my first tow on a 120 mile "trial run", and I did hit one uneven BUMP in a slow turn and did get the wobble, so down to the dealer. He 'researched" it, and said since I had a $100 deductible extended warranty, they'd do it for the $100.

We then towed it on a 9 day excursion and had no problems, and encountered some pretty rough roads in N.M. I towed it up and down Molas and Coal Bank passes from Durango to Silverton.

I did NOT tow up and down the notorious Red Mountain Pass from Silverton to Ouray. Dangerous and narrow, and a LONG WAY DOWN if you go over the side. So wife drove the jeep and followed me in the MH.

I think jeep should reimburse me the $100 but I'm not going to waste my time other than maybe write one letter of request.

As others have said, there should have been some other option than to raise the hood, insert a fuse, flip a switch inside the cabin...then when not towing, "unflp" the switch and remove the fuse. Why not have another toggle to just turn the whole thing OFF, cutting power through the fuse? Dumb fix, though it has worked so far.

Here's a pic of my fave road, from the summit of Red Mtn Pass down to Telluride.

[RichS]

Glad everything worked out.

[simidrm]

I think you guys are talking about powering up the power steering pump when towing,as our Jeep has an electric p/s pump, but you still shouldn't get a wobble when towing powered up or not, I would get the ball joints and suspension looked at.

[RichS]

It's called castering. Same thing happens to the nose wheel of general aviation aircraft that doesnt have any type of dampening on the gear. Once power is supplied to the power steering the resistance stops the wobble. I do believe it only happens to the Cherokee for some reason.

[Lbatt]

It's NOT the ball joints or any other iss:ue with the suspension or steering. SOME Cherokee's do have a problem with the "death wobble", and the Mopar wiring fix does provide power to the EPS and helps prevent that.

I've had my steering/suspension looked at 4 times before towing as when hitting bumps in a turn at high speed I get a "wobble", but nothing like the "death wobble", and the 3 different dealers have found nothing wrong.

and my first tow, I did get the serious wobble so had the wiring "fix" installed and in a 300 mile tow over some rough roads, never had another problem.

But it is really STUPID that Jeep would put out a vehicle like this, and have this work around STUPID fix, though it does seem to work, just such a hassle

I would have opted for a 4 runner, but the seats are horribly uncomfortable, and now being further educated in the towing thing, I don't know if the Toyota can be flat towed. My son has a '96 Landcruiser, and it CAN NOT be flt towed under any circumstances and there's no fix that he or I can find.

[abjbrtd]

It's well documented that electric steering will have the "death wobble" while being towed, maybe not the first, 3rd or... but it will happen.

GM "Death Wobble" Fix - iRV2 Forums
https://community.fmca.com/topic/101...quinox-wobble/
https://community.fmca.com/topic/120...ing-2014-2018/

This link is about destroyed front ends.
https://jeepcherokeeclub.com/5-new-m...front-end.html

This link is from 2015.
https://jeepcherokeeclub.com/337-tow...motorhome.html

There are many many more .

[MJC62]

So in doing some my research before purchasing our new Trailhawk I thought FCA had fixed this issue in the 19 model year? We are having the Trailhawk and our 2018 ACE fitted with Roadmaster plate and bars 1st week in April. Followed a couple of the links posted to other forums and now I am having doubts. Did the Jeep sales peeps hand me a line of BS about issue was resolved?
Mark

[DenverTransplant]

Originally Posted by MJC62

So in doing some my research before purchasing our new Trailhawk I thought FCA had fixed this issue in the 19 model year? We are having the Trailhawk and our 2018 ACE fitted with Roadmaster plate and bars 1st week in April. Followed a couple of the links posted to other forums and now I am having doubts. Did the Jeep sales peeps hand me a line of BS about issue was resolved?
Mark

We have a 2017 Cherokee Trailhawk and have added the Death Wobble cable. It my understanding that starting with the 2019 Trailhawks you no longer need to add the cable. Apparently the Jeep Engineers figured out that if you have the PTU in neutral , the ignition turned off and the wheels are turning you must be towing and they turn on the electronic power steering. You would still need an on board battery charger to allow the motor home to charge the battery while towing. We have an RVi battery charger in our Jeep.

Now that they have a software fix for the 2019’s you would hope they would have an update for the 2014-2018 software. They did an update to fix the cruise control problem, so why not also fix the death wobble too? Too late for me as I already spent the $500 (installed) for the cable harness.

[DenverTransplant]

Found a post on the Jeep Cherokee Club forum. Sounds like it could be a change to the steering assembly. Jeeps hasn’t actually said anything about what they really did.

https://jeepcherokeeclub.com/2866290-post54.html

[mlhamm]

We tow a 2018 Cherokee, the one that can be flat towed. Had the wiring harness installed by the dealer. Biggest problem was trying to find the part. Dealer said it would be on back order with no telling when it would come in. Called about half a dozen dealers before I found it. I follow ALL instructions when hooking it up to tow and have had no problems.

[jashas]

Originally Posted by abjbrtd

We have the towed wiring harness on our 16 (self installed), zero problems with a little over 7K towed miles.

EASY test to check to make sure it's working.
After set up is complete TURN the steering wheel, if it's hard to turn something is WRONG.

we just bought a low mileage 2015 trailhawk for a toad and had the dealership install the harness, appears something is wrong though, steering is stiff when activated, brought it back but they are not familiar enough with it to even troubleshoot it to confirm there is even a problem, waiting on them to get clarity from jeep engineers

[Dan-sr@perra-us.net]

Jeep and Death Wobble seem to go together although it most often is reported on older Jeeps with worn suspension components or Jeeps that have been modified, things lifted, larger tires. If you want to get an eye full about death wobble, go to this forum.

https://www.wranglerforum.com/search...le&o=relevance

I do have a 1995 Grand Cherokee with 260,000 + 35,000 toad miles but I have never experienced death wobble.

Although, I do remember a death wobble incident from my childhood, back in the mid 60's riding in a 1954 Oldsmobile with my mother. My parents got rid of that car shortly after when a ball joint failed.

[Geterdun]

Originally Posted by Dan-sr@perra-us.net

Jeep and Death Wobble seem to go together although it most often is reported on older Jeeps with worn suspension components or Jeeps that have been modified, things lifted, larger tires. If you want to get an eye full about death wobble, go to this forum.

https://www.wranglerforum.com/search...le&o=relevance

I do have a 1995 Grand Cherokee with 260,000 + 35,000 toad miles but I have never experienced death wobble.

Although, I do remember a death wobble incident from my childhood, back in the mid 60's riding in a 1954 Oldsmobile with my mother. My parents got rid of that car shortly after when a ball joint failed.

The death wobble referred to in this thread is due to the electric assist power steering and applies to some Cherokee models and years while flat towing.. It has nothing to do with worn steering components and oversize wheels of older Jeep death wobble fame.