[humdingerslammer]

Having often experienced DW in my stock JKU Rubi, it was only barely possible to "still be able to control the car" and to "slow down immediately in a safe place".

Mine happened on all sorts of surfaces and in incredibly benign situations turned incredibly dangerous, like overtaking in clearly safe situations and then finding the car shaking like shite and having to run off the road and work like hell to avoid smashing into trees. It would also spontaneously occur at 100km on smooth as freeways, starting into violence when entering a bend, or in a suburban street at less than 60kph.... the list goes on.

I had the same (but significantly lesser frequency) problem after a small <2" suspension lift.

I have not experienced DW again (fingers crossed) since replacing the front ball joints. The OEM ones are very poor and clearly degrade very quickly with even normal road use. The consensus wisdom is that these are usually the culprit.

Also, I think that the stock Goodyear Wrangler tyres play a significant part. I always had DW with these fitted. They frequently threw weights and lost "balance" in no time at all even when newly balanced with the weights on. I have not had DW since fitting different (and cheap) tyres, even before fitting new ball joints.

Jeep has known about this problem for a long time and chosen to keep it quiet. And irresponsibly so. There is no end of reports on the Internet, Youtube etc. The problem is a design problem and there are alternatives that would ensure it did not exist, while keeping "floating axles" and all their benefits.

I understand that in Australia, a Jeep dealer/Jeep Australia quietly fully reimbursed a purchaser who experienced this problem in a very short space of time and mileage, under threat of serious legal action. Of course, secrecy was part of the deal so we never got to hear about it.

How reassuring for Jeep that "there are no reported deaths due to the issue over decades of Jeeps experiencing the issue". It is more luck than anything else that no one has been killed. Does it require a death/many deaths before Jeep recognise this as a problem? I thought the idea of "potential for death" would be motivation enough. Case in point... migrating floor mats in Hondas (from memory) that led to high speed deaths and required about a $1.00 fix. DW DOES occur in brand new unmodified Jeeps, so it is a JEEP problem...

My own experience... well, I wonder how I have managed NOT to be killed. Good evasive driving on my part rather than any benign underpinnings of death wobble. It is only a matter of time before some one does die from it... then again, who will be around to tell the tale? I still make a point of not driving with members of my family in the JKU.

Jeep need to fix this problem. Or stop selling the vehicle.

While I would like to buy the new JL pickup, I very much doubt that I will, now that I know that this model, too, has the DW issue. I will vote with my wallet.