Jeep GRAND Cherokee death wobble!

[StuartS]

The all terrain tires will not ride as smooth & also increase tire noise. Wouldn't be nice if Jeep would acknowledge the problem & come up with a fix as they did in the Cherokee?

[Ready2Travel]

About 25000 miles towed and no wobble has ever occurred.


Knock on wood....

[FlyCMA]

Originally Posted by mknight2012

We replaced our tires with a heavier duty all terrain tire.
We just completed an 1800 mile trip from TN to AZ without any wobble. I'm pretty sure the poor condition of the OE tires was the primary cause of my high speed wobble issue. We purchased this GC from a car rental dealer and they obviously didn't ever rotate the tires or check the alignment. Hopefully the better tires are perminent fix.

We replaced our OEM tires last year with Bridgestone Duelers. After experiencing the wobble dozens of times with the OEM's, I have never experienced it with the new tires after several thousand miles towing. I also make very slow turns at traffic lights that could be contributing. Tire wear could also be an issue.

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by mknight2012

We just purchased a 2020 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. It has the Quadra lift air suspension. We just returned from our first trip flat towing it 1700 miles. 200 miles into our trip we experienced a severe wobble going through an interstate construction zone. This occurred going 55 to 60 miles an hour and this road was pretty rough. I knew right away what it was as I have a friend that tows a Cherokee which had this problem. I slowed down to a near stop and the wobble stopped. We had no further problems until we hit the same stretch of road coming back. This time I was going 45 to 50 miles an hour when the wobble started again after hitting several severe bumps in succession. It wasn't as bad this time but I'd still consider it severe. I was not aware that this was an issue and unlike most of the posts here it occurred at highway speed.
My local Jeep dealer was clueless when I described the problem. I have an inquiry into customer care but no response yet.
We'll be taking this Jeep out to AZ this winter from TN so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

I suggest you have the entire front end checked for possible damage after these intense wobble events. It should be on FCA's dime of course.

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by FlyCMA

We replaced our OEM tires last year with Bridgestone Duelers. After experiencing the wobble dozens of times with the OEM's, I have never experienced it with the new tires after several thousand miles towing. I also make very slow turns at traffic lights that could be contributing. Tire wear could also be an issue.

Cherokee trailhawks are equipped off the line with off road tires like these. They are no less susceptible to wobble than the Cherokees with all season tires.

Originally Posted by LeslieGary

Prior to this example of oscillation at highway speeds, my thinking was that the faster the wheels spin, the more they would resist a lateral force due to angular momentum. The same gyroscopic effect that keeps a spinning top upright would prevent highway speed front wheel oscillation.

While my hypothesis may be correct, apparently any stability benefits have their limits and are not something we can assume. I’m very happy mknight2012 was able to maintain control and (hopefully) no damage to components. Given the large number of variables (different hitches, connectors, speed, road conditions, etc) it is a complex problem that would seem to need the same solution as the Cherokee.

I’m not going to change my tow vehicle, but will continue to be careful, especially on rough roads or repair areas.

Were your hypothesis correct, Jeep could have saved a lot on developing the "wobble mitigation algorithm" which they developed and had patented in 2012, long before the the first Cherokee hit the assembly lines.. longer before You can look it up ,many references here and in Jeep forums. The "kludge" wobble kit (tow enhancement kit works on mu KL-TH, apparently. But this will be our last of that type. Maybe our last Jeep.

[CWSWine]

Here is a interesting development with the GRAND Cherokee. This harness is listed in the 2021 Grand Cherokee manual on page 160 and link to manual listed below. Now will it fit the other Grand Cherokee or just for the 2021 model year?



A flat tow electric power steering enable kit is available for increased flat tow performance, contact an authorized dealer for further details.


https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/s...ndcherokee.pdf

[thegats1]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

Here is a interesting development with the GRAND Cherokee. This harness is listed in the 2021 Grand Cherokee manual on page 160 and link to manual listed below. Now will it fit the other Grand Cherokee or just for the 2021 model year?



A flat tow electric power steering enable kit is available for increased flat tow performance, contact an authorized dealer for further details.


https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/s...ndcherokee.pdf

Wow, this is potentially great news. I just downloaded the manual and found it. I have e-mailed Jeep Customer Care. They typically take a few days to respond, but they will. Dealers often have no clue. Thanks for sharing what you found!

[rpasetto]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

Here is a interesting development with the GRAND Cherokee. This harness is listed in the 2021 Grand Cherokee manual on page 160 and link to manual listed below. Now will it fit the other Grand Cherokee or just for the 2021 model year?



A flat tow electric power steering enable kit is available for increased flat tow performance, contact an authorized dealer for further details.


https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/s...ndcherokee.pdf

Now, there's a surprise. Meanwhile, regarding the KL-Cherokee: FCA-Jeep removed availability of the "towing enhancement kit", starting with a recent model year, 2019 or 2020. Maybe someone here has an explanation of that.

[DebbieMH]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

Here is a interesting development with the GRAND Cherokee. This harness is listed in the 2021 Grand Cherokee manual on page 160 and link to manual listed below. Now will it fit the other Grand Cherokee or just for the 2021 model year?



A flat tow electric power steering enable kit is available for increased flat tow performance, contact an authorized dealer for further details.


https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/s...ndcherokee.pdf

When I click on your link, it brings up the whole manual. I just bought a 2021 Grand Cherokee Summit and talked to my Jeep dealer and they said they didn't think it applied to the GC and looked it up on their parts computer and couldn't find anything, please, please post the link the the actual part number. I and several others would really appreciate it. Lynn

[CWSWine]

All I know at this time is it's in the 2021 Grand Cherokee Owners Manual and don't have any more information then that. I have Wrangler that we tow now since the last wobble we got was so bad that the guy behind said the tires were almost coming off the ground as rocking from side to side. I currently in Texas away from home and I going to wait till we get home to research it for our 2017 GC.

Originally Posted by DebbieMH

When I click on your link, it brings up the whole manual. I just bought a 2021 Grand Cherokee Summit and talked to my Jeep dealer and they said they didn't think it applied to the GC and looked it up on their parts computer and couldn't find anything, please, please post the link the the actual part number. I and several others would really appreciate it. Lynn

[RVPioneer]

“...increased flat tow performance,” is some crafty wording.

[DebbieMH]

I spoke with Jeep Customer Care and they had no idea ... she then talked to the Jeep guru .... and he said he didn't think there was an additional package to add to the GC. Anyway .... they are going to do more research and if anything comes to light, will let me know. So .... hopefully someone else will have better luck finding out if this is a true thing or not.

[rorr1821]

I also called Jeep and they had no information on this part. I was told the information was printed in the owners manual but because of COVID the production of the part was put on hold. So is Covid the reason or is Jeep having engineering issues or something else? Maybe it will become available sometime this year!

[RVPioneer]

Originally Posted by rorr1821

I also called Jeep and they had no information on this part. I was told the information was printed in the owners manual but because of COVID the production of the part was put on hold. So is Covid the reason or is Jeep having engineering issues or something else? Maybe it will become available sometime this year!

It seems to me, if they told you that production of the part was put on hold, then they did actually have some information on the part.

As for speculating on the truthfulness of their reply, that’s anyone’s guess.