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Bran new 13' unstable

7K views 48 replies 34 participants last post by  Birdman86 
#1 ·
I have owned a 01' sport and a 04' Rubicon. I just bought a 13' sport. It has 600 miles and completely stock. When driving on the freeway at around 65 to 70 mph the jeep begins to sway back and fourth. Best way i can describe it is if your behind a diesel trailer and when you fall back out of the draft zone you hit the wind vortex off the trailer and it sways your vehicle. There was no wind and the free way had no groves in the pavement.

I have never encountered this in either of my other wranglers. Im starting to have buyers remorse. I have a vacation planned in June for my 7 year old boy and I to go to Tahoe and now I am second guessing the trip because of this. You guys/gals have any ideas?
 
#33 ·
Might be uneven or warped pavement. I commute to work and there's a stretch of road that is warped from semi's going through there. It feels like you have no have no sway bars in that stretch... this is my 3rd vehicle and my 13' JKU feels the same.

We have lots of 'freeze/thaw' cycles here and the roads get chewed and torn up easily. Especially where there's heavy truck traffic. My 13' is fantastic on the highway/freeway.

If you want to feel 'sway', get an older WJ, those things had soft & loose suspension and swayed all over the place.
 
#35 ·
My 12 feels EXACTLY the same way and has since i drove it off the lot last yr....dunno man I've had 2 other Jeeps and they never felt this way. I got mine from the dealer with 45lbs pressure in each tire!

Driving at highway speeds, sometimes people around me must think I got a bag of squirells in my pants!
 
#38 ·
I'm going to head to the dealer in the next week or so (there's a small section of upholstery coming lose on the top of my back seat where the lever is) and ask them to check the alignment, suspension, sway bars, etc.
 
#39 ·
4dr's ride better than the 2dr's. One of the reasons why I bought the JKU. Longer wheelbase makes a huge difference.
 
#41 ·
When I got my 2d a couple weeks back, the ride home from the dealership was quite squirrely - they had the tires aired up to 47 PSI. Once I got home I dropped them to 34 - 35 PSI and I think it drives great. I have had it up to 70 MPH going down the highway and it seems pretty stable to me.

Granted, I have driven small / medium-sized trucks my whole life, so I am used to vehicles not exactly hugging the road or feeling refined.
 
#42 ·
Well I guess I am not the only one that has encountered this. Some of you have owned previous 2 dr wranglers in the past like myself so it shows were atleast use to the short wheel base and under carriage. I spoke with the head service manager at the dealership and he was quite adament about me bringing it in today. I told him I work 12 hour shifts and wouldn't be able to get it in till monday.

I will request that they check the alignment and track bars, sway bars for any problems. Until then it's a slow go with my son in the jeep. I appreciate all your inputs and experiences.
 
#43 ·
Keep those tires at around 32, while you figure this out.
 
#44 ·
Keep us posted please. Mine has been in 2X for this and still no resolution. Curiously when i go over bumps something sounds really loose underneath with all the clunking. I am up for an inpsection maybe I'll take it to a different dealership other than the one where I bought it.
 
#45 ·
Keep us posted please. Mine has been in 2X for this and still no resolution. Curiously when i go over bumps something sounds really loose underneath with all the clunking. I am up for an inpsection maybe I'll take it to a different dealership other than the one where I bought it.
That clunking under your jeep as it goes over bumps may be unrelated to the swaying. I had clunking over bumps in my old TJ. I poked around underneath looking for loose parts/bolts and found that my skid plate just had a few loose bolts.The plate was bouncing up and down at a different rate than the rest of my jeep, which explained the clunking. I tightened them up with a socket wrench and everythingwas quiet once again...no more clunking.
I hope the noise you are hearing is as easy/inexpensive to fix. Good luck!
 
#46 ·
Mine is doing the same. Became more noticeable once I put the 35's and budget boost on it, but It is only once it gets over 65 on the interstate. I"ll check the psi as I just threw them on as is from DTD. The rear sway links are new so I will recheck the torque on those too I guess.
 
#48 ·
I'm beginning to think there's something to the tire break-in theory. I'm at about 6,400 miles, running 35 psi on factory 18's and doing fine. I ran 30 psi for the first 3-4 thousand miles because I couldn't keep in a straight line - rolled out of the dealership with 42 psi and scared myself to death - thought I'd made a big mistake - no way I could drive this thing - way too squirrely. Now it's fine!
 
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