NHTSA Complaint #10929941 — 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE

I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE 'DEATH WOBBLE' SEVERAL TIMES IN THE PAST TWO YEARS WHILE TOWING MY 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE LATITUDE BEHIND MY CLASS A MOTORHOME. IN 2016 THE LAST OCCURRENCE, AND THE MOST WORRISOME FOR ME, OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY ON A MAJOR TRIP IN SEPTEMBER. APPROACHING A CONSTRUCTION ZONE, THERE WAS A CROSS-OVER FROM THE WEST BOUND LANES INTO THE EASTBOUND INSIDE LANE. THIS CROSS-OVER HAD A DIFFERENCE IN CROSS-SLOPE AND AN ABRUPT CHANGE OF GRADE. TRAFFIC WAS GOING AT ABOUT 40-45 MILES PER HOUR AT THE POINT OF THE CROSS-OVER. THE WOBBLE OCCURRED JUST AS I WAS CROSSING FROM THE WESTBOUND TO EASTBOUND LANE. IT WAS A VIOLENT WOBBLE, WITH A HUGE SIDE SWAY HAPPENING AT THE REAR OF THE MOTORHOME. I SLOWED DOWN AS MUCH AS I COULD. I PUT ON MY FLASHERS AND CONTINUED AT APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES PER HOUR UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO FIND A CROSS SLOPE IN THE MEDIAN WHERE I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND STOP. UNTIL I FOUND THIS AREA, I WAS FIGHTING THE WILDLY SWINGING REAR END OF MY MOTORHOME AND THE JEEP WOBBLING BACK AND FORTH BEHIND ME. AND ONCE I HAD STOPPED AND KNEW I COULD RESUME MY TRIP AND THAT THIS EPISODE OF THE WOBBLE WAS OVER, I COULD NOT GET BACK OUT ONTO THE ONE-LANE WESTBOUND TRAFFIC LANE BECAUSE OF THE BACKUP OF TRAFFIC THAT HAD BUILT UP BEHIND ME WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT 10. FROM THIS POINT UNTIL I RETURNED HOME, I WAS AFRAID EVERY TIME I HIT A BUMP OR ROUGH SECTION OF THE INTERSTATE THAT I WAS GOING TO TRIGGER ANOTHER WOBBLE, BUT FORTUNATELY I DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANOTHER EPISODE THAT TRIP. I'M AT A POINT NOW WHERE I'M AFRAID TO TOW MY JEEP. THE ONLY REASON I PURCHASED IT WAS BECAUSE THE JEEP LITERATURE I RESEARCHED BEFORE I BOUGHT IT STATED THAT IT COULD BE TOWED FOUR WHEELS DOWN (WITH THE ACTIVE DRIVE II TRANSFER CASE SET TO NEUTRAL PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL) WITH NO RESTRICTIONS ON SPEED OR DISTANCE WHEN TOWING. *TR