I have experienced the “death wobble” several times in the past two years while towing my 2014 Jeep Cherokee Latitude behind my Class A motor home.

In 2015 it happened several times; once at low speed which was not a problem. I simply stopped when it happened and got out and looked at the Jeep to see if I might have a flat tire. I saw no problems with the tires and resumed on my trip. The wobble did not reoccur on that trip. On another trip that summer the wobble occurred while driving on an urban interstate highway at higher speed. I experienced severe side sway from the rear of my motor home. It was swinging wildly from side to side. I immediately pulled over onto the shoulder, stopped, and again examined the Jeep and towbar to see if something had come loose, broken or a tire was flat. Again I found nothing visible that could have caused the wobble. With some hesitation I resumed driving. When started back up, the wobble had gone away and did not return on that trip.

In 2016 I experienced several more occurrences of the wobble. The first occurrence was in a low speed city driving situation. I made a tight turn and as I started to accelerate, the rear of the motor home started to sway back and forth violently. A car pulled up beside me, honked his horn and pointed to the rear of the motor home. I turned at the first side street I came to and stopped to check for anything visible (towbar, tires, etc.) and again found nothing. I resumed driving to my destination (a few miles more) with no more issues. The wobble again disappeared after coming to a complete stop and then resuming my drive.

The next four occurrences happened on my next major trip. I had only gone a few miles from the storage lot I store my motor home at. While driving at highway speed I crossed an at-grade railroad crossing and the wobble occurred. I immediately pulled over to the shoulder and stopped. I then resumed driving and the wobble had gone away. About one and one-half miles later, I again crossed an at-grade railroad crossing and the wobble occurred again. I again immediately pulled over to the shoulder and stopped. I then resumed driving and the wobble had gone away. The third occurrence on this trip happened as I was pulling out of a rest stop onto an interstate highway. As I made a sharp turn from the parking lot onto the on-ramp, the wobble started. I was going at a low speed at this time and was able to pull over to the side of the on-ramp and stop for a few minutes before resuming. When I resumed, the wobble had gone away. The forth occurrence, and the most worrisome for me occurred while driving at highway speed on an interstate highway. Approaching a construction zone, there was a cross-over from the west bound lanes into the eastbound inside lane. Through this construction zone, there was one lane/one way traffic, with the direction of traffic I was going in on the inside lane of two lane eastbound interstate. 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 motor home. At this location, because I was in the inside lane, there was no shoulder to pull over onto and stop. I slowed down as much as I could but I had a tractor semi-trailer coming up behind me at a high rate of speed and I was afraid I was going to be rear-ended. I put on my flashers and continued at approximately 10 miles per hour until I was able to find a gentle enough 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 motor home 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 huge backup of traffic that had built up behind me while I was driving at 10 mph looking for a pull-out space. After approximately 15 minutes of waiting, I finally found a gap and could resume my westbound drive. 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.

In December I found a 2014 Jeep Cherokee with low millage that I thought would make a great tow vehicle. In February I started looking for someone to put on the base plate and wiring and was told at the local dealer that they did not do that kind of work so we went to our local camping world for the install. We got it installed in April after putting new tires on and having a 4 wheel alignment done. First we towed it around the block a couple of times to see how it felt and all felt good. Then we headed out for a small trip to our local camp ground, on our way out about 5 miles from the house we went through some S corners ant about 25 to 30 mps and on the third corner experienced heavy vibration from the jeep and had to come to an emergency stop. After checking on the Jeep We continued without incident. Now for this weekend, I got this notice from FCA notification S13. When I went to the dealer they said that its just the card to put in our owners manual about how to set up the vehicle for towing. This is exactly how we had it when we experienced the shacking. They pulled the bulletin for RRT 16-022 subject Accessory kit to enhance tow performance. It mentions part no 68321424AA wiring Kit-Trailer Tow/ the dealership seemed to think this was just the standard wiring kit that I already had installed by camping world. Is this true and if so what is the notice for. Then they said that even though I had the wiring done just this last April and that if Jeep has changed the recommended wiring I would have to pay out of my pocket for the instillation and it was not covered under any warranty as an after market part. If Jeep would have recommended the right wiring the first time I am sure it would have been done just a couple of months ago on the original install. Now I have to pay more to pull safely??I am having a hard time seeing how if Jeep changes the wiring requirements this close to after I had them installed it is my problem. I still do not understand what the enhanced accessory kit would have that would keep the Jeep from shacking. Trust me as our first tow we mad sure we went throw the check list and had the transfer in Neutral and the transmission in park. Besides I didn’t think you could turn off the emergency break unless you are in park.

The Jeep has long been a preferred vehicle to flat tow (4-wheels down) behind a motor home and the procedure for doing this is described in the users manual. While flat towing the vehicle it will start violently pitching back and forth while the front wheels start oscillating left to right. Imagine driving down the highway and abruptly turning your wheel to the left then to the right. Your vehicle will probably roll over. That’s what is happening to the towed 2014 Jeep Cherokee and it can happen at any time, at any speed and with any manufacturer’s tow bar. It’s not rolling over because the tow bar is preventing it however the energy is passed through to the motor coach causing it to sway and wobble.

I drive a 40 foot diesel that weighs 27,000 pounds and is built on a Freightliner chassis and believe me when this happens it is frightening. I’m not alone. There is a growing number of people making their way to on-line forums discussing the problem and they have tried many ways to correct the situation. Here is a link to an on-line video that shows the problem - www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO3zlTLKka8. This vehicle was traveling at 25-30 mph. The first time it happened to me was at 60 mph and the effects were even more dramatic. The problem corrects itself if you come to a complete stop but it will wobble violently until then. It has happened to me 4 times during approximately 6000 miles of towing and I refuse to tow the car now.

We have had at least 4 times now that our 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited has started to sway while being towed behind our motor home. It seems to be getting worse since it happened twice yesterday (Oct. 31). If we are on any kind of a rough road, the Cherokee starts swaying so bad that it shakes the motor home and I have to come to a complete stop. Once had to go out and straighten the wheels.

This of course is the reason we purchased the Cherokee since it was supposed to replace the Liberty (which they do not make anymore). Our 2009 Liberty never had this problem. Is this a problem for anyone else?

I think I have already posted the problem with electronic parking brake coming on without notice and causing problems.

Update from Mar 13, 2015: We have taken the Cherokee to the dealer to have the suspension/front end checked for problems. They said they checked everything and made some slight adjustments. They also told me that it would probably not stop the swaying when we are dinghy towing it. We towed it a few days ago and it is still swaying some when towing.

I also talked to another Jeep Cherokee owner who is having the same problem. His has swayed several times in the same way. What are we suppose to do?

We have actually purchased another vehicle so we do not have to tow the Jeep! We are concerned about what will happen if we are driving at a faster speed. Right now this has only happened while driving at 45 MPH or less.