Defective Steering Stabilizers Replacement & Reimbursement

[DGD]

I have a 2019 Jeep Wrangler JLU. My Jeep went through 3 stabilizers including the original. The additional 2 were installed by the dealer at no cost. After not having success with the third stabilizer I had an outside vendor install a Falcon stabilizer. That was 2 1/2 years ago and it is still working great. I submitted a claim which was denied. I had to call Jeep Customer care to find this out as after 3 months I heard nothing. Here is the problem, I have reached out to the Settlement Administrators, Miller Law Group and Jeep Customer Care. I received an email back from the settlement administrators who suggested I reach out to Miller and US Customer Care FCA. Neither of those has responded to several emails. Seriously frustrated with this as no one wants to help. Has anyone successfully submitted a claim and been reimbursed?

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[alphawolff]

You're not going to get reimbursed for this. Do not waste your time on the matter. You'd have to take them to small claims court I'd bet.

The OEM shock is a known defective design. There's been 3-4 recalls for it at this point and we still regularly have them fail on brand new jeeps under 14k miles. The engineer responsible for its design lied to save his own ass multiple times. He blamed it on improper installation three times. First it wasn't oriented correctly. Then it wasn't bled correctly. Then it wasn't bled correctly (again). They still fail, which is why there's a warranty extension on it. They also fail so often their heavily backordered. The extended warranty is Stellantis' solution to the matter. They'll keep replacing it until you stop bothering them about it. You'd need another class action lawsuit to finally see them to upgrade it from the factory.

FYI, the OEM stabilizer is like a $40 part. It's dirt cheap because it is cheap.

I suggest all JL owners to upgrade their stabilizer at the earliest opportunity, especially 4XE owners. The heavier weight seems to make them fail even earlier. Some models come with an upgraded fox shock from the factory, such as the gladiator Mojave. Those aren't effected.

 

[YGBSM]

alphawolff- thank you for your detailed posts. Is it still an issue on 2024s? What steering stabilizers do you recommend?

 

[The Acme Company]

Let’s go back a minute. Every time a part is repaired under warranty, the new part carries a warranty. I had 2 stabilizers replaced on my 2018 JL and the second did fix the issue. If you had the repair done under warranty and still had issues , a star case would have been opened and the factory would offer a solution. You went 3rd party without factory approval? That’s why your claim is denied

 

[DGD]

Yes, but according to the lawsuit settlement agreement, if you replaced the part on your own they would reimburse you with the proper receipt. That wasn't the issue. I was told by Jeep customer care that the time limit of one week to submit receipts was over. There was nothing in the settlement agreement that indicated there was a time limit for submitting for reimbursement. Also, when it came to replacing my 2rd Mopar battery, that was still under warranty since at that time the jeep was 4 years old, I was told that since there was a previous replaced battery under warranty that there was no warranty on the 2nd one. I thought that was crazy. Perhaps I was given the wrong information from the Jeep dealer.

 

[DGD]

You're not going to get reimbursed for this. Do not waste your time on the matter. You'd have to take them to small claims court I'd bet.

The OEM shock is a known defective design. There's been 3-4 recalls for it at this point and we still regularly have them fail on brand new jeeps under 14k miles. The engineer responsible for its design lied to save his own ass multiple times. He blamed it on improper installation three times. First it wasn't oriented correctly. Then it wasn't bled correctly. Then it wasn't bled correctly (again). They still fail, which is why there's a warranty extension on it. They also fail so often their heavily backordered. The extended warranty is Stellantis' solution to the matter. They'll keep replacing it until you stop bothering them about it. You'd need another class action lawsuit to finally see them to upgrade it from the factory.

FYI, the OEM stabilizer is like a $40 part. It's dirt cheap because it is cheap.

I suggest all JL owners to upgrade their stabilizer at the earliest opportunity, especially 4XE owners. The heavier weight seems to make them fail even earlier. Some models come with an upgraded fox shock from the factory, such as the gladiator Mojave. Those aren't effected.

 

[DGD]

Yes...I have wasted enough energy on this...sad that Jeep doesn't care

 

[alphawolff]

alphawolff- thank you for your detailed posts. Is it still an issue on 2024s? What steering stabilizers do you recommend?

Yes. Brand new 2024's rolling off the assembly line still use the same defective stabilizer. Pretty common failure. We had one with 14k miles on it come in a week or so ago for one. It's why when people are ranting about how a jeep should "never death wobble with a proper suspension the stabilizer is a band aid" I just roll my eyes.

I'd suggest just buying the mopar fox stabilizer. Works great and doesn't fail. We try to upgrade people to it when they come in for a failed factory one. We don't charge any labor but a lot of people refuse anyway. It's like ~$240. We have had a few situations where the local area rep approved an aftermarket replacement due to oem part availability, but that's rare.

Yes...I have wasted enough energy on this...sad that Jeep doesn't care

The people who did care have been laid off or are in the process of being laid off. The CEO just announced they're planning massive lay offs for north America and are essentially shutting down auburn hills. They're moving all those jobs to mexico/brazil/india since they work for 1/4th the cost. If you're having issues with Jeep fulfilling their legal obligations just take them to small claims court and you will win by default.

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