New JL Steering Issue TSB 08-074-20 (for "Improved Steering Feel")

[hoag4147]

Hooray, I finally got the TSB applied to my Wrangler after waiting since mid-August for parts. The dealer didn't perform an alignment afterwards though, so my steering wheel is not completely straight. Minus the lack of alignment, initial impressions of the TSB are good; my previous steering box was AC.

The TSB is now up to Revision E according to the paperwork.

Revision E part number?

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[Agent47]

Revision E part number?

I meant the TSB is now Revision E, so they likely updated the instructions in some way. The part number itself hasn’t changed.

 

[Stumeat]

Does anyone know if the negative battery cable is disconnected for the repair?

 

[jmbturtle]

Called one of my local dealerships (Brunswick AutoMart/Jeep in NE Ohio, one of the larger in the area) and told the woman that answered the phone in service about my loose steering/excessive play and that there was a TSB that was released that addresses it. She asked if I had my VIN and I didn't right away, but it was a 2020 JLU and that I had the service bulletin number. She took the TSB number and put me on hold, and came back and said, "I spoke with my manager and he said we can't do anything until we get your VIN number." I logged in to my Jeep Wave account and got the VIN for her, and she said she didn't have any recalls for my VIN. I told her it wasn't a recall, but a TSB. She put me on hold again, came back and said, "My manger can't find any service bulletins either under your VIN. He said you'll have to bring it in and we'll have to take a look at it." Thanks, Chris Valentine, Assistant (to the) Manager!

Called the Jeep dealer in the next town over from me (North Olmsted), told them the problem and mentioned "a service bulletin" (didn't even have to give them a number), the guy said, "Yeah, we have a waiting list for this because they are limiting our supply, but we'll put you on and call you when we have the part and get you taken care of." Didn't have to give him my VIN or anything. HUGE difference in customer service.

tl;dr (although I'm sure this has been mentioned already)
If you don't have luck with the first dealer (or second or more) that you call, and you have others in a decent radius, give them a ring.

 

[SoCalKanuck]

I am also having this issue and will have to talk with my dealer about it. Could this cause the steering dampener to prematurely fail? I just had mine replaced 4 months ago and it is bad again. I do have a 2.5 lift and 37” but I wouldnt expect it to fail that soon because of that. Thoughts?

 

[Rdmitch]

Called one of my local dealerships (Brunswick AutoMart/Jeep in NE Ohio, one of the larger in the area) and told the woman that answered the phone in service about my loose steering/excessive play and that there was a TSB that was released that addresses it. She asked if I had my VIN and I didn't right away, but it was a 2020 JLU and that I had the service bulletin number. She took the TSB number and put me on hold, and came back and said, "I spoke with my manager and he said we can't do anything until we get your VIN number." I logged in to my Jeep Wave account and got the VIN for her, and she said she didn't have any recalls for my VIN. I told her it wasn't a recall, but a TSB. She put me on hold again, came back and said, "My manger can't find any service bulletins either under your VIN. He said you'll have to bring it in and we'll have to take a look at it." Thanks, Chris Valentine, Assistant (to the) Manager!

Called the Jeep dealer in the next town over from me (North Olmsted), told them the problem and mentioned "a service bulletin" (didn't even have to give them a number), the guy said, "Yeah, we have a waiting list for this because they are limiting our supply, but we'll put you on and call you when we have the part and get you taken care of." Didn't have to give him my VIN or anything. HUGE difference in customer service.

tl;dr (although I'm sure this has been mentioned already)
If you don't have luck with the first dealer (or second or more) that you call, and you have others in a decent radius, give them a ring.

Frank Knoll in the service dept at North Olmsted knows exactly what to do. From day 1 of me bitching back in 2018 he has worked with me doing everything to help. He was instrumental in my battle with FCA. on the buyback. When the announcement of the steel box came out he gave me a heads up call 2 days before it was a public TSB. He preordered the part for me and had it installed right away. followed up with a phone call after.
while not always in a “happy“ mood once he gets to know you he is a great ally in these matters.

 

[JJSix]

Finally got mine knocked out at Jim Click in Tucson, I was quoted parts wouldn't be in until end of Jan but talking with Rebecca who was my service advisor, they got more than the 1 every 14 days shipment and it was in and out in about 6 hours. Much better overall, steering is more solid and not flightly with no deadspot in the middle as before.

 

[Arterius2]

Just done this TSB on my 2018 Sahara, I have aftermarket suspension and dealer didn’t give me too much trouble. Difference was night and day! No more dead spot in my steering wheel, resistance is even all the way! Now my JL drives like a normal car! So I guess this isn’t one of those “Just-a-Jeep-thing”s.

 

[ConqSoft]

Does anyone know if the negative battery cable is disconnected for the repair?

When I got my paperwork back it mentioned something about a reset, and I did have to go in and set some of my settings back.

 

[jmbturtle]

Frank Knoll in the service dept at North Olmsted knows exactly what to do...

And Frank is exactly who I spoke to. Not a whole lot of conversation, but seemed like a good guy overall.

I don't know why I keep trying with Brunswick. When I was price shopping for my current JL, they seemed very disinterested in making any kind of a deal. I left there, went to another are dealer, and got a deal that was easily $150 less a month with the same trim level, same trade, financing terms, etc. but the one I got actually had MORE options (specifically dual top & LED package). The funny part is, had they come down even $50/mo, I probably would have signed right then and there. I didn't stop in North Olmsted because they didn't have anything similar to the one I wanted on the lot.

 

[Rdmitch]

And Frank is exactly who I spoke to. Not a whole lot of conversation, but seemed like a good guy overall.

I don't know why I keep trying with Brunswick. When I was price shopping for my current JL, they seemed very disinterested in making any kind of a deal. I left there, went to another are dealer, and got a deal that was easily $150 less a month with the same trim level, same trade, financing terms, etc. but the one I got actually had MORE options (specifically dual top & LED package). The funny part is, had they come down even $50/mo, I probably would have signed right then and there. I didn't stop in North Olmsted because they didn't have anything similar to the one I wanted on the lot.

North Olmsted is no better when it comes to giving a damn about your satisfaction. For a year they gave me the typical it’s the way they are supposed to be shit. Got your cash...and that’s all that mattered. After Frank drove it the first time he was pretty stand offish and had the same FCA replies down pat.. But off to the side he admitted it sucked.
Everytime a new idea came out either from me or FCA we touched base. Once the E box came out he had it ready for me and when the steel was brand new he made sure one got stashed aside for me. He just took care of a alternator and belt on my wives JK and spent about an hour of time fighting to get it covered under warranty (it’s a 2017 with an aftermarket warranty).
He’s a tough nut to crack, very old school but once you get past his outer shell he’s really OK. He’s a huge high end stereo fanatic and if you find common ground he will go the extra step for you. Other than him and the one girl in service (forgot her name) the rest of the staff sucks. Owner and General Manager don’t give a damn after the sale is made.
I also shopped Brunswick and 3 others before i ended up with my JLUR, No one had what I wanted and I was not special ordering since this was before the steel steering box and i had to physically drive the Jeep and see how bad it sucked. I could imagine special ordering one, having the same issue and then fight thru another legal battle.
Since Jeep gave me an amazing settlement to leave them alone about my 2018 Sahara, I couldn’t see starting the process again. Ended up back at NOlmsted that had damn near everything I wanted (less the safety package) in the color I wanted and in stock. Went from a 2018 Sahara to the 2020 Rubicon at pretty much no cost. So adding in aftermarket steering stabilizer, sector brace and track bar at my own expense was not a big deal.


hope all goes well on your switch out. It really is a huge difference and makes driving so much more pleasurable.

 

[Swadehead]

I am/was having this steering issue where my Jeep would be pulled to one side and loose steering overall.

I had this Synergy brace installed, which greatly helped my issues. That being said, I’ve always felt like this was a band aid and never really corrected the underlying issue. I would really like to have this service bulletin performed on my Jeep.

Can this be performed with this brace on or will I need to have it removed?

Has anyone else installed this Synergy support bracket?

Thanks in advance for any help.


https://www.synergymfg.com/synergy-jeep-jl-jt-front-track-bar-and-sector-shaft-brace.html

 

[Rdmitch]

yep, had the new steering box installed and the sector brace reinstalled at the same time by the dealer. No hassles but they did charge me for the extra time. $20.00 was the big fee
My dealership was not familiar with the brace so I got under the Jeep with the mechanic and explained the principal. He was fine with it. They don’t even need to remove the brace....just the saddle thing that grabs the pitman nut. 5 minute job.
The new bolts for the steering box fit fine. One thing to watch for is the new sector shaft brace has a new style saddle that aligns better for the grease to keep it lubricated. If you ask synergy and have proof of purchase they will send you the upgrade free. I got,mine a few weeks ago and will be swapping it out tomorrow.

 

[JeepCares]

I originally fought the loose steering a year and a half ago, did some bandaids.. I just hear if the new TSB, so I brought my Jeep into dealer to have it done. They said they'll do it, but there's a problem..my account says restricted.....all I've wanted to do is try to fix the wandering from the beginning, and now they say the won't, I'm sitting in lobby waiting for someone to try to find out why they can't do it?? Ugh.

Hi @WANDRR - Please send our team a private message with your VIN so that we can look into this further.

Not good news from dealer..... was told a couple weeks ago by parts and service manager I was 27th on the list there to get parts and FCA was only allocating one “kit” every 7 days per dealer. So have to wait like 7 months to get parts for steering TSB. But wait it gets better! Dealer emailed me today saying FCA changed the allocation to one kit every 30 days!! So at that rate, could be 2 1/2 years.... just ridiculous. For the hell of it I test drove a 2021 Last weekend and it drove so much better! Steering was night and day better. So they have the new steel steering gears to build new wranglers and gladiators, but are not supplying nearly enough to dealers to fix the 2018 through 2020 wranglers and leaving us hanging. Not cool FCA...

Went to the dealer for a few things since i was there, had them inspect for wandering to the right. Dealer was great and got the process started no real time frame just about 30 jeeps waiting on the same part. @JeepCares anyway to speed up these order times on parts?

I was terribly afraid of bringing it back, as I was scared they would fix one thing and screw up another one for the third time, but yes, since their work is under warranty, I decided to go back and I was able to speak with a manager. The manager seemed to be the only person with some sense. They explained to me that the first time the mechanic said they received 3 steering box bolts instead of 4 and so decided to use the old ones. The manager said they just found out and they were pissed and told the mechanic they should have not performed the TSB without all bolts.
The second time the mechanic did replace the steering box bolts but, instead of replacing the i-shaft pinch bolt, they replaced the bolt that connects the upper i-shaft with the steering column (which has nothing to do with the TSB). Also in this case, the manager was surprised and sorry and asked me to bring the Jeep in on Monday so that they can replace the remaining bolt and check to make sure everything looks good.

In the event that anyone is experiencing part delays or other issues with their dealer, please send us a private message, and we will escalate a case with Jeep Customer Care for a specialist to work on your behalf.

Darlene
Jeep Cares

 

[californiajeeping]

A new version of the cast iron steering box coming out the end of December? If yes, I wonder why. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/steering-worse-after-tsb-fix.59652/post-1324396

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