Steering Getting Worse! Dealership Wont Help!

[Yogi]

What is being done to the doors to address the bubbling paint, and were you satisfied with the results? Just curious. I've seen the issue mentioned several times on this forum, and want to have the intel in my back pocket in the event that I have to pursue the same. TIA.

Apparently FCA has the same issue with Caravan hoods. My dealer has their own body shop and they have done quite a few of these hoods.

The process is a bit time consuming but fairly simple. It takes 4 days to complete. They remove the doors, then take the hinges off the doors. They take the paint off the hinges and off the bolts, then sand off the the locations on the doors where the hinges attach. Then they clean everything with acetone. On the door part, and the door facing side of the hinge, they apply an epoxy (sorry I don't know which one) and let it cure for 24 hours. They were adamant that it would not take less than 24 hours. Once the epoxy has cured they sand the surfaces smooth, clean them again, then reassemble the hinges to the door. Once assembled it goes off for paint, and this is where it gets really tricky. First they to feather in the paint. If that doesn't work, or they can't make it match, they repaint the door, or doors as the case may be. If they can't make the doors match the rest of the Jeep, they repaint the entire Jeep. I lucked out. My painter was really good and was able to feather in the paint. You can't tell that it was ever redone, and I had all 4 doors done.

As I alluded to in an earlier post, the dealer has to be pretty meticulous in detailing the problem to FCA else the warranty will be refused. My dealer has done a lot of Caravan hood, but getting warranty for those is fairly simple as it is an acknowledged problem. My Jeep was the first Jeep they did and the requirement to trigger warranty is more substantial than a Caravan hood. Mine got refused the first time around. It took two months to get it through, but my dealer was able to make it happen.

At the end of the day, it didn't cost me a dime.

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[blnewt]

@Ryanfold
What other steering parts did you address?
Have you checked your caster? If you have a Rubicon the stock caster is too low and your Jeep will typically want to wander off center at high speeds. Easy fix is the slightly longer Mopar lift LCAs if you're still at stock height (and you have a Rubicon). If you've already heard this already kindly disregard, but just in case you haven't
G'luck w/ the TSB, sounds like a lovely dealership you found

 

[Adventure.AS]

Doing a TSB is a lot of extra work for the dealership from a paperwork perspective. The service manager has to submit a written report to FCA describing the problem. If he screws up the report, FCA denies the TSB, and either he has to do the report all over again, or simply deny the customer the fix. My guess is that is what happened to you.

I'm lucky that I have an excellent and persistent dealership that actually enjoys selling, and servicing Jeeps. Initially I had them install the 2" Mopar Factory Lift. I do have my own shop, with my own mechanics, and I am a mechanic myself, but doing it in my shop does not come with a factory warranty
After the lift was installed there were definitely steering issues. First thing was to confirm alignment. It was definitely within spec. Next step is to verify the steering damper. Mine was in upside down so it had to be bled and reinstalled. That helped quite a bit. Next step was to replace the track bar with the updated part. That helped as well. Last step in the process was to remove the aluminum steering box, replace it with the steel one, and reconfirm alignment. Once complete all was right with the world. Now it drives like a Jeep.
Steering box was replaced while the Jeep was in for the bubbling paint at the door hinges. Ended up having to get all 4 doors done.
Total time to complete all of these items, 6 days. Total cost to me $1,800.00 CDN, including tax, and that was for the 2" Mopar Factory Lift ... everything else was no charge.

I noticed you are in Port Dover too. Which dealer did you got to? What is the TSB number?

 

[Yogi]

I noticed you are in Port Dover too. Which dealer did you got to? What is the TSB number?

Demeyere's. I have had phenomenal experiences dealing with them. I work with dealers all the time as part of my job, mind you most of them are heavy truck dealers, but Demeyere's is hands down one of the best dealerships I have worked with.

Damned if I can remember what the TSB is on the steering box but there are a number of posts on this site that will tell you what it is. Talk to Terry the service manager. If you tell him "It's all over the road like a wandering Jew" he'll probably know exactly where you got the info from ... LOL

As for the paint, I don't know that there is a TSB for that, but just take it to Demeyere's and see Jim in the body shop. He'll know what to do with it.

 

[JeepCares]

Definitely time for a new dealership. Good advice to print out the TSB, just in case. I didn't need to because my service adviser knew about it and just scheduled me when I asked.

You can get @JeepCares to help. They were very helpful for me when I needed it.

Have you checked the other components for tightness, etc? Alignment specs?

Good luck.

Thanks 631! I have not had that TSB done yet. Just made an appointment with a new dealership. Thats so crappy that you got dicked around too! Glad @JeepCares was able to help. Hopefully It doest have to come to that with his new dealership for me.

Thanks for tagging us here, RagTopDeluxe!

Sorry for the delay in our response, Ryanfold, but we would be happy to assist you with your steering concerns. If you'd like us to help you while working with the new dealer, send our team a private message.

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[Ryanfold]

Thanks for tagging us here, RagTopDeluxe!

Sorry for the delay in our response, Ryanfold, but we would be happy to assist you with your steering concerns. If you'd like us to help you while working with the new dealer, send our team a private message.

Kate
Jeep Cares

Thank you so much! Just sent a message!

 

[JeepCares]

Thank you so much! Just sent a message!

Thanks for the heads up. I just responded to you there!

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[HardRockSteele67]

We've had our name on the waiting list for 3 months to get the parts in house at our Dealer here in Austin (Thankfully we have more than just the scary Jeep to drive as its been parked due to the loose goose steering) and after 2 days in the shop we are being told the Dealer is waiting on a phone call from Jeep on the issue with the steering (more parts ??) We now own both the 2018 4Dr - Wife's and a 2020 2Dr (our son's) fingers crossed we get a safe vehicle back - I'm so glad we haven't done any lifts or oversized tires and gear's yet as this forum has been a great source of information on the issue

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