Steering Issue at 1300 Miles - Failed Track Bar Mount

[UNC Rubicon]

Yes, built the 11th hour of 6-6.

Someone was drinking early on a Wednesday.

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[Rhinebeck01]

@UNC Rubicon

Your JLU was built on 6/6. 11th hour.

Had trouble reading your sticker on my cellphone. With PC, I see 11th hr.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

But that is not when the robot did the welds , no ?

@old8tora

Come on, we all know better then that. Vehicles are ASSEMBLED with parts that were ahead of time, manufactured by vendors. That frame was welded up ...who knows when.

Also, personally I would rather have a robot doing the welding.

 

[viper88]

I don't understand how the robot can miss the joint so badly. This isn't even a case of bad weld parameters. The weld itself doesn't look that bad, it's just completely in the wrong location. Clearly the track bar bracket is in the correct location as the other welds were on the joint. So either the robot was programmed wrong, or is completely malfunctioning. Most modern high performance robots use servo motors with encoders that feedback position data. A following error this large should have caused a fault unless FCA/Tower have set the following error tolerance ridiculously loose. Clearly nobody has inspected this frame during production. In my opinion, they should halt production now and figure out what is going on or it is going to cost them a LOT more money down the road.

Your right. It's not the robots. Robots only do exactly what they are programmed to do by a human programmer. Definitely human error to begin with. I doubt the robot's repeatability is that off. I wonder if the frame assemblies or assembly fixtures are terribly inconsistent? Meaning the robot is welding on the correct path but the parts to be welded are not placed or held in the correct place by the fixture.

Bottom line is FCA has a problem with these frames and it's not just the very early frames. FCA obviously knows about this based on the post on this forum alone. I can see the FCA risk management team calculating the potential cost of law suits from injuries and death verses the cost of actually recalling bad frames in the wild.

I can't believe UNCRubicon's video! Totally unacceptable. Personally I am not ordering or buying any FCA product until there is clear resolution on this. No JL or Alfa 4C that I was seriously considering.

Hopefully FCA does something quickly and transparently about this before someone gets killed. Owners should definitely voice there issues directly to Manely. This will not go well for FCA once the National News gets ahold of it.

 

[UNC Rubicon]

Contact CEO Mike Manley at FCA immediately .

You have contact info for him?

 

[vavaroutsos]

You have contact info for him?

https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-8705022

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@UNC Rubicon

I suggest that you don't let forum member's here ,get you fired up more then you already are. No need at this time to be contacting Manley, etc.. What good will that do.

Rest assured, FCA will be all over this and will take care of the issue. Now, if the remedy is not to your liking then pound the drums so to speak. Your issue is real obvious and FCA will be on it even if you stay hush for awhile.

Do have the dealer flat tow the JLU to the dealership. Your dealer will provide a loaner. You will have the loaner quite awhile unfortunately.

 

[UNC Rubicon]

@UNC Rubicon

I suggest that you don't let forum member's here ,get you fired up more then you already are. No need at this time to be contacting Manley, etc.. What good will that do.

Rest assured, FCA will be all over this and will take care of the issue. Now, if the remedy is not to your liking then pound the drums so to speak. Your issue is real obvious and FCA will be on it even if you stay hush for awhile.

Do have the dealer flat tow the JLU to the dealership. Your dealer will provide a loaner. You will have the loaner quite awhile unfortunately.

I understand where you're coming from. However, after watching the track bar mount flex and bend, I can't help but think what would have happened if I had driven it any farther or if my children had been in the Jeep when it completely failed. This thing is literally a rolling death trap.

Someone will die if this isn't addressed. I don't want that happening to anyone but I certainly don't want it to happen to myself or my children.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@UNC Rubicon

Got 5 kids. I am not discounting what happened. Just suggesting you deal with this calmly lets say. Guys here will get you so fired up you won't think straight. See how FCA deals with this before you.........

 

[blessidsoul12]

Got it. Thanks!

Here's a photo of the inboard side of my bracket. I'm assuming (hoping) that the small curved piece forward (to the lower right) of the welded portion is not supposed to be welded?

I am in disbelief you guys. This is insane. Once again, JeepCares is silent.
I want to second the question above...is the curved edge of the track bar mount NOT supposed to be welded? How does everyone feel about the gap between the frame and track bar mount on that spot?
Here is mine:

 

[old8tora]

That frame was welded up ...who knows when.

Only the robot knows .

 

[LLRubylady]

Just had my wife turn the Jeep lock to lock. This is nauseating to watch...

Can you explain the video because I’m not sure I understand. That black piece that comes down when the tire moves inward is not supposed to separate from the metal piece above it?It kind of looks like it comes down and then moves up again like it is supposed to.
I have absolutely no mechanic knowledge so forgive me if this is stupid.

 

[UNC Rubicon]

Can you explain the video because I’m not sure I understand. That black piece that comes down when the tire moves inward is not supposed to separate from the metal piece above it?It kind of looks like it comes down and then moves up again like it is supposed to.
I have absolutely no mechanic knowledge so forgive me if this is stupid.

It's not supposed to move. It should be welded to the frame.

 

[vavaroutsos]

No, it's not supposed to move. The metal above it is the frame and the bracket is supposed to be welded to it. The track bar keeps the axle centered (left/right) under the vehicle. If you look closely you can see the coil spring move from side to side. The drag link (from steering box) is referenced to the frame (where steering box is mounted). So moving the axle from side to side has the same effect as turning the steering wheel. It's very dangerous if the track bar breaks loose as you will have no steering control.

 

[UNC Rubicon]

LOL. @JeepCares, can you change your name to JeepDoesn'tCare? I tagged you in this post yesterday. I PM'd you this morning. You were active a couple hours ago, and you're silent. This is an absolute joke.

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