Track bar recall coming...

[moonpup]

I got a call from the service manager at my dealership this morning regarding the death wobble in my 2018 Sahara. He told me that FCA has been listening about the steering complaints and will be having a recall for the track bars pretty soon. Specifically it's supposed to fix the 'wandering issue' experienced by numerous customers. He wasn't sure if would address the death wobble, but did mention there was also a 3rd revision of the steering damper coming as well.

His plan for my vehicle was to get the next revision of the steering damper and wait for further information regarding the actual recall. Has anyone else heard anything similar?

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[jeepmikey]

I got a call from the service manager at my dealership this morning regarding the death wobble in my 2018 Sahara. He told me that FCA has been listening about the steering complaints and will be having a recall for the track bars pretty soon. Specifically it's supposed to fix the 'wandering issue' experienced by numerous customers. He wasn't sure if would address the death wobble, but did mention there was also a 3rd revision of the steering damper coming as well.

His plan for my vehicle was to get the next revision of the steering damper and wait for further information regarding the actual recall. Has anyone else heard anything similar?

Haven't heard this - but my dealership just ordered all aftermarket parts and are telling me they guarantee this will be a fix:

- Fox steering stabilizer
- Rough Country longer control arms
- Rough Country track bar


If the above doesn't fix the loose steering and death wobble once and for all I'm done with my JLUR - it's scary driving it as it is. Should not be the case for a $52K vehicle.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

Mikey,

Did Falcon 2.2 stabilizer
Yeti trackbar
Lower control arms with caster set to max oe spec


Made no difference still drove like a piece of crap. Good luck to you but I think your dealership has more work in front of them then they know.

 

[californiajeeping]

I got a call from the service manager at my dealership this morning regarding the death wobble in my 2018 Sahara. He told me that FCA has been listening about the steering complaints and will be having a recall for the track bars pretty soon. Specifically it's supposed to fix the 'wandering issue' experienced by numerous customers. He wasn't sure if would address the death wobble, but did mention there was also a 3rd revision of the steering damper coming as well.

His plan for my vehicle was to get the next revision of the steering damper and wait for further information regarding the actual recall. Has anyone else heard anything similar?

Mopar just released a new JL track bar part number for 2018 and 2019 JLs a few days ago as mentioned in part of of this thread: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...o-fixed-death-wobble.23752/page-3#post-566375

 

[californiajeeping]

Mikey,

Did Falcon 2.2 stabilizer
Yeti trackbar
Lower control arms with caster set to max oe spec

Made no difference still drove like a piece of crap. Good luck to you but I think your dealership has more work in front of them then they know.

Have you tried a new drag link yet? Check out this play in the drag link from another forum member. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC99L2-aF6z8r9vGAGXPArDQ

 

[MotoMax]

I sincerely hope this is all true. My wife and I are getting tired of driving a very expensive new Rubicon and having it wander all over the road with every dip/bump in road surface or puff of cross wind.

 

[Leights7]

There is a dealer mechanic who posts a lot in the JL Facebook group. He also reported the new track bar part and said a TSB or recall is coming.

 

[Jeepsterfreak]

Haven't heard this - but my dealership just ordered all aftermarket parts and are telling me they guarantee this will be a fix:

- Fox steering stabilizer
- Rough Country longer control arms
- Rough Country track bar


If the above doesn't fix the loose steering and death wobble once and for all I'm done with my JLUR - it's scary driving it as it is. Should not be the case for a $52K vehicle.

Wait. Who is paying for the parts and installation of these aftermarket parts?

If this is being paid for by Jeep, that would suggest FCA admits there is a problem and they have no solution other than to replace stock factory parts with aftermarket parts. Wow, that’s actually big news if true.

 

[WXman]

The track bar is a hard part with no moving pieces. If it were faulty, ALL Jeeps using it would exhibit the same results.

The steering stabilizer has nothing to do with it. In fact, you can remove it and drive the Jeep just fine. All it does is take some of the harshness out of pot holes, speed bumps, obstacles, etc.

There are too many JL's on the road both stock and lifted that have zero death wobble to say that there are faulty track bars or other parts being manufactured for these Jeeps. The ones that do have death wobble have something going on that is specific to that particular vehicle. Fastener(s) not to spec, tire imbalance, failed bushings, loose steering box adjustment, etc. etc.

 

[PavementWarrior]

The track bar is a hard part with no moving pieces. If it were faulty, ALL Jeeps using it would exhibit the same results.
.

No, everything has variation, and if the part was under designed, a percentage could fall into place where problems occur.

I am speaking from experience as a design Engineer of over 30 years.

I do agree with you some will have addition problems (or possibly marginally in spec), and the "fix" will be putting enough overall margin so the reliability when you look at 10000 units is much higher

 

[WXman]

No, everything has variation, and if the part was under designed, a percentage could fall into place where problems occur.

I am speaking from experience as a design Engineer of over 30 years.

I do agree with you some will have addition problems (or possibly marginally in spec), and the "fix" will be putting enough overall margin so the reliability when you look at 10000 units is much higher

So you're saying that track bars with the same part numbers can be different one from another?

It's certainly NOT supposed to be that way, so if that's the case it's a failure at the supply chain and FCA needs to get that resolved. But so far I haven't seen evidence of that.

And, if the part was under designed, again, it would be causing problems across the board. I still believe this is an isolated issue that pertains only to specific vehicles.

 

[californiajeeping]

So you're saying that track bars with the same part numbers can be different one from another?

It's certainly NOT supposed to be that way, so if that's the case it's a failure at the supply chain and FCA needs to get that resolved. But so far I haven't seen evidence of that.

And, if the part was under designed, again, it would be causing problems across the board. I still believe this is an isolated issue that pertains only to specific vehicles.

I used to work at a company where the mfgs of the subcomponents would change their sources of metal, components, etc. without telling us and the quality went up or down as a result. Sometimes the vendor's sources of metal wouldn't tell them something changed versus something they requested (content ratios, purity, etc.). Or someone on one of the shifts didn't follow procedure that affects quality, like allowing for the proper cooling time before moving it to the next stage of the production, etc. x 100s of other scenarios. So for the JL track bar, maybe the company that provided the bushings to the vendor changed something mid stream (and the bushings are too soft or too hard) or they had a bad batch of bushings. Maybe the machine or person that inserted the bushings was off for a period of time (and many other possibilities). Good news is, FCA is trying. New Track Bar part number 68394087AA. The old one is 68317849AA.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

It is not the track bar, had the yeti installed with no improvement.

 

[californiajeeping]

It is not the track bar, had the yeti installed with no improvement.

Did your JL have wobble, loose steering, or wandering? I believe the new track bar is for the wobble issues, not loose steering.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

So you're saying that track bars with the same part numbers can be different one from another?

It's certainly NOT supposed to be that way, so if that's the case it's a failure at the supply chain and FCA needs to get that resolved. But so far I haven't seen evidence of that.

And, if the part was under designed, again, it would be causing problems across the board. I still believe this is an isolated issue that pertains only to specific vehicles.

100% agree, I have driven a JL that drives great, I don't know what the problem is but it is definitely isolated and limited to certain vehicles.

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