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Track bar sheared off at the weld. I feel like I’m cursed with my new JL

BumpyTrail

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Well my JL is back in the service department. This time it’s not good. Rewind to Friday night. Driving down the highway. Everything is great. I go to switch lanes, turn the wheel and to my surprise realize I’ve lost all steering control in the steering wheel. My vehicle starts to track on its own and I almost kill two other people on the road before I’m able to pull over on the shoulder. (Good thing I was in the middle lane...) I get a warning lamp of ESC (electronic stability control) malfunction.

Call Jeep assist. Tow truck comes. Dealer calls me next day to tell me my track bar has been sheared off At the weld. (Says it looks like a horrible manufacturer defect).

2018 RUBICON UNLIMITED
700 miles, brand new. WTF. Good thing I haven’t gone off-road yet.

Dealer calls me today and is still awaiting Chrysler’s opinion on the matter. @JeepCares
A lot of folks on this thread will say this is too much, too fast. But this is my take on your situation. Jeep is selling these faster than they can safely be produced. Although your incident may be isolated it still put you and the others on the roadway in danger. Any response from FCA, Jeep, and your dealership other than “how can we make this right?” Is unacceptable! If I were you I would contact the local tv news stations as they usually love consumer protection/service issues. There is a wealth of research material on this and other forums that the producers can easily source and do a story. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Here’s one I found covering New Jersey:
3235F0BD-FF5F-411E-BA6D-BB28EC1208F9.jpeg
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rboss

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Hey everyone. Just a quick update. The service department at the dealership reached out to me. They said as of now they have the FCA and the top engineers at Chrysler on my case and are determining what the best course of action will be.(already knew this). He couldn’t give me many details but right now they are trying to figure out if they can fix the broken bracket on the track bar or if they need to replace the whole frame on the Jeep.
All I know is that I will not be getting back into the vehicle if they think a quick re-weld will do it justice. I’ll update once I get more information.
 

BGJLU

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Hey everyone. Just a quick update. The service department at the dealership reached out to me. They said as of now they have the FCA and the top engineers at Chrysler on my case and are determining what the best course of action will be.(already knew this). He couldn’t give me many details but right now they are trying to figure out if they can fix the broken bracket on the track bar or if they need to replace the whole frame on the Jeep.
All I know is that I will not be getting back into the vehicle if they think a quick re-weld will do it justice. I’ll update once I get more information.
Could you let us know your approximate build date? Hopefully it will prompt forum members with similar dates to have their dealers look at the welds to avoid more dangerous situations. Thanks!
 

tcadaniel

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Hey everyone. Just a quick update. The service department at the dealership reached out to me. They said as of now they have the FCA and the top engineers at Chrysler on my case and are determining what the best course of action will be.(already knew this). He couldn’t give me many details but right now they are trying to figure out if they can fix the broken bracket on the track bar or if they need to replace the whole frame on the Jeep.
All I know is that I will not be getting back into the vehicle if they think a quick re-weld will do it justice. I’ll update once I get more information.
If they end up replacing the whole frame, I would push for a lifetime warranty. I know not everyone will agree with me, but if they pull everything apart, I think it’s only fair considering it’s brand new. If it was me, I would be upset that a brand new vehicle had these issues. A lifetime warranty would make me feel a lot bettter. They should consider themselves lucky you didn’t get seriously injured. Keep us posted.
 

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Hey everyone. Just a quick update. The service department at the dealership reached out to me. They said as of now they have the FCA and the top engineers at Chrysler on my case and are determining what the best course of action will be.(already knew this). He couldn’t give me many details but right now they are trying to figure out if they can fix the broken bracket on the track bar or if they need to replace the whole frame on the Jeep.
All I know is that I will not be getting back into the vehicle if they think a quick re-weld will do it justice. I’ll update once I get more information.
That's a tough decision.
1. Have them make the repair to the track bar support, but risk other weld problems on your frame.
2. Make enough noise that they replace your vehicle. Possible buy back at MSRP. There's another forum member going through this process now. He's upset because FCA is forcing him to pay the $750 MSRP increase. Then risk receiving another faulty frame.
3. Allow FCA to supply a new frame (hopefully fully QC's and 100% problem free), but then have to worry that dealer mechanics can properly replace your frame without doing more harm to other components. This will most likely be their first time doing so on a JL. Maybe FCA will send a tech to oversee the process.

Yikes, how do you sleep at night! :cwl:
 

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Hmm I just thought of something. You know how there are so many posts about vague steering, flighty steering, unstable steering, poor handling, etc. with new JLs? .
I think you may be onto something. I don't know if it has to do with the track bar or something else, but the totally contradictory reports about steering are very perplexing to me. Some say its fine, some say its awful - even previous JK owners give conflicting reports. Maybe it is due to actual differences with individual vehicles, perhaps some have a problem and some don't? Perhaps there is some issue, or multiple issues, or a combination of issues, that's at the root of these wildly differing opinions. The only way to know for sure would be to have the same qualified driver test drive two or more identical JL's back-to-back (with properly inflated tires) and discover that one steers fine and another one doesn't. If that happened, one could pretty much eliminate explanations such as the personal expectations, subjective perceptions, or the experience of a particular driver.

My hypothesis that there may be a real underlying problem, and that it doesn't affect all JLs, is, of course, just speculation at this point. I stress that I'm not yet aware of any real evidence one way or the other. If there is a real problem, I'm sure Jeep would certainly know what it is by now, because their professional test drivers obviously have driven many many Jls back to back.
 

WXman

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Hey everyone. Just a quick update. The service department at the dealership reached out to me. They said as of now they have the FCA and the top engineers at Chrysler on my case and are determining what the best course of action will be.(already knew this). He couldn’t give me many details but right now they are trying to figure out if they can fix the broken bracket on the track bar or if they need to replace the whole frame on the Jeep.
All I know is that I will not be getting back into the vehicle if they think a quick re-weld will do it justice. I’ll update once I get more information.
If it was me, I would push really hard for a replacement Jeep just like yours. A "buy back" of sorts. Like someone said, replacing the frame requires a major disassembly of the body, linkages, fuel lines, brake lines, etc. and I would be worried about having future issues. On the other hand, a re-weld will require taking the frame down to bare steel in those areas which will remove the hydro-dip corrosion protection that the plant applies to the frame before assembly. So both of those options would not make me happy. I would want a replacement Jeep.

However, I'm sure FCA will fight you tooth and nail. They fought me over a faulty driveshaft on my JKU because they saw scrapes on my factory skid plates and determined that I was "offroad".

Good luck.
 

BBDOC

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So sorry for everyone dealing with this issue. Glad you and your family are safe. Every day I’m a little sad my Jeep is in Marion and not with. But, if it’s to make sure my vehicle is safe. Keep it as long as you need.
 

jman

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If it was me, I would push really hard for a replacement Jeep just like yours. A "buy back" of sorts. Like someone said, replacing the frame requires a major disassembly of the body, linkages, fuel lines, brake lines, etc. and I would be worried about having future issues. On the other hand, a re-weld will require taking the frame down to bare steel in those areas which will remove the hydro-dip corrosion protection that the plant applies to the frame before assembly. So both of those options would not make me happy. I would want a replacement Jeep.

However, I'm sure FCA will fight you tooth and nail. They fought me over a faulty driveshaft on my JKU because they saw scrapes on my factory skid plates and determined that I was "offroad".

Good luck.

But Jeeps are off road vehicles. How would that be an issue? I realize that's not the point of this thread or your post. Just rubbed me wrong.
 
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rboss

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If it was me, I would push really hard for a replacement Jeep just like yours. A "buy back" of sorts. Like someone said, replacing the frame requires a major disassembly of the body, linkages, fuel lines, brake lines, etc. and I would be worried about having future issues. On the other hand, a re-weld will require taking the frame down to bare steel in those areas which will remove the hydro-dip corrosion protection that the plant applies to the frame before assembly. So both of those options would not make me happy. I would want a replacement Jeep.

However, I'm sure FCA will fight you tooth and nail. They fought me over a faulty driveshaft on my JKU because they saw scrapes on my factory skid plates and determined that I was "offroad".

Good luck.
Great points and I feel the same way. I will be fighting for a buy back. Have my attorney on speed dial.
 

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rboss

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That's a tough decision.
1. Have them make the repair to the track bar support, but risk other weld problems on your frame.
2. Make enough noise that they replace your vehicle. Possible buy back at MSRP. There's another forum member going through this process now. He's upset because FCA is forcing him to pay the $750 MSRP increase. Then risk receiving another faulty frame.
3. Allow FCA to supply a new frame (hopefully fully QC's and 100% problem free), but then have to worry that dealer mechanics can properly replace your frame without doing more harm to other components. This will most likely be their first time doing so on a JL. Maybe FCA will send a tech to oversee the process.

Yikes, how do you sleep at night! :cwl:
Im not sleeping very well :)...Do you know the reason why he wants Jeep to buy back his vehicle???
 

That One Guy

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But Jeeps are off road vehicles. How would that be an issue? I realize that's not the point of this thread or your post. Just rubbed me wrong.
I've been generally wondering if they'll deny warranty claims if it's obvious you go offroad. That's super assholey, considering every commercial shows Wranglers going offroad....

I won't be making an order unless these frame weld and rust issues are sorted out. It just wouldn't be responsible to. As much as I don't want to have eTorque/BSG in a 2019, I'd rather have it than a shit frame.
 

DetroitJL

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I've been generally wondering if they'll deny warranty claims if it's obvious you go offroad. That's super assholey, considering every commercial shows Wranglers going offroad....

I won't be making an order unless these frame weld and rust issues are sorted out. It just wouldn't be responsible to. As much as I don't want to have eTorque/BSG in a 2019, I'd rather have it than a shit frame.
I had a couple small warranty claims on my JK and never had an issue getting them to cover it. Mine was obviously offroaded too. I wouldn't sweat it.
 

WXman

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But Jeeps are off road vehicles. How would that be an issue? I realize that's not the point of this thread or your post. Just rubbed me wrong.
That is exactly what I asked them. I got nowhere.

Ended up taking it to another dealership, and after a solid week of phone calls between myself, the dealer, and Chrysler I finally got it covered. Basically, the CV joint in the driveshaft near the t-case tail shaft was faulty and caused excessive vibration. What a mess...

Anyway, hopefully the OP will be taken care of. In today's social media world, FCA knows that everybody is watching.
 
 



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