Seven problems related to frame rust have been reported for the 1998 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Jeep Wrangler frames rust from inside out due to moisture getting in through upper part of frames where their are holes and settling to lower part of frame where their are no drain holes. Their may have not been an issue if Jeep had just put in drain holes in lower part of frame. It is a common problem in 1997 through 2006 Jeep Wranglers. I have this issue.
I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. I've owned my Jeep for 15 years. It has been garage kept. We were changing the shocks a few weeks ago and noticed severe rust damage. The frame is rusting from the inside out. It's severe. Years before I was traveling down a 2 land rd and had to press my brakes harder than I usually would due to a car pulling out in front of me. At that moment I blew a brake line. I could not get my vehicle stopped. Luckily it's a 5 speed. I geared down as fast as I could and managed to pull it off the main road onto a hill to get it stopped. After inspecting my vehicle I found severe damage. The motors mounts are barely there. The part where the frame mounts to the body is actually missing one due to rusting completely out. Every single bolt and nut is rusted. Every single square inch of the frame is rusted. The problem is that Jeep poorly designed the frame with side holes for water and dirt to enter but did not design it with drainage holes on the bottom of the frame. Water and dirt enter and never leave. It's extremely unsafe to drive. I've read thousands of complaints online and this is a very common problem.
I have an excessive amount of frame rust and my vehicle has less than 150xxx miles and this is a severe safety hazard. I have read that there are many people who have experienced this and I am wanting to know what you guys could do to resolve this issue. I bought this vehicle and I do not want to resale because I do not want to sell it in this condition and I want to keep it but I also do not want to drive because of this. There's a lot of life left in this vehicle and it only has 126xxx miles so I need help.
Takata recall reporting this in hopes of having the issue resolved by NHTSA or Chrysler. . . I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler and like thousands of others, mine has developed major frame rust. I know this isnt going to be resolved anytime soon, but I need to get mine fixed now. Hopefully if there is ever a recall I can still be apart of it even after mine is repaired. Im going to be having it patched for now as a frame replacement will cost way too much for me at the moment. Myself, along with many others would greatly benifit from this being recalled. There are a lot of Jeeps out there driving on repaired frames. This issue should be resolved being as there are so many with the exact same problem.
The frame around the control arms are rusting, this could be a serious problem that needs addressed and there are more 97-06 Wranglers with rusted frames than not.
Noticed a noise while driving home the other day thought it may have been my exhaust rattling around, so I got under vehicle to inspect the noise, and what I found was that the rear part of the frame has rusted away and the brackets for the rear trailing arms had detached from the frame allowing the arms to drop, and on this particular side the brake lines are attached to this control arm. I know that Toyota had a similar recall on the truck frames for rust perforation, and that Jeep had one on the liberty for the rear lower control arms rusting and breaking. I am an automotive technician and my personal Jeep is not the first one I have seen with this potentially dangerous condition. I also googled this problem and found that its very common in these vehicles as well.
Was told by my mechanic frame is rusting from the inside out, and the frame will fail in the near future. I understand this is a on going problem with Jeep Wranglers of multiple years due to the fact there were never drain holes providing drainage for the water, also lack of any rust coating to the inside of frame. In penn. You can not sell a car with frame damage. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I feel that Jeep should help with the repair or replacement of the frame.