Five problems related to steering tie rod assembly have been reported for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Vehicles has excessive play in the steering wheel which makes staying/driving in the lane difficult on highways and incredibly difficult on side roads. Dealer has replaced the steering gearbox and now says it drives as it sohuld. Taken vehicle to other shops and was told that while moving the steering wheel back and forth the drag link moves immediatly but the tie rod does not which contributes to the excessive play felt in the steering wheel. Also the gearbox moves away from the vehicle frame which exasperates the problem even more.
On hundreds of occasions the last three years of ownership, I have had serious steering problems with death wobble, steering wander, and locked-up steering. Dealers have performed warranty work on the track bar and steering stabilizer in the past. However, these remedies have not corrected my issues. Jeep has announced a service bulletin of the steering box, but has not issued a recall for the part. I'm persuaded that this part is responsible for hundreds of counts of this issue. The part has been silently used in newer production Jeeps, but for those of us that have the first model year (and over basic warranty mileage) are left with this burden. I persistently have locked-up steering, more often prone in a colder climate, and have had hundreds of near-death experiences from this issue. The steering wheel is difficult to turn and at highway speeds the vehicle is unable to be turned. With enough force and significant braking I am able to free the steering from center into the direction of travel. Many times the vehicle performs an over correction after becoming unstuck. I personally feel deathly afraid of my Jeep and have recently cancelled upcoming trips into colorado's mountains because I have had experiences on the mountain passes this winter that have been too terrifying. I'm ready to sell my Jeep, but knowing of its problem, I'd be devastated to find out my vehicle killed the next owner. It's absurd that myself and much of the Jeep Wrangler community have had to rely solely on the aftermarket industry to replace stock components in order to feel comfortable operating our vehicles - Jeep should be fully responsible for their failed engineering. For context, I have upgraded the track bar, drag link, tie rod and others to industry-best components in an attempt to address these issues after Jeep's warranty replacements couldn�t. Jeep must fix these steering issues!.
Experiencing the death wobble while driving at high speeds and every bump or transition from highway to the overpass I get the wobble if I let off the gas it evens back out. I've also been experiencing some play in my steering wheel since I picked it up from the repair. I took it in for repair 12/12/18 (invoice 557959) and they replaced the steering damper. Had it back less than a month and the death wobble was back. Dropped it off 2 days ago just got a call and the steering damper is bad again and both tie rods are bad. It's less than a year old. I called back to have them check the track bar weld just in case since some have a recall on them.
On September 14, 2018, I leased my brand new Jeep jl sahara 2018. I signed up for Jeep app and immediately noticed a recall for my car - 2018 jl track bar weld, raising concern. On October 21, 2018, with less than 1000 miles, I was driving on local highway at @ 60mph, hit a bump and my entire steering/front of car began violently shaking. I immed. Slowed down to hope re-align and gain control of steering/car. It was the most frightening experience as I was going 60, had to slow to 35, while others were speeding up behind me, in addition to being scared & feeling unsafe in an out of control car. I called Jeep downingtown immed. On 10/22 to bring car in that week - 10/26. I looked it up and clearly is the known issue called the "death wobble". On 10/25, again on highway @ 65-70 mph, I hit a bump, experienced a yet worse violent shaking/out of control steering of my car. I pulled over as could not gain control slowing down. I got back on highway only to experience it yet again! I was shaking, scared as I could have been killed in addition to others!! I immed. Called Jeep dt and brought car into service. It is now 28 days and my car is still in service!!!. My experience with the dealer has been nothing but a nightmare. They tried 1) recall, 2) service software bulletin update, 3) steering stabilzer part and 4) tie rod part, none fixed problem. I last heard from them on 11/9 when they ordered tie rod - 13 days ago, unacceptable! I filed a case with Jeep Chrysler fca on 11/3- #57311328 and have had poor response. I have documented every day. I filed complaint with PA attorney general, no response. I have contacted lemon law lawyer and will be pursing action. All I want/deserve is to drive a safe car, as I'm paying for that! as NHTSA I hope you can ensure Jeep takes these cars off the road and refunds us to ensure no one gets killed!.
While driving the posted speed limits, on any street, I am constantly fighting with the steering wheel jerks out of my hands, even though I had several professionals look at my tires, wheels, suspension components, tie rods, stabilizer bar, steering dampener, ball joints, etc. My Jeep has this massive death wabble, where I constantly have to fight the steering wheel! on 15+ different times (it does not matter if I am driving on a hwy 70mph, secondary st's 40mph, 5-lane st's at 50mph, or while driving in a subdivision at 25mph), just trying to turn my Jeep becomes a huge challenge, even on a good day! I believe that my electric power steering is also defective too, the steering wheel violently jerks me into oncoming traffic, & into others lanes without any warnings! I finally contacted �synergy manufacturing� who told me that all of the steering components on the jl's are nothing but cheap garbage, that all needs to be replaced! they have a replacement kit, which fixes the problems, for less than $1,200! which sounds like a bargain, if it means that my family remains safe, compared to being killed in yet another fca death trap! also, one's fire retardant blanket (under the hood), is falling apart! I only have 1,800 original miles on it, its never even been off road yet! I've gone to 7 different Jeep dealers, & nobody has any new replacement parts, & all of their customers need to get in line before they shall even look at my Jeep! I would expect a flawless running & driving Jeep jl Wrangler unlimited rubicon, after spending well over $60,000!!! can you please help me? all one has to do, is search any of the Jeep jl forums, search youtube, e. G. , & one shall see thousands of exactly the same complaints! never again fca, you lost me as a customer, its a miracle that my family & I aren't dead!!!.