The 2007 Jeep Compass has a design flaw.
From day 1 the camber was out. I initially reported it as a tire hum.
The dealer could not fix the problem but gave me a new tire because they were worn to the inside. The tire wear persisted. The problem also showed up as instability at highway speed, and the rear would loose traction in heavy rain & snow covered conditions.
I decided to change all the suspension parts my self & take it in for an alignment.
I put in new lateral links, upper & lower tie bars and the rear tires were still not vertical.
The caster adjustment was good but camber is out and has no way to be adjusted.
The original equipment tie bar $60 The new adjustable tie bar $130 but only because I have a friend who can get them wholesale.
If the caster adjustment bolts are rusted to the tie bars & you must cut them to remove it, "like I did", those parts can only be found @ a dealer & cost 22$ ea. & do not throw away the eccentric washers you took off the old one because the dealer does not have a part number in their books to replace it.
The Chrysler rep. told me that this was never designated as a design defect & my car is too old for them to help with the cost for the new/new parts.
My thought is that if the part was correct in the first place I would not have had a problem. or
if it was found & corrected when I brought it in in 2008 this situation would hve been avoided.
When I was told that there is a Chrysler part I could buy to fix it. I asked the Chrysler rep ...
"Why would Chrysler go to the trouble of designing a new part if it was't a "DESIGN DEFECT" IN THE FIRST PLACE.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The 2007 Jeep Compass has a design flaw. From day 1 the camber was out. I initially reported it as a tire hum. The dealer could not fix the problem but gave me a new tire because they were worn to the inside. The tire wear persisted. The problem also showed up as instability at highway speed, and the rear would loose traction in heavy rain & snow covered conditions. I decided to change all the suspension parts my self & take it in for an alignment. I put in new lateral links, upper & lower tie bars and the rear tires were still not vertical. The caster adjustment was good but camber is out and has no way to be adjusted. The original equipment tie bar $60 The new adjustable tie bar $130 but only because I have a friend who can get them wholesale. If the caster adjustment bolts are rusted to the tie bars & you must cut them to remove it, "like I did", those parts can only be found @ a dealer & cost 22$ ea. & do not throw away the eccentric washers you took off the old one because the dealer does not have a part number in their books to replace it.
The Chrysler rep. told me that this was never designated as a design defect & my car is too old for them to help with the cost for the new/new parts.
My thought is that if the part was correct in the first place I would not have had a problem. or if it was found & corrected when I brought it in in 2008 this situation would hve been avoided. When I was told that there is a Chrysler part I could buy to fix it. I asked the Chrysler rep ... "Why would Chrysler go to the trouble of designing a new part if it was't a "DESIGN DEFECT" IN THE FIRST PLACE.
- Greg L., White Lake, MI, US