This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Steering issues - large dead spot in steering that makes it extremely dangerous to drive. My wife won't even drive the vehicle as it scares here at highway speeds. Around town the dead spot is smaller - still a work out to keep straight, but very dangerous at highway speeds. The truck wanders all over and you have to constantly correct. Cross winds are even worse as you have to cross the gap of the dead zone when the gust stops before controlling the steering. Took in to the dealer last week - they checked it all over, found nothing wrong underneath - told me that +/- half an inch dead spot is in spec. Problem is that on a rack in the shop, the dead spot is smaller (while a whole inch in play is still a lot and should be unacceptable for any car made in the last couple decades). On real world driving conditions, there is resistance from the road, so the dead spot is a little larger. Go faster, like the 75 and 80mph roads in Texas, the dead spot is huge. At highway speeds it looks similar or worse than this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&V=Q8tfehcotjq&feature=emb_logo will be taking it to another dealer and another until resolved - not safe to drive on highway - and compared to our other Jeep - the steering in that is tight and responsive - so this is an issue that can be resolved if Jeep wants to resolve. Many other videos were posted, looks like many taken down now. Something isn't right in the steering box - too much slop - need engineering to put out a fix as service shops at dealers have no guidance to fix, and will just keep saying it's a Jeep thing (but not all Jeep have this issue and not all Gladiators have this issue, which means it can be fixed).
There is a 2" plus dead zone in the steering where driver input turns the wheel neither left nor right. This is marginally acceptable in most situations but in winds and or towing it becomes very dangerous. Like driving a boat with a loose rudder.
Death wobble. When driving at speeds of 65+ mph when the weather is below 38F, if my Jeep hits a significant bump in the road the steering wheel begins to violently shake as does the rest of the vehicle. It stops after I reduce my speed to below 55mph.
The steering on my vehicle drifts within the lane and is very difficult to operate. The dealer said it is a combination of electric and mechanical steering which is sensitive. Dealer said repair for this issue at this time. Waiting for a software update.
- Apollo Beach, FL, USA
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At speeds of 65+ mph. Irregularities in the road surface cause the vehicle to swerve randomly toward the ditch or the other lane. Holding a single lane is near impossible.
The steering on this Jeep has a 1-1.5" play on either side of driving straight and wanders all over the road.. it takes some serious effort to keep it driving straight.
Excessive play in the steering wheel. Vehicle requires approximately 2 to 3 inches of movement before the front tires react. This creates an unsafe driving characteristic with unexpected movement while driving and difficulty to maintain lane.
The so called death wobble while driving under normal conditions....dry pavement at speeds between 60/65 mph on both city streets and highways....it happens quite often...this vehicle has only 4000 miles
While in motion and increasingly noticeable as speed increases there is a dead spot in the steering. The input of the steering wheel does not correspond to the movement in the tires as observed from testing steering wheel movement and monitoring the tire movement. The vehicle has been checked twice by the dealership. The first time the drag link was replaced with no noticeable improvement. The second time the vehicle was deemed to be operating as expected. After replacing the drag link the dead spot moved entirely to the right side. When the steering wheel is straight, movement to the left is immediately responsive. Movement to the right has about a 2 inch dead zone. The symptom can be observed in this video: Https://youtu.be/-pjqtfgv4uc the problem is most likely in the steering box as the input to the steering box is not matching the output into the steering components. Having driven other Gladiators without this issue and heard from numerous other owners about having responsive steering, this issue should not be described as normal operation.
The vehicle has a steering issue when driving at highway speeds. It has to be constantly turned to keep in a straight path. It wonders uncontrollably without constant adjustments from the driver. This is a safety issue to me because it's easy to get out of your lane if your not constantly focused on the road. You can't take your eyes off the road for even a split second.
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while driving at speeds above 50 mph, the vehicle would drift out of the lane and the steering would not immediately respond when turning the steering wheel making the steering very unstable. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer lithea Dodge (2121 mlk jr. Blvd eugene or) who was unable to identify the failure and indicated that the vehicle had operated as normal. The manufacturer) was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 8.
Today is the first time I've taken my new Jeep Gladiator on the freeway. It has only 259 miles. I never noticed any steering problem while driving in town, but at higher speeds on the freeway I was constantly correcting to stay in the center of my lane. I agree with the many other steering complaints that there has to be a fix. I felt very uncomfortable driving like this.
My Gladiator steering is not able to track straight. And there is constant play at all speeds. It has been to the dealer 3 times for repair and dealer has been unsuccessful at fixing steering play. My truck was out of alignment from the day I purchased it, Chrysler escalated my case and then a notice saying my case has been closed. And there is no resolve for my steering issue.my next step is to discuss with lemon law attorney.
My Jeep Gladiator requires constant correction while driving and seems to have a ~1 inch dead spot from center before the wheels react which seems to allow it to also wander from left to right slightly and does not want to come back to center. It is more apparent at higher speeds and requires you to constantly over-correct to keep it center on a straight road. I scheduled a service and they could not find anything wrong but after I returned to pick up my Jeep a asked the service manager to take a quick drive with me and I would show him the issue. After driving mine we also drove another one from the new lot and it seemed to have the same dead-zone/play in the steering that mine did. The service manager agreed that he could tell there was some sort of issue but that they do not have a fix for it at this time. This is unacceptable for a brand new $55K+ vehicle. I have also noticed that the steering box seems to actually move slightly while looking at it while the steering wheel is being turned. This issue needs to be resolved quickly as I am not the only one complaining of this. Fca needs to do something about it asap.
Steering is loose. Needs to be corrected every 2-3 seconds at highway speeds. Windy conditions much worse. Not safe to drive. Not fun to drive. Continually wanders. Vehicle two weeks old. Factory stock.
My 2020 Jeep Gladiator requires constant micro corrections from 35 mph and above, even more noticeable at highway speeds of 50+. aprox 1 inch or more dead spot in steering before I get a reaction to the wheels. I scheduled a service appointment for 12/9 and from what I have been told my dealer is that Jeep has no fix for this problem, they have filed a case with fca. I personally wanted it documented with the NHTSA, to force fca to fix this problem, before some one is seriously injured or killed. Vehicle currently only has 1500 miles. Unacceptable for a $45K+ vehicle
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Carlisle, PA, USA