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.
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.
"tj Wrangler frame rust" - severe rust occurred in the frame of my 1998 Jeep Wrangler. Vehicle would no longer pass pa state inspection. Rust was due to no drainage hole and frame rusted from inside out. Rust occurred on both driver and passenger sides just in front of the rear control arms and extended front to the transfer case mounting points. I have researched this issue and it is very common and many poor Jeep owners are parting out perfectly good Jeep due to them not being able to pass state inspections - luckily no one has been harmed due to this frame damage that I am aware of - some videos on the internet show the entire frame rusted away! this needs to be brought to the attention of Jeep as this is obvious a design flaw and owners should be compensated. If there is any doubt of how severe this is simple do a google search! Toyota took care of their customers!!!
The rust is so bad on the Jeep it's ridiculous it's not safe your going to kill someone when there rear axle shoots out from under them this is a issue you should fix not the consumer I will not be buying this product again if it is my fixed. 98 tj Jeep Wrangler
Due to excessive rot that is common on this vehicle, while traveling I hit a bump and snapped my driver side control arm. This consequently made for a dangerous ride. While attempting to repair it I noticed how bad the frame was rotted, but unlike normal circumstances where the outside and inside would have equal corrosion. The inside was rotted much worse, and parts of the frame easily crumbled.
- Erie, PA, USA
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The frame around the control arms are rusting, this could be a serious problem that needs addressed and there are more 97-06 Wrangler 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.
Death wobble, front end shakes violently at higher freeway speeds. Very fearful to drive on other than streets. Has happened several times the last 2 years. Purchased Jeep used 5 years ago but only started to have wobble last 2 years since im retired and don't drive long distances very often and not don't want to drive anywhere that requires me to use freeways.
Rust has eaten completely through Jeep frame in rear support area through about midway of the door section. This is not minor surface rust, but large gaping holes that I can put my whole hand inside of. The Jeep was purchased new in 1998 and has never been offroad. It has very low highway mileage and is in an area where the winters are mild, so there's not a lot of road salt used during the winters here. It has been maintained and has been well taken care of. I had recently taken it to a fabrication shop to see if it could be repaired, and after examination the shop owner said there is no solid metal left in the frame for a repair to be possible. He said there are no drain holes on bottom of the Jeep frame, but only holes that the manufacturer put on the side of the frame. He said, as a result road grime entered the frame from these manufactured side holes, got trapped inside the frame and caused it to rust from the inside out. He said that is why I had not detected the severity of the rust problem before now. The shop owner put his hand inside the frame and pulled out a handful of moist road grime and loose rust flakes to further illustrate the problem. The shop owner went on to inform me that my Jeep is not safe to drive. In stark contrast, the underside of the body of the Jeep has absolutely no rust at all.
Consumer was traveling 60mph on highway and there was a loud bang. Then, vehicle veered to left. A clicking noise came about after incident. Dealership was aware of problem.
When driving at any speed and going over a bump, the steering wheel is vibrating and there is some knocking noise coming from the vehicle. Consumer feels the design of the steering wheel and column mechanism does not fit correctly causing loose fitting.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lexington, KY, USA