New Plan - Jeep Grand Cherokee EPS Wobble

[BPoland]

Originally Posted by Yianni

I then told her of my most recent experience with the dealership. Every time I drive home from work (12 miles on the Baltimore Beltway), I smell that sweet smell of antifreeze. I do not find any evidence of a leak, but in a closed system, I should not smell it.

BPoland,
Did you receive a letter from FCA regarding your water pump?
I recently received a letter stating my warranty for the water pump has been changed from 5 years/100,000 miles to 7 years/unlimited miles for Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles dating 2013-2017.
The reason given is some of the vehicles may experience a noise or leak in the water pump.

A small leak could possibly be the source of your coolant odor.

I have not received anything from Jeep about a water pump.

[Yianni]

Originally Posted by BPoland

I have not received anything from Jeep about a water pump.

I have the Hemi V-8, so possibly it did not apply to you.
I'd call Jeep just to check.

[lass]

I received a detailed email from John Johnson - FMCA and according to his contact at FCA - Jeep has determined that the Grand Cherokee is towable and they are not working on the wobble situation.

I know that this contradicts previous updates received by at least 3 members - me included- but I’m starting to believe that FMCA has the most reliable information.

Las

[rorr1821]

Everyone needs to file a complaint with NHTSA. This is a safety issue. If you pull out into a busy road as I have and wobble starts you can not stop the wobble until you come to a complete stop. Cars approaching from your rear could rear end your Jeep not realizing you have a problem.

[dpinvidic]

Damping makes sense. However, the steering wheel is so hard to turn with the EPS off, I would have thought that would help.

Has anyone considered installing a "Steering Damper" shock on the steering system?
My son had this on a raised 4x4 truck. Just wondering if it would help.

My signature says Cherokee...but last week we traded it in for a 2019 GC. Now I am on the lookout for the wobble again.

Fixing my sg. now

Dan

[TriCitySam]

2017 GC Overland,had wobble today turning left hard from stop in truck stop. Stopped and restarted.

[bsmseven]

It happened to me yesterday for the fourth time in the past year. Exact same problem that everyone is experiencing with a sharp turn from a stop or near stop. I turned left into my subdivision and watched the left front tire of the Jeep in the mirror as it hit a repaired small pothole and immediately start its death wobble. After clearing the street I was turning off to make sure I didn't get hit by the approaching car, I hit the brakes to stop the wobble. I find that I don't have to completely stop as other do to get the wobble to stop, just slow way down with steady brake pressure. This might be due to the Air Force braking system installed on the Jeep and connected to the air brakes on the coach.

After reading all of this forum's notes and many in Crabby Mike's "Jeep Grand Cherokee death wobble" forum (http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/jeep-...le-339594.html), I sent an email to Jeep per Las's request and received a reference number. Here is the information you seek in case you want to add it to the list:

Ref. # 58805925
2017 Grand Cherokee Overland
Mileage during first incident in 2018: ~18,000
Mileage during fourth incident on 6/18/19: ~36,500
Quadralift suspension setting: Normal ride height
Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and base plates (tow bar is nearly level between the vehicles)

I will also send this information to John Johnston at FMCA as Las requested.

As others have suggested, I will be filing a complaint with the NHTSA to see if we can get FCA to move on this. We don't need someone dead or seriously interested because they haven't seen the danger level high enough yet.

I hope another voice helps.

Barry
______________________________________
2005 Itasca Meridian 36G
2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar
SMI Air Force One braking system

[Robin_M]

Originally Posted by dpinvidic

Damping makes sense. However, the steering wheel is so hard to turn with the EPS off, I would have thought that would help.

Has anyone considered installing a "Steering Damper" shock on the steering system?
My son had this on a raised 4x4 truck. Just wondering if it would help.

My signature says Cherokee...but last week we traded it in for a 2019 GC. Now I am on the lookout for the wobble again.

Dan

Dan,

You wrote this post back in January, nine months ago. I'm wondering if you have experienced the problem with your new 2019 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk?

I just bought a 2019 GC Overland last month, to use as a new toad replacing my 2013 GMC Acadia. Had I know about this problem last month, I would NEVER have traded in the Acadia. Haven't rigged my 2019 GC for towing yet, and am now wondering if I should.

Thanks

[lass]

Rob, I have a list of owners who experienced the wobble in the first week of towing and others where it didn’t happen for 15000 miles. The most important thing to know is that if it does occur, you will need to come to a complete stop. Check you connections and continue on your trip. Most likely it will Good from there. Unfortunately, you won’t know when or if it will happen again.

[Robin_M]

Thanks, lass. And a special thanks for your work in trying to get FCA to resolve the problem, despite their refusal to address it. I'm aware of the details as I've just finished reading the entire 18-page original thread.

Have you, by chance, heard any other news since John Johnston (FMCA) said that FCA was discontinuing their investigation on the WK2 models? At some point, I suspect they will begin quietly addressing the issue on new models only with no announcement.

[Ready2Travel]

Originally Posted by lass

Rob, I have a list of owners who experienced the wobble in the first week of towing and others where it didn’t happen for 15000 miles. The most important thing to know is that if it does occur, you will need to come to a complete stop. Check you connections and continue on your trip. Most likely it will Good from there. Unfortunately, you won’t know when or if it will happen again.

So far 15000 to 20000 miles towed (probably closer to 20000) and no wobble.



Is it common for anyone not to have the wobble or does almost everyone eventually have it happen?

Towing a 2018 GC Limited with off-road package.

[Big_Boy]

Anecdotally, I have come to terms with this problem on our '16 JGC Summit after towing it for a total of 27,590 miles since my first tow on 27 December 2017.

Yes. It has happened numerous (>6) times towing the Jeep with two different motorhomes.

Yes. Every time it happens, the only solution is to stop completely and then start moving again. To be honest, I don't stop for more than 1 - 2 seconds. I never get out and look at the hitch equipment until later.

I am convinced it will never happen any time except for very low speeds and/or from a dead stop.

It is a major annoyance to completely stop the motorhome, in traffic on city streets, to correct the issue.

To date, however, it has not caused any harm that I can detect to the Jeep, tow bar, or the motorhome. It has never happened except when I am accelerating from a dead stop while turning a corner and simultaneously pulling the Jeep over a big bump or through a rut in an intersection.

Probably the most egregious occurrence was after leaving a campground in College Park, Maryland (suburb near Beltway north of Washington D.C.). I was stopped at a traffic light in a two-lane left turn with a slight uphill grade. At this intersection, the asphalt pavement was pretty heavily rutted by truck traffic. As I accelerated from stop, I had to make a fairly sharp turn to the left. The Jeep front tires started whipping back and forth as they tried to climb out of ruts. I had to stop for 1 - 2 seconds with morning commute traffic on my tail. However, once I thoroughly annoyed everyone, I was able to start up again and went on our way without further incident.

Would I like to see this fixed by FCA? YES. Absolutely.

How would I feel if someone rear-ended the Jeep when I stop unexpectedly? Extra UPSET with FCA.

Am I going to ditch the Jeep because FCA won't fix it or even acknowledge the issue? NO. Love the Jeep in spite of all this.

[dpinvidic]

Originally Posted by Robin_M

Dan,

You wrote this post back in January, nine months ago. I'm wondering if you have experienced the problem with your new 2019 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk?

I just bought a 2019 GC Overland last month, to use as a new toad replacing my 2013 GMC Acadia. Had I know about this problem last month, I would NEVER have traded in the Acadia. Haven't rigged my 2019 GC for towing yet, and am now wondering if I should.

Thanks

Sorry for the late reply, I have towed about a thousand miles so far with no problems. Supposedly the 2019 Cherokee has the towing restriction removed from the manual. So I'm hoping whatever fix is in the Cherokee is also in the Grand Cherokee.

[lass]

Originally Posted by dpinvidic

Sorry for the late reply, I have towed about a thousand miles so far with no problems. Supposedly the 2019 Cherokee has the towing restriction removed from the manual. So I'm hoping whatever fix is in the Cherokee is also in the Grand Cherokee.

FCA has not incorporated a fix for the Grand Cherokee wobble. They have actually stopped looking into the issue.