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 am experiencing a dead spot in the steering of roughly 1-2 inches at both city and highway speeds (60+ mph) where the steering is unresponsive. As well as "wandering" steering where any variations in the road/wind etc cause the vehicle to veer off course. With these two problems, I am constantly correcting the vehicle to the point where it is extremely uncomfortable and unsafe. I have found numerous other people that are experiencing the same problem. The following forum describes the issues reported : https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/my-steering-issues-have-been-fixed.12843/
I am experiencing a dead spot in the steering of roughly 2-3 inches at highway speeds (60+ mph) where the steering is unresponsive. As well as "wandering" steering where any variations in the road/wind etc cause the vehicle to veer off course dramatically. With these two problems, I am constantly correcting the vehicle to the point where it is extremely uncomfortable and unsafe. I have driven numerous other Jeep Wrangler (prior models) and have never had such issues. I have found numerous other people that are experiencing the same problem. The following forum describes the issues reported and the failed "fixes" that the service departments are rendering: Https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/my-steering-issues-have-been-fixed.12843/
Steering has a 'dead spot' when centered (up to about 10degrees to left or right) when traveling highway speeds. This means the driver has to continually steering to the left or right (about 10degrees) to the left or right just to keep the car centered. When driving close to other cars or highway median, this could cause you to veer off your lane and lead to a potential accident.
Steering is loose. Jeep wanders within the lane and you are required to chase it. Steering is most difficult in the 45-60 zone. It feels there is excessive play in the steering wheel. You can turn it 1/2'+ any direction before the wheels respond. Drove it for 46 miles and took back to dealer but they couldn't find anything wrong and gave it back 3 days later. Vehicle originally delivered with tires inflated to 44 psi. I lowered them to 36 psi as recommended on the door frame and it reduced the wandering by almost half but still is a very loose steering vehicle.
There is a noticeable steering dead zone (play) when the steering wheel is at-or-near centered position. Furthermore, the vehicle does not seem to be able to drive in a straight line (wandering) on paved roads without constant correction. These two issues are present at all speeds but are especially noticeable at highway speeds. Both issues compound and make the vehicle unsafe to drive at highway speeds, requiring frequent micro-corrections ' which are hard to get right because of the aforementioned dead zone.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
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Vehicle is hard to steer and keep in lane. There seems to be a major safety issue because even with constant attention it is all over the place. Even at slower speeds of 30mph the effect can be felt. Higher speeds are very scary and often people behind me wonder if I am driving drunk.
The steering wheel has a lot of play, and feels unsafe at highway speeds. The lack of feel in the wheel could case high speed lost of control and is unsafe for driving.
New Jeep Wrangler jl has more play in the steering than any other vehicle I have driven in the past 20 years. At highway speeds there is over 1 inch of play before the vehicle begins to turn. As a result, one tends to overcorrect causing a change in direction which makes the car wander more than I believe to be safe. Started on day of delivery in may, 2018 and continues to this day. Apparently not all Wrangler experience this, but some very clearly do. Problem exists at all speeds (in motion) especially aware of it going straight on highway.
Steering is extremely loose and require constant correction to stay in a straight line. There's a huge dead spot in it as well, I feel like I'm in a cartoon driving.
Steering has a noticeable 'dead-spot' while driving and requires large amounts of input to correct normal road drift resulting in an almost jerking or sawing motion of several inches in each direction to make small corrections. The large amount of steering input required from the driver then causes the vehicle to sway laterally on the road. This becomes increasingly dangerous as speed increases. The attached service report incorrectly states they were 'unable to duplicate' the condition in a like vehicle. In actuality the other 2018 Jeep Wrangler I drove exhibited the same behavior; requiring larger than normal inputs to make small corrections. I was told by the service foreman it's just inherent in the design of the Wrangler.
The steering is loose. You constantly have to correct to the left or right to keep the Jeep tracking in the lane of travel. There is also a "dead spot" about 1/4 to 1/2 to the left and right where if you turn the steering wheel there is no movement from the front wheels. This happens at all speeds.
Steering very loose and wanders all over the road. You need to constantly make corrections while steering. Seems like the Jeep wants to wander and is very hard to control. Ive only had the Jeep for a week.
There is a dead spot in the steering. You must move the steering wheel 1/2"-1" to the left or right before it will activate based off of the steering input. I initially thought it was part of the typical Jeep setup until I read many other owners in the Jeep jlu forum complaining about the same issue. I've called (3) different dealers who indicated that they had not heard of the issue. I've provided a link to a facebook video from one of the forum members so that you can see how much play is in the steering input at 70 mph. I was driving in a severe rainstorm recently and began to hydro-plane and didn't feel like I had the proper amount of input to steering that would allow me to recover without jerking the wheel. This amount of play in the steering makes it difficult to correctly adjust if an immediate input is needed without over correcting. Https://www.facebook.com/groups/jeepwranglerjl/permalink/1014060645441660/ this has has been ongoing since the day I tool delivery of the vehicle. I currently have approx. 2480 miles on the vehicle.
As you drive, the vehicle has a tendency to drift left and right, requiring constant correction. Lowering the inflation of the tires seemed to help, but the issue still remains.
Loose steering and drift while driving. Unable to maintain a straight line without constant steering correction. Very noticeable at freeway speeds as the vehicle will want to drive left or right immediately after you stop correcting steering. Started at 19 miles total on the vehicle. As soon as I purchased it and got on the freeway it felt like driving on ice. Flat out dangerous to drive, right from the factory.
Major deadspot and a lot of play in steering. Constant adjustment in steering when driving over 30mph. Wanders into other lane....almost had accident because of the constant adjustments. Brought it to dealer and nothing was fixed.
Merging on to highway, steering stiffened then loosened. Steering wheel had to be at 45-90 degree angle to maintain straight track. At home, I noticed the track bar mount had separated from the frame. The weld on the outboard side is on mount instead of the seam between the mount and frame. The front and rear welds on the mount are cracked. Only intact weld is the inboard weld.
There is 1 to 2 inches of play in the steering. The Jeep drifts from one side of the road to the other. You have to be constantly steering are you will end up in the other lane or off the road. It normally happens above 35 mph on highway.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Katy, TX, USA