New JT Gladiator Steering Issue TSB 08-074-20 (for "Improved Steering Feel")

[BilletRUBI]

Got my Gladiator back. Drives like it should. The wandering is gone, even with my 35" BFG Mud-Terrain KM3s...

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[ucijeepguy]

@JeepCares why are we footing the bill for the alignment when its part of the warranty item replaced?

 

[MattLasee]

Aug 14, 2020
Back then I posted "use a little honey rather than vinegar" when dealing with anyone. Well... I have to say, I took my own advice, and WOW! Guess what happened??

today I took my 2020 White Gladiator into the service department to have a program update, and for them to check out the steering and wandering on the road. 40 mins later, vehicle was re-programmed, they have the parts NEW gearbox on order and I am scheduled for the install on Thursday SEPT 10th.

NO Hassle, NO haggling, NO demanding that I AM IMPORTANT and you have to do what I TELL YOU to do, NO Waving a TSB around like a BIG TRUMP BULLY GOTCHA CARD in a card game of sheepshead...
No fire breathing customer = someone that is easy to do business with.

 

[CDN_Launch]

Aug 14, 2020
Back then I posted "use a little honey rather than vinegar" when dealing with anyone. Well... I have to say, I took my own advice, and WOW! Guess what happened??

today I took my 2020 White Gladiator into the service department to have a program update, and for them to check out the steering and wandering on the road. 40 mins later, vehicle was re-programmed, they have the parts NEW gearbox on order and I am scheduled for the install on Thursday SEPT 10th.

NO Hassle, NO haggling, NO demanding that I AM IMPORTANT and you have to do what I TELL YOU to do, NO Waving a TSB around like a BIG TRUMP BULLY GOTCHA CARD in a card game of sheepshead...
No fire breathing customer = someone that is easy to do business with.

Congrats to you

I started that way, as I am in sales and expect you get what you give...but I lost my honey a while ago.

Happy for you getting it fixed, but you might not have had so much honey if you had to go through it for months without a problem fixed, that you “feel” everyday.

 

[TrainMan]

Aug 14, 2020
Back then I posted "use a little honey rather than vinegar" when dealing with anyone. Well... I have to say, I took my own advice, and WOW! Guess what happened??

today I took my 2020 White Gladiator into the service department to have a program update, and for them to check out the steering and wandering on the road. 40 mins later, vehicle was re-programmed, they have the parts NEW gearbox on order and I am scheduled for the install on Thursday SEPT 10th.

NO Hassle, NO haggling, NO demanding that I AM IMPORTANT and you have to do what I TELL YOU to do, NO Waving a TSB around like a BIG TRUMP BULLY GOTCHA CARD in a card game of sheepshead...
No fire breathing customer = someone that is easy to do business with.

Lol. That's basically me but only because I'm an introvert and don't know how to speak up.

 

[steffen707]

Got my Gladiator back. Drives like it should. The wandering is gone, even with my 35" BFG Mud-Terrain KM3s...

maybe this means I can get 44" tires and it won't wander? lol

 

[Rubi_Rhod]

Does anybody have a pic of the new part? And where the part number is stamped?
I am curious if my build from July that was just delivered has the new part installed. Dealer said yeah, but i take it with a grain of salt that they looked. Ha!

i just got it, still wandering through it allso was hoping for a pointer. Thanks!

 

[JKABBQ]

Does anybody have a pic of the new part? And where the part number is stamped?
I am curious if my build from July that was just delivered has the new part installed. Dealer said yeah, but i take it with a grain of salt that they looked. Ha!

i just got it, still wandering through it allso was hoping for a pointer. Thanks!

Page 54 of this thread has the photos of both the old and new boxes.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You know I was thinking about you guys running lift kits and other aftermarket parts on your rigs. I am not sure how exactly they could actually deny you this TSB. Wouldn’t it almost be like denying any future engine work if you decided to say upgrade the serpentine belt with a non-OEM belt or use a non-OEM oil filter? It would be pretty close to the same thing. Oh, you added a decal so we can’t warranty the paint... Your window has a non-OEM tint, so your claim for a bad window regulator is denied. I do understand the extra drag of larger tires and how it isn’t quite the same and how a 4” lift done poorly could also do the same. But all this pushback from some dealers on aftermarket suspension parts is nonsensical. Seems to be the very thing the Magnuson-Moss act was written to prevent. Which if memory serves me, was about voiding factory warranties on computers because of non-OEM RAM upgrades. Now being a computer guy I would say having a motherboard issue due to bad RAM chip is a more real scenario then having an issue with the steering gear because you run a different axle or different tie rod ends, etc.

I am just saying.... it is all whacktasticjackasserie followed by a bit of buffonerishness and other similar made up words which make more sense then some of these dealers decisions.

Apples and oranges. Tires CAN impact handling and ride and steering. NOT saying they ARE causing this, but it's such a wide ranges of parts and pieces, and worse, people doing it, some know how, others don't have a clue.
If you have a bearing go in your water pump - you could be denied if you switch belt systems. If the alternator goes south, you could be denied if you have changed belt systems. In fact, I did have a water pump fail because a DEALER didn't set belt tension correctly on a 4.0. How hard can that be? The place to check tension is on the decal under the hood. The dealership got me a new radiator, belt, fan, water pump and other misc. stuff.

Window tint doesn't impact the window weight or operation - tires, wheels, other parts can.
Got wheels that are wider and with a different offset? - darned straight it can negatively impact handling. You change the intersection of the SAI line and the center patch of the tire - you can cause it to be harder to steer, easier, bump steer, all sorts of nasty things.
Small scrub radius makes a vehicle less sensative to braking, more makes for more road feel - Negative scrub radius gives more control in case of a blowout, or other emergency. Take that away and it's not as easy to control the vehicle.
Wheel offset changes and changes in height can have bad consequences. I'm sort of surprised they don't address that - on the other hand, they do know there's a problem..

If an oil filter fails (and I've had two do that) the company MAY go after the filter maker if they find the cause was indeed the filter - but as long as you have some record of maintenance......
It could get fuzzy if you drive the thing 20,000 miles and never change or check the oil......

But in this case - the TSB is pretty clear - they know there's an issue, check this stuff first, if the customer complains, FIX IT.

 

[Rubi_Rhod]

Page 54 of this thread has the photos of both the old and new boxes.

You rock! Thanks. Been following this thread, and went back a few pages, but just not far enough. Been busy here!

Direct link!

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...roved-steering-feel.33705/page-54#post-558671

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Just got off the phone with my dealership, they are replacing the box but per the tsb mentions nothing about alignment and saying i have to eat that cost. Is this the case with anyone else?

That's because this has NO impact at all on aligment. This changes nothing - so it makes sense - why should an aligment be free when changing this steering gear doesn't do anything at all to toe - and should not change the steering wheel position. It's a like-for-like swap.
IF your alignment was off - it was off before any steering gear swap.
Alignment has nothing to do with this - that would be why it's not mentioned.
If it was a track bar change, drag link change, etc. - then it would be covered.

I will ask them to check mine knowing full well that is my request - they can charge me - or not depending on their "Good will" mood.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I had to eat the cost of my alignment. Mine was even a little out and required a slight adjuatment. It's 2 weeks old.
FCA denied the warranty claim.

Since the only thing that can be changed is toe and steering wheel centering - if it was off, then it was off from day one. I can see two weeks being an extremely short time - unless you went right out into the rocks, it was likely always off.
You'd have to smack something hard to change these an appreciable amount.
They can't change camber or caster (without new parts)

I can also see it being a gray area since it's a "wear area" and a lot can happen through just driving on less than great roads - not suggesting that's what you did, but I guess I can see them being reluctant to cover that.

When I did alignments, it was guaranteed for a couple of hours as we did literally have people take their vehicles out and abuse the heck out of them and then blame us.
One guy turned his truck with new clutch over to his kid - then the next day blamed us for the clutch being bad. The damn flywheel was BLUE when we checked it out. The kid fried it.

 

[Chance_P]

Happy to report that this has made a huge improvement in my steering. Before I had a constant pull to the right, lots of wandering in cross wind, and it took excessive input to keep between the lines. Now it's buttery. Shout out to Jensen Jeep in Lemars, IA for ordering the parts and getting me scheduled all without stepping foot in the dealer.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

STILL WAITING for bolts!! A week later, not in yet.
Tomorrow at 7am it will be there in their shop for exactly 1 week.

 

[danielspivey]

STILL WAITING for bolts!! A week later, not in yet.
Tomorrow at 7am it will be there in their shop for exactly 1 week.

Did you get a loaner or rental? Why did they let you drink it off before everything was in?

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