I have had my GC for just over 2 weeks and I have noticed a knocking noise in the front of the car particularly on rebound. I got under the car tonight to have a look at the suspension and I notice the nut holding the bottom of the suspension strut is missing.
Now I clearly recall when I was driving home the first night I heard something hitting the under side of the car, and it must have been the nut bouncing off the road. So I have had this nut missing for 1,500km (900 miles).
I have been very lucky that the bolt did not back itself out. If you look closely at the picture, it clearly shows that the nut / bolt was not torqued correctly as there was very little marking on the surface of the strut where the nut meets the strut.
This is not isolated! This is exactly what happened to my 2014 GC it was brand new no miles on it drove it for about a month and it was fine, after a long trip heard a knock and felt it in the pedal and with my foot on the floor I could feel the vibration. Took it to the dealership this is exactly the problem that they found. Then they fixed it and about a week later it came back, we brought it back in and sure enough the same thing happened, this time he said he welded the nut on... yes welded the nut on, it has seemed to have work but welded anything beside an exhaust on a car just doesn't seem right in my opinion
To be fair, cannot tell from the OP's pictures if that missing nut is on a connection where flex is required. If so, it would seem the wrong type of fastener is being used.
I'd expect at least a good locking type washer/nut combination where the lock washer has those little ears that are bent up and hold the nut in place where it cannot spin unless you chisel the lockwasher out of the way.
Red loctite may be overkill as it is for cylinder liners and a bitch to undo, but I'd still wonder why that was not done as opposed to welding unless there is a TSB telling the dealer to weld.
Welding seems a little extreme. I'll probably hit mine w/ some red locktite as a preventative measure if Jeep doesn't implement a rolling change by '15 to address the issue.
I gotta admit, though, its things like this that make me second-guess my desire to purchase a WK2... or at least a '14+
Well heck yes, of course it is the new body style. Those pushed-in sides are trying to copy BMW, and loose nuts are a well known BMW issue--except that theirs are typically located just aft of the steering wheel.
I'm with you, it had me scratching my head a bit too, I'd be interested to know if that was a legitimate claim or if it was another tech just bluffing some bs to get us out of his hair.
If it turns out to be that big a deal they need to use a castellated bolt and nut not weld it. Something is wrong here. There is either a lot of vibration or something allowing this to loosen. Loctite works too and is a lot simplier...
Agree. A castle nut with a cotter pin would have been the correct fix. Welding a nut on is a Rube Glodberg fix that you would expect from a back alley shop and not a dealership. Welds crack and break. I would take it back and demand that they fix it properly.
Being Down Under, Jeep AU had the bolt but not the nut on their shelf. Apparently the nut was a self locking variety. Also it is a flexing connection, there is a rubber bush within the lower control arm where the front strut is bolted on.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum
1.7M posts
176.1K members
Since 2009
Jeep Garage is where you can talk about all your favorite jeeps including the Cherokee, Liberty and Grand Cherokee.