Help!! My Jeep Nightmare!!!

ciaj1

New member
Hi there,

I am a female Jeep owner in tears over her Jeep. To make a long story short I took my 2002 Jeep Wrangler with only 37,000 miles on it, to a Jeep Dealer here in GA to get an oil change and when I drove it out of there it was not driving right at all. At first I did not know what was wrong with it, so I e-mailed Chrysler Corporate to tell them that I think something may have happened to it while it was getting the oil changed but I was not sure. I wanted a record, and a papertrail. I finally found out that I had a bent Driveshaft. The service manager was very rude and told me that it could not have happened there, but that since I had the extended warranty that all I had to pay is the deductable and it will be fixed. I told him I would do no such thing and after much arumentation he got it approved that I would have no out of pocket. He did tell me however, that I was never welcome to his dealership ever again and much more.......I am just trying to be breif. He was so mean and rude........anyhow......when I picked up my Jeep on Thursday it was still not driving 100%. I called back and told the manager that, and he would have nothing to do with me. He told me my Jeep was fixed, period.

Ooooooh, also, he lied so much. At first he told me that he does not know how the front drive shaft could bend without there being a mark on it, but in the middle of our argument about who did it......he said that it would have to have happened after my oil change cause other wise the gash in the cover under the Jeep would have been rusted.......well, it was garaged for that week after the oil change, and I hardly drove it......and it took that long to bring it back in to the dealer......etc. So basically he lied and said it was a warped Drive shaft so the warrenty would cover it. Well, I called up the owner of the dealership and much of this was news to him. He told me to come back on Monday and he would personally test drive it with me and fix the problem.

OK, well if you know about Jeeps, this is my question: Will my Jeep ever be ok? I have heard that if the driveshaft has gotten bent, that it means that other parts have suffered as well, and that my Jeep is basically shot. As the miles go on I will be having more and more problems. Is this true or can this be fixed? If you can help me please respond to this e-mail. I feel like the rug has been torn out from under me. I used to have a safe, low miles, Jeep with all the accessories.....time, money.......and with one fell swoop, I own a piece of shit. Please , any information on the mechanics of this or how to proceed would be so appreciated. I thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Shelley
 

Sounds like they probably dropped it off the lift onto the driveshaft. I don't think there will be other related problems after bending a driveshaft, although there could be, I doubt it. Even though it would be a pain in the butt, take it to either another dealership or another mechanic to have it looked over really well...even if it means driving a few hundred miles to find one.

Oh, BTW, where are you from?

I'd report the whole incident to Daimler Chrysler corporate in as much detail as you can, and don't let up until they do something about it and make your Jeep right again.

Welcome to Jeepz.com. I hope you'll keep us updated and stick around....we've got quite a good group of folks here when it comes down to Jeepin' or just bein' friendly. Best of luck to you!!!
 
RE: Re: RE: OT: my new baby....

Why would you be reasonably sure that there would be no other damage?
Can you technically explain this? My husband is telling me that just due to the shear force it took to bend that driveshaft that other parts it is connected to would have to be affected. He says my Car is shit and will cause me trouble from now on.
 
Question...

Well, there may be other damage associated with it, but from what I've heard from other folks that have bent their driveshafts while wheeling, it generally isn't a problem. It's the front driveshaft, right? If so, then you may want to have them check the tie rods and stabilizers for being straight. Like I said, though, don't take it back to the same dealership for that....sounds like they are just a tad cheauvanistic to me. Believe me, I used to sell cars for a big Ford stealership in Wichita, and the mechanics there always tried to pull the wool over women's eyes. Have your husband take it to another dealership. I'm sorry that they treat women that way, that's just not right.

In general though, Jeeps are very tough, which is why I don't think you'll have any associated damage. Even if you do, keep hounding D/C until they do something to make it perfect again.
 

RE: Question...

ok, that really helps. thanks.
 
Your husband isn't wrong. Smacking the driveshaft can cause other related problems. More than likely though, it's fine. I've bent them on trail obstacles while under serious power, spun them in half while launching, had Ujoints let go and the shaft went flailing around under the Jeep.......and other than a few NP231 tailshafts, It's never caused any other problems.

Just get a new one in there and see. If it seems okay after the new shaft is installed, then it probably is okay.
 

Ya, just visually look to see if everything around the shaft looks alright.

If bending and breaking driveshafts meant the entire vehicle (or most of it) was destroyed...most of my trucks/cars would have all been at the junk yard.
 
thats absolutely amazing, this is the reason why i dont take mine to dealership even if i dont have a clue, im a competent mechaninc and the guys there have no more resources than i do. i had a problem with my jeep and it took someone in the club to suggest something to me after id dropped 200 at the dearlership and it still not get fixed.

now about your driveshaft, all you should need is a new shaft. a driveshaft has a slip yoke in it so when it bent, that slip yoke absorbed some of the distance created by the bend. now driving with the bent driveshaft may have messed up other things. thats a differnt story. have them go through your transfer case as well as your front differential and replace the output bearings in the case and the pinion bearings and seals. having vibration like that can throw out those bearings because of the rotating mass of the shaft being so far off center
 
those are all good suggestions. i was wiping donuts( lets face it, Jeeps do the best donuts) in our mud pit and it wasnt really saturated yet and i hit a dry spot and it cought so much traction it shatered my yoke on the rearend. after fixing it thanks to the kind folks at 4wheel drive hardware (and i still get there catalogue.) i had no other problems to speak of. these Jeeps are tough as nails diped in JB Weld and maranated in 2000lb epoxy. theres a good chance that no other evils will arise from this situation. have fun and i hope you get it fixed in a timely maner. and a reminder to all, always wheel the wee out of you rig.
 

Sparky-Watts said:
the mechanics there always tried to pull the wool over women's eyes. Have your husband take it to another dealership. I'm sorry that they treat women that way, that's just not right.
/quote]

The reality is many of them will try to nail it to anyone they can... especially a mistake that they make yet do not want to pay for.

Good chance a mechanic forgot to line up one of the supports for the lift and accidently tried to lift the Jeep via the front driveshaft. He probably knew he did it too. My best guess is that it was an unexperienced guy who didn't realize the front driveshaft spins in 2WD so he figured you wouldn't notice until the next snowstorm when you used 4WD and by then he'd be long forgotten.

I bet if you put that Jeep over that lift then swung one of the supports under the driveshaft it would be right on the bend.

food for thought

I hope you get it taken care of in addition to finding a reliable, honest independant mechanic to do your future work.
 
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