2020 Jeep Wrangler Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and was difficult to maneuver. No warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the steering damper, inner tie rods, adjuster sleeve, outer tie rods, and the drag link assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a different dealer, Vallejo Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (4325 Sonoma Blvd, Vallejo, CA 94589), where it was diagnosed and determined that the steering damper, inner tie rods, adjuster sleeve, outer tie rods, and the drag link assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,500.
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shaking violently. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the shaking was extremely violent, and the vehicle was uncontrollable. The contact stated that the failure occurred while driving on a busy highway. The contact stated that a tractor-trailer driver who was nearby slowed down to assist the contact with getting the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was driven to the residence. In addition, the contact stated that the failure had occurred three times within an hour of the contact driving the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was not diagnosed. The contact stated that the vehicle was still at the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The steering is very loose in this model, ive read that its caused by an aluminum steering gear and replacements are steel, this is a huge safety concern and a hefty repair a vehicle that had less than 40k miles
steering seems off like u having to turn wheel a good distance before the wheels actually turn , not safe whatsoever ! i did have something done to steering a while back but don’t remember what it was
Wandering steering at highway speeds, unable to maintain safe control of the vehicle
About 70-75 mph the entire vehicle shakes briefly, and steering wheel will wobble, the steering wheel will wobble uncontrollable on bumps at HWY speed. There doesn't appear to be any worn or damaged parts.
I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler with 42,000 miles on it and the steering damper malfunctioned twice causing my vehicle to shake while on the interstate going about 70 mph. Very unsafe when you are in the middle of traffic going the same mph and have to slow down for the shaking / wobble to stop. I am scared that it will do it again. I’m paying a nice payment each month for my Jeep and I shouldn’t have to worry about a manufactures part malfunctioning on me while driving. I took it to the Jeep dealer and had it repaired right away. I feel like the repair costs should be reimbursed since this is a “known issue” for this model. There were no warning signs for this incident either. Very unsafe and should be taken care of from the manufacturer. Please issue a recall on this VIN to help other Jeep owners from experiencing this problem. Thank You - [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I recently purchased a 2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon from a private party. The vehicle has not been used much for highway driving, only town. During driving at several different speeds, I have experienced difficulty in controlling steering to include but not limited to instances of jerking and the vehicle drifting from side to side. When these episode have transpired the vehicle failed to drive in a straight line. Additionally, while driving at highway speeds and pressing the brake pedal, the vehicle has drifted severely to the left. As the vehicle is under warranty, I set up an appointment at South Point Jeep in Tulsa, Ok and notified the repair person of the issue. I was advised that my vehicle had no open recalls and that they did not take into consideration any TSB's. The vehicle has not yet been repaired.
STEERING WANDERS AS IF SOMETHING IS LOOSE IN THE STEERING MECHANISM. IT FEELS LIKE IT WOULD LIKE TO GET INTO A WOBBLE IF I HIT A BUMP OR RUT IN THE ROAD. I HAD IT LOOKED AT AND MECHANIC FOUND NOTHING WRONG. HE RE-BALANCED THE FRONT TIRES BUT IT STILL WANTS TO WANDER AS IF THERE IS TOO MUCH PLAY IN THE STEERING....
Just purchased a 2020 Jeep Wrangler JL Unlimited 4 door. At low speeds, the vehicle wanders a little on the road. At highway speeds, in traffic, the vehicle swerves towards passing vehicles. In heavy traffic, it becomes a white-knuckle experience trying not to hit or be hit by other vehicles. The steering is just so loose that it feels unsafe. Noticed online that many other Jeep owners complain of loose steering as well. Jeep has published a Service Bulletin # 08-074-20 to address the known issue but has not issued a formal recall.
I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler JL that I purchased in October of 2023. Since the day I bought it I noted that it wanders down the road and requires constant steering correction, left/right right/left left/left right/right and so on. It has excessive freeplay at top dead center of the steering. Mfg issued a TSB acknowledging the defective steering boxes that Jeep installed in our wranglers from 2018-2020. However, for those of us that bought used, they will not replace these dangerous steering gear boxes and I have had multiple close calls where even a moments inattention can result in the vehicle ending up in an adjacent lane or onto the shoulder of the road. This is not safe and the steering gear box TSB must be made a recall by NHTSA before someone ends up dead because of this safety issue.
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel was difficult to control, causing the vehicle to drift from side to side. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to drive in a straight line. Additionally, while driving at highway speeds and pressing the brake pedal, the vehicle was drifting to the left. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering gear box was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not covered under a Manufacturer Extended Coverage to address the failure. The failure mileage was 25.
While traveling on the interstate 3 months ago, my 2020 Jeep Wrangler began to vibrate violently after driving over a seam in the road while traveling around 70mph. After slowing down and pulling over, I assessed the exterior of the car and tires for any obvious defects and continued on without identifying any structural problems. Within the next 20 miles the violent reverberations occurred again. We pulled over, concerned that something catastrophic could occur and brought the Jeep to a local mechanic. The mechanic suggested that the wheels should be balanced which we complied with, although we had just recently had a tire rotation and balance prior to this trip, but thought perhaps the violent shaking caused the tires to misalign. That same day, we searched online to see if others had experienced a similar phenomenon and learned about the "death wobble". We called Jeep that day and they would neither confirm nor deny that the Jeep was safe to drive for the remainder of our trip. We continued on at a lower speed and encountered the same problem the following day. We feel this vehicle is unsafe to drive and Jeep has informed us that they do not have enough parts to fix our Jeep because of the volume of affected vehicles. We’ve been on a waitlist for the part for the past 3 months.
Our vehicle developed a steering problem and a friend told me that there was an issue with Jeeps that had an aluminum steering box and he gave me a copy of a TSB that described the exact problem I was having. I took the Jeep to the Jeep dealer that we have used to do all of our service work. The told me the problem was caused by the aluminum steering box as the TSB stated. The service manager at the dealership refused to warranty the work because it was past the warranty. He told me he has changed out several, but for him to do the work Jeep would have to authorize the work and gave me the number to call. I call Jeep Cares and received a case number. I received an email from Sugeeth, the case manager. He then called and let me know he would contact the dealer for information and get back to me. Sugeeth then sent me an email with no information except to let me know if I need further information I would need to bring the Jeep to the dealer for diagnosis and reopen the case. The Jeep has been to the dealer and they have done a complete diagnosis with a complete list of repair the needs to be done to correct the steering. I have copies of the repair estimate and emails. I also have a copy of the TSB that describes the problem with the following statement: "If the customer describes the symptom/condition listed above, perform the Repair Procedure." I am unable to upload the documents. I can email the documents any time.
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving at 53 MPH, the vehicle was uncontrollably shaking for about a minute. The contact stated that after the shaking ceased, the contact was able to drive to the destination. The contact also stated that the failure had occurred three times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed steering damper and the steering damper needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the part was on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 32,533.
When vehicle goes over bump on roadway at elevated speed - vehicle steering vibrates uncontrollably.
Driving on the highway, I traveled over a concrete expansion joint which caused my vehicle to shake violently from side to side with the steering wheel moving approximately six inches in either direction. The shake/vibration stopped after speed was reduced to under 40mph. This happened multiple times travelling the same day on the freeway. The dealership recommended replacing the steering damper with a more robust part which I did -- it wasn't covered under warranty because the original steering damper wasn't compromised but I was told with this more robust one I would probably never experience it again. This was the scariest event I've encountered in a vehicle. Reproduction of the event was not consistently repeatable. This event happed on October 30, 2023 on I-695 in Maryland.
When driving on the interstate and going highway speeds, my Jeep will begin to wobble profusely and I must immediately get off the road as fast as possible to regain control. "Death wobble". All original factory parts and tires on the vehicle and this happens every time that I get on the highway and go over 55 miles per hour and hit any road defect, whether it be a bump or bridge gap. I have had the alignment checked and it does not help the problem at all. No warning lights or any type of notification other than the steering wheel beginning to shake and lose control of the front steering.
My steering is very loose on my 2020 Jeep Sahara. This is a continuous issue-it has been this way since I bought it.
Hi, my name is [XXX] and I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler unlimited, I bought this car on July of 2021 and I started to have problems on October of 2022 the car was shaking but it wasn’t that bad, but on Nov of 2022 I was traveling from Phoenix to Nogales AZ driving at approximately 75m/h and the car started to shake really bad I almost lost control of the car it felt like the car was gonna fall apart, I had my daughter with me she’s traumatized she has Down syndrome she doesn’t like getting in the car no more and I don’t blame her, so once I was back to Phoenix I went to the Jeep dealership and they told me it was a problem with the steering wheel and that they have to order the part, I waited close to 3 months and they didn’t have the part, on Feb 20 2023 I had a car accident caused by the death wobble, I was driving on the freeway at approximately 60m/h and on a little bump the car started to wobble really bad that I lost control of it and hit the median cable barriers and damaged the front of the car I got really traumatized and got a ticket that day, I tried to talk with the Jeep company and they said that the car wasn’t cover by the warranty no more. I missed work that day and my car for like 2 months until it was completely fixed, this is a very danger situation people can loose their life with this problem. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
I have had to replace 2 steering dampers in my 2020 Jeep Wrangler that has only 24,000 miles. Whenever the vehicle reaches speeds over 50 mph the steering becomes very loose, needing to constantly steer left and right. If there is any change to the road surface such as a bridge, uneven pavement or bump in road, vehicle loses control in steering making the need for you to come to a stop to regain control.
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle started shuddering violently, the wheels were wobbling, and the steering wheel was vibrating significantly, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The contact was able to regain control of the steering wheel and pull to the side of the roadway. The contact stated that she continued driving, and the vehicle operated as intended. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred 24 hours later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering damper needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The contact was awaiting a call back from the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 49,300.
Death Wobble yet again. Since September 2022 I have been experiencing unprecedented steering issues with my 2020 Jeep. This issue occurs out of random where it feels like my tires shake independently from each other making a rumbling noises when driving highway speeds. I am sure it has Death Wobble. Today is the lost current incident. When I was safe to be in a stopping point I told a family member about it. This family member told me that this is a big issue that should have a recall. They suggested for me to see for any recalls about it and if not start reporting whenever these death wobbles happen again. I looked and there are no recalls for my vehicle at this time. Vehicle has been reregistered in California and originally from Texas. I have no idea of where it was manufactured information due to this.
While traveling at highway speeds the vehicle will shake violently after driving over pavement imperfections. Most frequently this is the seem between the road and a bridge. Car is stock. The occurrence of this wobble has become more frequent as of recent.
I was driving on highway Jan 2023 at about 75-80 mph and hit a small road imperfection in the middle lane. The Jeep started shaking uncontrollably. I had to fight to keep the car steady and thought I had blown out a tire. I was able to pull to breakdown lane and slow down and it gradually stopped shaking. The violent shaking and noise scared both me and my daughter who was a passenger. Weeks later I got a notice of a class-action lawsuit regarding this issue and the steering damper. I brought it in for service and they fixed it. However, it was NOT covered by Chrysler so I am stuck with the deductible. Disappointed in this as it was an obvious, known problem that I would consider a safety issue. A quick search of it reveals many complaints, a lawsuit, etc and yet no recourse for me. Do better Chrysler/Jeep
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Quick Summary
The 2020 Jeep Wrangler has 160 Steering complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.