Can't wait to hear the results. Hopefully it will be resolved fairly!

 

Well, the results are in. The tech at the dealer blamed my warped tires (to be fair, they are badly cupped) for the steering wheel being off center. Called it a radial pull and recommended an alignment. I highly doubt they aligned the vehicle since I have Synergy Tie Rod and the steering stabilizer clamp is a tech's worst nightmare with 6 individual hex bolts holding it on. It did not appear that was adjusted as it was my main concern if anyone performs an alignment. Even if an alignment was performed, the steering wheel isn't straight. What I think they did was balance the tires, which greatly improved the steering wheel shake at 45 mph, but still didn't solve the original problem. The tech also blamed old deteriorating plastic as the reason why those holes were broken out. They agreed to replace the Steering Wheel Back Cover (6KK05XDVAA) but the service manager told me it would be awhile, and they don't know when it would come in if it would ever come in. Of course, I had him write down the part number and immediately walked into the parts house after I got my Jeep and asked them. They said they could have it within a week. Best part it's a $7 part!

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...16120&jsn=1199

The saga continues every time I bring my vehicle to the dealer. I've driven it for 217k miles and the steering wheel has always been spot on straight no matter what my other components were doing. Heck I've even had alignment issues but the steering wheel was still straight. It sucks to be lied to constantly and I really think that these guys think I have no hands on skills with the vehicle at all and I don't know what Im talking about but if it were me the first thing I would do would be pull the steering wheel.

 

I just had my clock spring replaced under warranty due to cruise control not working. Before I took it in for recall I removed the steering wheel and air bag to replace the cruise control switch which didn’t fix my issue is why I took it in for the clockspring. I’m in Key West until Saturday but will take a look to see if my clock spring has a new steering wheel fairing/cover. Mine wasn’t hard to remove because I have the slots for the 90 degree tool to release the spring clips. I can’t believe that a new cover would not have the slots. I will check mine and post picture this weekend. I want to say I had to turn my wheel to get access to the spring clips, but my memory isn’t so good so I need to look myself before I make the wrong answer.

 

Im starting to think that the steering back cover was supposed to be changed out on the actual recall and they did not do that in 2017. They did the recall so it's on them but I can't believe the tech wouldn't know its a $7 part. Heck if I knew it was $7 and I could have one by the end of the week I would have took a dremel to it and cut the entire thing off.

 

Sorry to hear all this. The alignment can't be the issue since the wheel was straight when you brought in. I suspect they are off a spline. Cupped tires are a problem and balancing isn't really going to solve that. Also, what caused the tires to get cupped (bad suspension parts?). You can call another dealer and see about the availability of the cover through MOPAR. That is where the dealer will get their parts. That may help you decide on next steps. Sucks when all this happens like this! Good Luck and let us know how it works out.

 

The cupped tires were caused by improper rotation on my part. I was just moving the fronts to the rears and the rears to the front, but staying on the same side. I guess I was just watching how the tire shop did the job when I had free rotations and never actually looked at the Owner's Manual or BFG website. Essentially the rears go to the fronts on the same side, but the fronts go to the rear crossed.

https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/auto.../tire-rotation

 

So just a quick question and maybe somebody knows the answer. The Steering Wheel Back cover came in, and I have to bring in my jeep this week to get the steering straight and the back cover replaced that they ruined. Does anyone know what the repair procedure is for the NHTSA recall? Were they supposed to replace the steering cover with an updated part that has the notches in it possibly back in 2017? I'm wondering how the clock spring was replaced but possibly not the back cover or if they even did the job at all? Does the recall state all clock springs replaced or just inspected? This is now going to be 4 days without a vehicle for this repair in total, and I'm starting to look towards a refund at this point especially if I can almost prove they didn't do the job correctly the first time.

 

I found it. They were supposed to replace the Steering Wheel Back Cover. Most likely with the one that had the notches in it. I'm honestly thinking they did not even replace the clock spring at that point? How would the screw driver not break it and have that issue?

FCA will repair your vehicle free of charge. To do this, your dealer will replace the steering column clockspring, steering wheel back cover, and steering column shrouds.

 

Second Question since I am worried that they did not actually do the clock spring repair.

The second time I got my vehicle back during this entire repair, they wrote I got a complimentary alignment. I've never done an alignment on my vehicle before. I let a tire shop do it once, but it never really needs it to be honest. Even after heavy off-roading, I have the synergy Tie Rod and Drag link and stabilizer clamp. Can an alignment be completed without disconnecting the Steering Stabilizer tie rod adapter? I feel if someone did an alignment, they would have to unscrew the 6 hex bolts that hold the clamp onto the tie rod and reposition it. I have it marked on my tie rod when I replaced my front coils. The marks are in the same spots; meaning the tie rod was not rotated. But maybe you can still do it without rotating the entire tie rod? Thanks again. I know this seems small, but I'm pretty upset to constantly being lied to for warranty work. There are no other dealers in Orange County CA that are any better than this, unfortunately.

 

With that Synergy TR, to adjust toe all you really have to do is loosen the pinch bolt and then rotated the double-barrel adjustment sleeve. That said, most alignment guys don't know to do that so they do it the old fashion way by loosening the jam nut and removing one of the TREs from the knuckle and rotating it, then reinstalling. The fact that the stabilizer clamp was not moved is not an indication of no alignment done. That said, the only thing they really would have done with an alignment is adjust toe and straighten your steering wheel.

The idea that the dealer you took it to never did the original recall work is something to ponder. I think the liability of not actually performing that recall work and saying you did would be way too great for any dealer. It could be likely that they did replace the airbag and the new shroud they had just wasn't the updated one? Can you imagine the legal liability if that jeep had been in a fatality crash where that airbag was faulty and it could be proven it had not been replaced? It seems that could be detrimental to a dealer and not something they would risk.