Jeep Gladiator Sales on Hold Pending Driveshaft Fix

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

It’s Fix-it Friday, apparently, and the ailing vehicle news hasn’t stopped rolling just yet. You’ll see.

Over at Fiat Chrysler, it seems the only thing capable of stopping the mighty Jeep Gladiator is its manufacturer, which just issued a stop-sale order to prevent new pickups from leaving the lot and potentially dropping their driveshafts.

According to recall documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website and first reported on by Jalopnik, Fiat Chrysler believes 5 percent of Gladiators may have left Toledo without grease in the monoblock joint portion of the driveshaft. Specifically, the automaker is hunting 3,427 vehicles suspected of having the issue.

“The suspect population was determined by reviewing the supplier’s driveshaft production records from the beginning of production of this driveshaft to identify which driveshafts may have been assembled without grease,” the automaker stated. “Driveshaft traceability records were then linked to vehicle production records to determine the suspect vehicle population.”

The tip-off came in June when four Gladiators entered the shop for warranty repairs. No injuries or accidents are linked to the issue.

Affected Jeeps rolled out of the factory between December 15th of last year and June 25th of 2019. Without grease, the driveshaft’s constant velocity joint could overheat and seize, potentially leading to structural failure and an unexpected transition to FWD-only mode.

“Some customers may experience a noise or vibration prior to the driveshaft fracturing,” FCA noted.

As FCA has provided a searchable list of VINs, dealers will be able to root out the afflicted models and set them aside for driveshaft replacement. By law, they have to. As for models already off the lot, recall notices are set to hit mailboxes on October 18th.

In launching the Gladiator, Jeep answered many long-held prayers for a bonafide Jeep pickup. The automaker accomplished the feat by lengthening the frame of a Wrangler Unlimited by 31 inches, placing an extra 19.4 inches between the vehicle’s axles. Some 7,252 Gladiators rolled out of dealers in the first half of 2019.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Slock1 Slock1 on Sep 15, 2019

    My Coworker bought one of the first 500 made. It was signed somewhere by the people who built it. I have seen two others as well. The Jeep dealers have more than I can count. I was there looking for a new truck.

  • HotPotato HotPotato on Sep 18, 2019

    SCRAMBLER, BABY Has Jeep fixed those taillights that literally can't be seen with sunglasses on?

  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
  • Corey Lewis Think how dated this 80s design was by 1995!
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