Jeep Wrangler Recalled Over Extra Frame Stud

Jeep has issued a recall encompassing roughly 58,000 examples of the 2020-2023 Wrangler. Problem vehicles described in the relevant NHTSA documents were reportedly constructed with a frame stud that's allegedly superfluous and that can cause fires in the event of a crash. It’s kind of a weird recall campaign, as they typically don’t involve a vehicle having too many parts but rather totally absent or poorly implemented ones. 

Affected Jeeps are said to have been built between October 2019 and May 2022. However, models suffering from the defect are only estimated to represent about 58 percent of the 57,885 units the manufacturer is worried about. 

Based on the safety report, Jeep elected to begin installing an “unnecessary” frame stud into Wrangler vehicles starting late in 2019. It seems as though that supposedly pointless piece of metal can puncture the fuel tank in a wreck, allowing it to spray out of the vehicle and dramatically increase the likelihood of fire. 

The automaker seems to have caught wind of there being an issue in June of 2022 when FCA’s Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (TSRC) organization opened an investigation into the matter. Jeep has said there have been no customer assistance records, warranty claims, or field reports related to this issue in any market. There have also been no known deaths or injuries.

It’s wholly unclear why Jeep would start adding random studs to the fame, making us wonder if there’s more to this story. But it’s a pretty goofy screw-up. At least there’s already a fix in place. Owners of affected Wrangles will need to visit an authorized dealer so that a technician can bang out the stud and paint over the hole free of charge. Easy-peasy. 

If you’re thinking you might be impacted by this, the assigned recall number is 23V-191. Interested parties can also go to the NHTSA website and input their vehicle identification number (VIN) or contact Jeep at 1-800-853-1403.

[Image: Jeep]

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