madmanmarty

BS.
I am not paying anything to have a recall that jeep must perform.
This is their recall.they pay all costs associated with it for safety reasons.
If anyone has been asked to pay,call jeep and complain.
I would be curious to know the outcome.

Bearstream

Dave1123: what is the space between your hitch and the gas tank on your rig?

dave1123

Feel flattered! I just went out and looked. There's about 3/4" between the hitch and the fuel tank shield. I can stick my fingers in the gap up to the middle joint.

BTW, the service manager told me not to leave a ball and tongue in the receiver unless I'm towing. He says it creates a point impact site that could potentially drive the tongue into the tank. IDK

Bearstream

Hey Dave1123, Did you use all 8 grade bolts on the chassis connections when installing your hitch?

lozo63

Just got off the phone with Fiat? My jeep doesn't qualify for them to look at or put a hitch on. Its a 2002 with no hitch now. But they put a hitch on my 94 looked at my 96 said it was good. My other 02 has the factory hitch and they said it was ok over the phone. I wanted free hitch and a gift card.

Bearstream

Dave1123, I just got your post, thanks for the look see, it told me volumes. My WJ has 3 inches between tank and hitch, which I think would be adequate. I do need to know if 8 grade bolts are required for connection to the chassis. I prefer to give no reason for the dealer to wrench on my rig if possible, no disrespect. Like yours, my hitch is rated for 8000 lb. and I do tow with it.

dave1123

I looked at mine up on the lift at my buddy's shop and it looks like U-Haul just used the bolts that held the tank shield on. The dealer said it was adequate, so your guess is as good as mine. I would use grade 8 myself if I had done it. Those bolts are large and there is 6 of them, so I'm assuming they ARE grade 8.

The end of my receiver is about 4" from the end of the bumper (underneath) so it IS close to the tank. I really am not impressed with that. Good for towing, not so good for absorbing impact.

dave1123

HEY, MY dealer said you get a Visa card just for the inspection, as long as you got a letter! What model is your 2002? Is it a WJ? You have to have a letter from Chrysler with your name, address, and VIN on it to qualify. My letter also said the dealers wouldn't have the parts until Sept 15th. My dealer said they have a few in stock, but that's just for customers who want one and will pay for it. In other words, normal inventory stock.

Bearstream

Gee Dave, I'm thinking that with a ball hitch in the receiver is as much of a hazard to Liberty's that tailgate as it is to your WJ's gas tank.

dave1123

Oh, I forgot to mention that incident with the Liberty was with my ZJ that had a factory hitch on it. It did contact the bumper, but all that did was pop off the plastic step plate on top. It broke the little snap hooks that mount it into the bumper. The ball punched a nice hole in the liberty's bumper and ripped out some wiring for a fog light. When I went back to see her, she had her hands over her face. I said "Are you all right?" She said "Yes. Just embarrassed!" I told her my jeep wasn't damaged and she didn't want to report it, so we both drove away.

What happened here was I was behind a schoolbus, she was behind me. Light changed, we all started off, the schoolbus stopped to make a left turn without a signal. I stopped, she didn't. End of story. It couldn't have been more than 10 mph.