NHTSA Complaint #11079428 — 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE

IN AUGUST WHILE FLAT TOWING OUR JEEP BEHIND OUR MOTORHOME WE EXPERIENCED SOME VIOLENT SHAKING AFTER MAKING A LEFT TURN. WE DID NOT THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT IT AT THAT TIME, THINKING MAYBE WE HAD HIT AN UNEVEN SPOT IN THE ROAD. A FEW DAYS LATER THE SHAKING OCCURRED AGAIN--THIS TIME TAKING A RIGHT TURN. AGAIN, WE THOUGHT IT WAS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. WE CONTINUED ON OUR TRIP AND SEVERAL DAYS LATER IT HAPPENED AGAIN ON A STRAIGHT, BUT BUMPY ROAD. ALL THREE TIMES WE HAD TO BRING OUR MOTORHOME TO A COMPLETE STOP. I BEGAN TO RESEARCH TO SEE IF OTHER RV'ERS HAD EVER EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM AND I CAME ACROSS NUMEROUS FORUMS CITING THE SAME PROBLEM, BUT AT THAT TIME THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC CAUSE. HOWEVER, MOST OF THE EVENTS OCCURRED WHILE TOWING JEEP CHEROKEES. AND, IT SEEMED THAT WHILE BEING VERY AGGRAVATING, THESE EVENTS HAPPENED DURING VERY SLOW DRIVING AND WERE PROBABLY NOT DANGEROUS TO US OR OTHER DRIVERS. FOR THE REST OF OUR TRIP, WE MANEUVERED CORNERS AND BUMPY ROADS CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY. WE FELT WE COULD MANAGE THIS PROBLEM SAFELY THINKING IT ONLY HAPPENED AT SLOW SPEEDS. HOW WRONG WE WERE! WE JUST RETURNED FROM AN 8 DAY ROAD TRIP THAT TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE. WE HAD A COUPLE OF INCIDENTS OF WOBBLING WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY, BUT THEN WHILE DRIVING AT AROUND 55, AN 18 WHEELER PASSED US ON A NARROW ROAD (WE WERE GOING OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS) AND THE JEEP BEGAN SHAKING VIOLENTLY CAUSING THE MOTORHOME TO ALSO SHAKE. WE THOUGHT IT WAS CAUSED BY THE WIND FORCE. WE BRAKED AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP, GOT OUT TO CHECK THE VEHICLES AND DISCOVERED THE TOW BAR HAD BENT BY THE FORCE OF THE SHAKING. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE SO WE STARTED BACK ON THE HIGHWAY. LATER, DRIVING AROUND 65 MPH THE JEEP STARTED SHAKING, VERY UNEXPECTEDLY. AFTER STOPPING, WE DISCOVERED THE FRONT OF THE JEEP SEVERELY DAMAGED AND ALMOST TORN OFF FROM THE TOWBAR. .