Suspected Right-Rear Brake Caliper Failure Resulting in Sudden Vehicle Stop Vehicle: 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 Incident date: [XXX] Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Approximate mileage: 64,000 miles Affected component: Right-rear brake caliper assembly On [XXX], while traveling approximately 5 mph, my 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee experienced a sudden, violent mechanical jolt. The vehicle abruptly stopped, jerking forward and backward with substantial force. When I attempted to accelerate again, the vehicle felt physically restrained, as though something was preventing the wheel from rotating. The vehicle would not drive forward normally, and the AutoPark system engaged under certain conditions. After exiting the vehicle, I discovered a large bolt marked with an “M” lying in the roadway. I initially did not realize it belonged to my vehicle. The responding tow truck operator later identified the bolt as associated with the right-rear brake assembly. During his inspection, the tow truck operator discovered that the right-rear brake caliper was displaced and movable near the wheel. He repositioned the assembly sufficiently to facilitate towing the vehicle to Cutter Jeep in Pearl City, Hawaii. The vehicle’s front and rear brake pads and rotors had previously been replaced on [XXX], at Wolfchase Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Tennessee using genuine Mopar parts. The vehicle had approximately 50,006 miles at that service. The dealership confirmed a two-year parts warranty in writing. The vehicle also underwent routine maintenance at Cutter Jeep on June 26, 2026. I am extremely concerned that this mechanical failure caused my vehicle to stop abruptly at very low speed. Had the same failure occurred while traveling at highway speed, it could potentially have resulted in a serious loss-of-control collision. I am requesting that the federal safety agency evaluate this incident as a potential vehicle safety defect involving the right-rear brake caliper mounti INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee brakes problems
32 complaints (8% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 32,000.
- owner complaints
- 32
- of this car's complaints
- 8%
- typical mileage
- 32,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Foundation components: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings1
- Disc: rotor1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Jeep Grand Cherokee brakes problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was large puff of smoke coming from the driver's side of the vehicle while coming to a stop. The contact became aware of a brake fluid leak, causing a complete loss of brake pressure and braking power. The brake fluid was leaking more when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic and the technicians discovered that the catalytic converter was melted, causing severe heat damage to the adjacent brake lines. The contact stated no other parts were damaged. The vehicle was towed to a dealer; however, the technicians were unable to duplicate the original failure. The dealer was unable to determine what caused the catalytic converter to collapse onto the heat shield near the brake lines. The contact stated that the dealer offered to repair the vehicle by rerouting the brake lines. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 46,116.
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the ESC and “Service 4WD” warning lights illuminated, causing the vehicle to shake abnormally. Additionally, the transmission unexpectedly shifted to 4WD Low while driving. The steering wheel vibrated while making a turn, and the vehicle jerked. The vehicle also intermittently failed to start immediately and made a clicking sound. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the ABS had failed, and that the drive train control module and transfer case control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
For my 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Antilock braking system, Hydraulic control unit has failed. It is currently being repaired by the dealership, and I will request the old part so that it is available for inspection. The failure of the ABS control unit, disabled the electronic stability control, the forward collision warning system and the cruise control - and the issue appears to be directly equivalent to the current Stellantis recall for Ram 1500's of a similar year. The dealer was able to reproduce the error - and was inspected at a Jeep dealership.
Vehicle shuts down puts itself in park and applies the parking brake and states that the hood is not closed when it is and has not been opened. It also disable the auto stop/start . It does this at traffic lights or when ever a vehicle comes to a stop creating a potential rear end collision due to having to manually restart the vehicle, disengage the parking brake and put the vehicle in drive.
[XXX] just south of Grapevine, CA, is a 4-lane freeway, speed limit 70 mph. It is quite steep, perhaps 4 or 5 %. It is very heavily traveled, and is used by a large number of 18-wheelers. It has a slow lane on the far right, for trucks and cars pulling trailers. I was in the #1 lane, traveling at 70 mph. About 5 miles south of Grapevine, CA, the car completely lost control of the steering. I came within inches of impacting the guard rail, and hitting a large tractor-trailer. By braking gently, and making greatly exaggerated steering inputs, I was able to maneuver to the slow lane, and, driving at less than 15 mph, was able to get to a truck stop parking lot, where the car was towed to a Jeep dealer. This is the third catastrophic safety failure this car has suffered. The first was explosion of the front transfer case, scattering transmission parts all over the road, the second was the failure of the left front axle boot. which spread grease onto the brake disc. Fortunately, both of these problems occurred at very low speed, so accidents were avoided. This last failure almost killed me, my wife, and my little dog. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would vibrate without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where they discovered that all the vehicle's brake rotors had warped and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.
Upon parking my car in my driveway (which has a slight slope), I put it in park and turned it off. I then opened my door and got out. Before I could close the door my car began to roll backwards and I had to jump back in the car to stop it very quickly. The door was open and got caught on the cement wall that lines my driveway as it rolled back. There is damage to the door and it will likely need to be completely replaced. The next morning I had my friend come over to follow me to a body shop to assess the damage. I reversed my car to the end of my driveway and got out to close the garage door. The same thing happened again right when I stepped out of the car, and I again had to jump back in very quickly to stop it from rolling into the street. I then had it towed to the nearest dealer (on 1/15), where they replaced the vacuum pump because the service stability control light was on. They claim to have tested it on a slope and could not replicate the problem. They checked it out and could not find anything wrong with the transmission either. I got my car back on 1/22 (with the door still needing to be fixed) and this happened again on 1/23. I pulled into my driveway, put it in park, and my car immediately rolled back. I then put my 4-wheel drive on and the parking brake and parked it. It was not rolling so I went inside. I looked at it before bed and it was in the same spot. The next morning I go out to my car and it has rolled backwards down my driveway. Luckily, it did not go into the street. I could have easily been injured on multiple occasions, as well as other people or cars if they were around. The next time I might not get so lucky.
In 2022 I attempted to back into a parallel parking space and the emergency braking system kept activating to prevent backing up. Attempted getting corrected at dealer but no trouble codes available. Was driving, slowing down to stop at about 22mph, emergency braking system kicked in, shifted into auto stick, switched back reactivated normal drive. Six months later, was at a stop sign, on green light, turned left from left lane, accelerating to approximately 25mph, suddenly emergency braking activated again, again had to use auto stick to kick out of emergency braking. Luckily car behind me was not tail gating. end of message 04:56-Fri-01/05/24
On many occasions, warning lights come on for no reason. The dealer has "updated" software, but to no avail.. Collision warning, stop/start error, throttle body error and more. On the last event we were driving uphill, approx 25 mph, nobody in front of us, and the brakes slammed on with multiple errors showing.. the car then lurched forward with active breaking, stop start error, throttle body sensor all showing up and going away. This happened 4 times on the evening of Sep 15th. The errors and random and intermittent.. They replaced a "secondary" battery at one point, and that did nothing. They told us we needed to drive it for over 100 miles, to charge the battery, but it did not fix the stop/start or any other error. Now it is in the Cerritos dodge dealer and we have a formal complaint filed with Chrystler.. The dealer states they can't find any problems.. During most of the events, the errors and warning lights do not stay on longer than a few seconds. I have one picture I was able to take when the warning lights stayed on a little longer.
Questions about the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee brakes
Does the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee have brakes problems?
Owners have filed 32 complaints about the brakes of the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 8% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee brakes problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 32,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee brakes?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Jeep Grand Cherokee have bad brakes?
The Jeep Grand Cherokee model years with the most brakes complaints are 1999 (622 complaints), 2000 (438 complaints) and 2011 (331 complaints).
Other 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee problems
Electrical 115Steering 102Engine 64Transmission 61Driver assistance 54Lights 42Fuel system 41Suspension 30Airbags 20Acceleration 17Visibility 8Seat belts 7Wheels 7Body 6Seats 5Tires 1
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