2003 Jeep Liberty steering problems

Filed Mar 11, 2026 · Steering, Suspension · 160,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, the steering wheel was difficult to turn due to a loss of power steering assist. There was a grinding sound while turning the steering wheel. The sound was loud enough to hear outside of the vehicle. There was an unknown orange warning light displayed briefly. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact found information online related to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 09V119000 (Suspension); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

Filed Jan 26, 2023 · Steering, Suspension · NC · crash · 1 injury

The ball joint and cv axle broke making me wreck. I had no control of the steering.

Filed Apr 6, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 182,000 miles · MA · crash

I am the second owner of this vehicle, when I acquired it, I had it serviced at the dealership and they preformed all recall work. It has been kept serviced and up to date on any recall work since. During the day on christmas eve 2019 I was returning home from a visit at my mother's home and suddenly lost control of the jeep. There was loud noise and things breaking off the vehicle as I fought to control it and pull over. Upon inspection, saw the passenger side front wheel had come loose from the suspension, tore off the fender wheel well and broke a piece off the right-side running board. Undriveable, I had it towed to my mechanic. Unfortunately, they were closed until after new years. In early january I found out the diagnosis was a sheared lower ball joint failure. I looked in my files and found that this was one of the recalls that had been preformed to the vehicle. Safety recall f23- lower ball joints was done on 8/1/2006. Obviously, you assume this problem is resolved and the vehicle is safe after the work is done. I luckily was traveling at 30mph, and not at highway speed, so I have only encountered a financial burden. (about $4k for rental, repair & bodywork) I am sure if I was going faster or in traffic, I would have been injured or killed. How do the thousands of jeep liberty owners still on the road who are up to date on recalls confidently drive their vehicles if the recall work fails in the exact manner described as the problem meant to be fixed by the recall? I've been driving for close to 40 years and have never had any vehicle suffer a catastrophic failure resulting in a crash before this.

Filed Aug 5, 2019 · Airbags, Steering · 170,000 miles · WV · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owned a 2003 jeep liberty. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the steering wheel began maneuvering on its own and the vehicle ultimately crashed into a median. The vehicle's airbags failed to deploy upon impact. The contact suffered severe injuries including a concussion and bruising to his rib cage. The contact received medical attention on the scene and was taken to a hospital. A police was filed at the scene. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to an independent tow yard. The dealer was never notified of the failure, however, the manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the failure was related to a recall under the federal safety agency campaign number 03v460000 (suspension). The failure mileage was 170,000. Vin-(xxxx) redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 5, 2019 · Steering, Suspension · 190,000 miles · TX

A recall was made for jeep liberty for the control arms upper and lower and the ball joints. I was told my VIN did not have the recall. However, others had the recall and jeep paid for the repairs. After the repairs the wheel hub went bad, and a recall was made for that but not my basic model. After replacing the wheel hub the driveshaft was damaged by all the issues. A recall for the same vehicle was made for a driveshaft and again the bass model was not included in the recall. This time jeep said they would fix the driveshaft and when it came time they denied it.

Filed May 17, 2018 · Steering, Suspension · 110,000 miles · FL

Took my liberty to my mechanic because it started making a horrible sound up front when ever I made a turn. Upon inspection my lower ball joints had disintegrated, crumbled into their hands. They could not believe how lucky I was that it did not break while driven. Nothing was holding it in or together. Come to find out there are recalls on both the upper and lower ball joints. I was never notified. I have had the lowers fixed and paid for with lifetime warranted parts. I need reimbursed for the lower $488.27. The upper ball joints also must be fixed on a separate recall that I was never notified of. Do these people have any idea how bloody and devastated an accident would be when your wheel shears off and there is no steering? It's called flipping the fringing jeep over!!! Not only is it unacceptable that I wasn't notified but I could have killed my father and others in an accident. My mechanic told me straight up if I had gone over a bump or turned I would have wreaked! I can not believe that there are other people that have had accidents with more damage or a full total of theirs and others are not being reimbursed for the entire damages. Thi fixed wrong the first time by the dealer, before their wreak. How is that not their responsibility? There is no excuse for any of those jeeps or mine not being fixed. These are straight up recalls something is wrong with this, really wrong.

Filed Apr 28, 2016 · Steering, Suspension · 125,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 jeep liberty. While driving 5 MPH, a loud squeaking and clanking sound emitted from the vehicle and it became hard to control without warning. When the steering wheel was turned slightly, the vehicle veered to the left or right. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the driver and passenger side lower ball joints needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.

Filed Dec 29, 2015 · Steering · 240,000 miles · GA

I want my car included in recall j17. My car should have been included in the safety recall "chrysler recall no. J17", campaign # 09v119000 . I have verified with chrysler that my car was both built and sold in illinois, and therefore in the target recall population. See following excerpt from recall text: chrysler is recalling 42,469 my 2002-2003 jeep liberty vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in salt belt states of connecticut, delaware, iowa, illinois, indiana, kentucky, massachusetts, maine, maryland, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, virginia, west virginia , wisconsin and the district of columbia. The front suspension upper control arm ball joint may experience a loss of lubrication which could lead to corrosion, accelerated wear, and possible separation while driving.

Filed Jul 28, 2015 · Steering · 100,000 miles · NC · crash · 1 injury

I was on my way home when it became very hard to steer the vehicle which resulted in a accident,also the airbag never deployed. The insurance company did in fact total the vehicle.

Filed Jul 13, 2015 · Steering · 50,000 miles · NJ

This car leaks power steering fluid. Many similar jeep 2002 and 2003 have this problem. This car has only 50000 miles. The dealer wants to replace the entire steering system.