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Guest
·Will putting an aftermarket lift on a new TJ rid the warranty? Also, will a dealership put a lift on?
lifting a new TJ, does that nullify the warranty?
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Guest
·Ive never lifted a new jeep, but, ive lifted many new vehicles. All voided the warranty (except 1: Dodge) I had a 95 Ram with 11inch lift and 39mickey's and they did warranty work on it, no questions asked. Since Jeeps are a Chrysler product they may very well be good to you on the warranty. I seriously doubt a dealer will install a lift on a new vehicle, the liability is too great. Then theres the stupid lift laws (well, here in Ma. anyway) Good luck.
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Guest
·You are going to find that this is going to be an issue that very often is on a dealer basis. If they want to warranty it they can and
will. It just depends on how important customer relations is to them.
Brad (from the 4 Wheeling center of the universe, 4 corners USA)
will. It just depends on how important customer relations is to them.
Brad (from the 4 Wheeling center of the universe, 4 corners USA)
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Guest
·In today's climate it is often difficult to apply common sense to the law, so in this case use common sense as a guide line only. One thing in your immediate favor (actually in the long run it works against us all, however) is the fact that courts, juries and the law generally are ANTI big business and pro almost anything else.
Common Sense: Any vehicle alteration NOT done by the dealer or an AUTHORIZED representative of the manufacturer that COULD have an impact on the warranty problem in question is likely to be DISALLOWED by the manufacturer or dealer or both. Something as obvious as oversize tires combined with an automatic locker in a D35 axle would give the mfg a good cause for disallowing the warranty claim on a broken axle. Doesn't mean they will, just means they would have logical and reasonable and probably legal grounds for their position, but what if your family buys 4 new vehs a year from this particular dealer???? Or what if you drive into the shop at 30 mph, hit the brakes, slide halfway accross the shop floor, jump out and start screaming while you begin to paint lemon in big yellow letters on your new red TJ? Another example, and this one really happened was when a friend of mine broke a D35 axle on a TJ equipped with a locker and 35 inch tires, and according to him, really was keeping the rpms just below red line when the axle broke. The guy called a Jeep dealer who looked up his rather large buying record from Chrysler. The Jeep dealer gave him a new axle accross the counter so that he could take it back to the trail and install it. As far as I know the dealer never even saw the broken axle shaft. Know he had nothing to do with its installation.
Going back to common sense. Be prepared to pay for repairs on items that could have been affected by your non authorized modification, and be prepared to go to the wall with the dealer if he wants to disallow a warranty problem that is completely disassociated from your modification. Also developing a good rapport with a single dealer COULD (not guaranteed) work in your favor if a questionable problem arises.
FYI, the "Big Foot" edition of the Wrangler is generally, if not always installed outside the dealership, but with their authorization, and it is sold as new from the dealers lot. It involves a body lift. Could be wrong, but I do not think it involves any suspension lift at all. It also has 33x12.5s, I think. Might be a little shorter tires, 31s or 32s, but I think they are 33s, and I know they are 12.5s. All this stuff has the factory or dealer warranty.
Hope this helps.
Doug '97 TJ
My Web Site
Common Sense: Any vehicle alteration NOT done by the dealer or an AUTHORIZED representative of the manufacturer that COULD have an impact on the warranty problem in question is likely to be DISALLOWED by the manufacturer or dealer or both. Something as obvious as oversize tires combined with an automatic locker in a D35 axle would give the mfg a good cause for disallowing the warranty claim on a broken axle. Doesn't mean they will, just means they would have logical and reasonable and probably legal grounds for their position, but what if your family buys 4 new vehs a year from this particular dealer???? Or what if you drive into the shop at 30 mph, hit the brakes, slide halfway accross the shop floor, jump out and start screaming while you begin to paint lemon in big yellow letters on your new red TJ? Another example, and this one really happened was when a friend of mine broke a D35 axle on a TJ equipped with a locker and 35 inch tires, and according to him, really was keeping the rpms just below red line when the axle broke. The guy called a Jeep dealer who looked up his rather large buying record from Chrysler. The Jeep dealer gave him a new axle accross the counter so that he could take it back to the trail and install it. As far as I know the dealer never even saw the broken axle shaft. Know he had nothing to do with its installation.
Going back to common sense. Be prepared to pay for repairs on items that could have been affected by your non authorized modification, and be prepared to go to the wall with the dealer if he wants to disallow a warranty problem that is completely disassociated from your modification. Also developing a good rapport with a single dealer COULD (not guaranteed) work in your favor if a questionable problem arises.
FYI, the "Big Foot" edition of the Wrangler is generally, if not always installed outside the dealership, but with their authorization, and it is sold as new from the dealers lot. It involves a body lift. Could be wrong, but I do not think it involves any suspension lift at all. It also has 33x12.5s, I think. Might be a little shorter tires, 31s or 32s, but I think they are 33s, and I know they are 12.5s. All this stuff has the factory or dealer warranty.
Hope this helps.
Doug '97 TJ
My Web Site
Joined
·
2,076 Posts
I'm with Brad on this one.....it's definitely a dealer to dealer thing. My dealer is the "you changed the air filter so we aren't going to fix your power steering" type. The owners manual simply states that the installation of optional non dealer/factory equipment does not void your warranty ....... they just do not warrant the installed part. That is, if I install a snow plow (and many a Jeep has had a snow plow on them from new) and my transfer case goes bad.....it's covered ......if the plow goes bad because of something wrong with the Jeep (let's say a defective spring let go and you crunched the hydro cylinder)......it's not. I've heard of dealers not warranting a bad Tcase because it was driven off road!!!!! They never state ANYWHERE in the documentation "We only intended this vehicle to be used in the event of inclement weather .....and this is limited ot only snow"......We build in the off road capability just for peace of mind for those who only think that they may want to consider doing it someday".
If you attach .....let's say a light bar and install it to THE FACTORY AUX. POWER CENTER and the electrical fries ....it's covered ......if the lights fry......they aren't. THIS IS WHAT THE THING IS THERE FOR AND WE HAVE A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF IT DOING IT'S DESIGNED TASK.
Shop around for a dealer who has a more reasonable policy. It depends on the managment. Warranty work traditionally pays nothing ..... that is, nobody makes any money on it ......they get credit for the parts.....factory time for the labor ....so the service manager-the service writer-the parts man-and the owner have little insentive to do the stuff. This is compounded when the dealer has a lot of cash business......warranty work gets bumped to the novice mechanics because they don't care if it comes back for a redo------in 3-6 weeks when we have another opening.
Now you get into a "gray area" with engine mods. My Ford and Dodge dealer did not care if I installed an oil cooler on my new vehicles......both service managers were of the opinion that this was a "reliability enhancement" installation .....but my Jeep dealer wouldn't let me install a high volume oil pump even though it was available from MOPAR ......I did it anyway. The funny thing about my Jeep dealer is that they don't have a whole bunch of business of any kind ......I was in on a Tuesday to get an appointmet for inspection.....and got one on Thursday ....this is unheard of for a independant shop or most of the other dealers in the area ...... so nobody goes there unless they have to.
It comes down to the hassle you're willing to go through to get them to honor the warranty. See if you can talk to the Chrysler/Jeep rep....he will give you the bottom line.
Good luck,
GeeAea
If you attach .....let's say a light bar and install it to THE FACTORY AUX. POWER CENTER and the electrical fries ....it's covered ......if the lights fry......they aren't. THIS IS WHAT THE THING IS THERE FOR AND WE HAVE A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF IT DOING IT'S DESIGNED TASK.
Shop around for a dealer who has a more reasonable policy. It depends on the managment. Warranty work traditionally pays nothing ..... that is, nobody makes any money on it ......they get credit for the parts.....factory time for the labor ....so the service manager-the service writer-the parts man-and the owner have little insentive to do the stuff. This is compounded when the dealer has a lot of cash business......warranty work gets bumped to the novice mechanics because they don't care if it comes back for a redo------in 3-6 weeks when we have another opening.
Now you get into a "gray area" with engine mods. My Ford and Dodge dealer did not care if I installed an oil cooler on my new vehicles......both service managers were of the opinion that this was a "reliability enhancement" installation .....but my Jeep dealer wouldn't let me install a high volume oil pump even though it was available from MOPAR ......I did it anyway. The funny thing about my Jeep dealer is that they don't have a whole bunch of business of any kind ......I was in on a Tuesday to get an appointmet for inspection.....and got one on Thursday ....this is unheard of for a independant shop or most of the other dealers in the area ...... so nobody goes there unless they have to.
It comes down to the hassle you're willing to go through to get them to honor the warranty. See if you can talk to the Chrysler/Jeep rep....he will give you the bottom line.
Good luck,
GeeAea
G
Guest
·I'm gonna be asking that question to my service dept manager next week. I've purchased and had them install the MOPAR skid plates for steering, engine, and gas tank (total parts&install $498) and the MOPAR extended warranty (full coverage 5yr/60K for $1100). and I'm gonna be asking for them to order and install 4 "additonal" OEM upper coil "spacers" or whatever they call them to bring my ground clearance back to stock with the added weight of the skid plates (and the Warn XD8000i which I put on myself). As a funny note, when I ordered the skid plates they never asked a question, but when I went in to have them put on, the service write-up guy asked me "Did you buy this or is it a lease?" I told him it was mine.
My third Wrangler: 99 Sahara (desert sand)
My third Wrangler: 99 Sahara (desert sand)
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