I am commenting on the rocking of my 2000 Grand Cherokee driver seat. As other have mentioned, the driver seat started rocking and when I looked under the seat to see the problem, saw that the seat bracket that mounts the seat to the floor bolts had broken away. I have had many cars in the past and nothing like this had ever happened. I was verbally quoted $400 for the repair at the dealer. As I felt this was more a safety issue, I went all the way to Chysler Corporate looking for their support to cover the repair. I was told "they were sorry, but" the vehicle was out of the standard warranty and my extended only covered the drive-train. This problem seems to be more common than one would think. I got the part number 4856471AB from the dealer which is the drivers front seat bracket. Please check with your dealer before using this part number for your vehicle. I purchased the part at wholesalemopar. com for about $120, and will make the repair myself. Good luck.
I like the Grand Cherokee, just wish I didn't have the little nit pick problems that seem to come with it.
I have to say, this post is very interesting! I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (2000). Yesterday morning I was exiting off of the 405 freeway turning left and my front seat snapped sending me into the passenger seat going 25 MPH. I momentarily lost control then realized it was more important to grab the stering wheel then it was to regain balance. Very scary! No need to comment on what the worst case scenarios could of been. The mechanic at the dealer said the seat adjusters and the frame the adjusters connect to snapped. WHAT! The head mechanic said this could only happen with consumers 400lbs+ (I weigh 190lbs) he also stated he had never seen this happen as long as he has been with Crystler. The dealer also strongly recommended I call Crystler corporate to let them know what happened. I was apaulled by Crystler's reaction to a life threatening malfunction on a product they manufactured. The "supervisors" response was "we feel no further action needs to be taken at this time" WHAT!
In my opinion further action does need to be taken. This should not be thrown under the rug. I plan on contacting several parties to help Crystler Corporation take accountability for this specific problem.
I can be reached @ ejbergman100@yahoo.com.
I too have a broken left driver's seat bracket bracket and the dealer wants $400 to replace it. I have spent more on repairs to this car than I have on the previous 15 cars I have owned. J Allbright, Baton Rouge, LA.
My seat wobbled for several days and I kept telling myself I would take it in or look at it on the weekend. I was driving to Fort Wayne Indiana, from Columbia City Indiana for a meeting and placed my hand in my to retrieve my cell phone, and as I leaned back a little bit my front drivers seat snapped all of the way back. If I would have had a passenger behind me, I would have been in their lap. I have not replaced my seat or the bracket as I have been trying to figure out whether or not Jeep would be responsible through a recall, or if I could find a wrecked jeep and buy the part out of it to use on fixing my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I weigh just over 300 lbs so that is not the reason the seat broke. Chad Morgan
0177 S 50 W
Albion, In 46701.
I wish I had found this site before I had my vehicle repaired. On 4/17/08, I paid 1021.93 to replace my driver's side frame-front seat & adjuster-power seat. I had experienced the "rocking" for approximately oneweek, when my boyfriend became aware of the issue and advised me of what the problem was. We were unsuccessful in locating "used" parts via wrecking yards. Because of the seriousness I went to the dealer. I too tried to call customer service & was told that because I am not the original owner and the warranty is expired there was nothing they could do.
My 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokees driver's side seat started to wobble, and 2 days later the entire seat broke as I was accelerating on the highway, and threw me to the back seat on the highway with my 2 kids in the car. I almost had a terrible accident. Please beware of this problem. I am going to the dealership today.
My 2003 Jeep Laredo has started to wobble like crazy. I took it to the dealer, they want $800 to fix the bracket. Rhe junkyard will give me a whole new seat for $225. I can't believe there is no recall on this... it's such a crappy car.
Our 2000 Cherokee drivers side seat became "wobbly" as soon as the warranty ran out. A few weeks ago I got in and the seat snapped and now is VERY wobbly. I picked up a used seat at a salvage yard today for $200 including the frame rail. I'll put it in myself. While its been a good car drive-train wise, it's a piece of crap otherwise. Simple things like the seat breaking. We'll never buy another jeep product ever. They let this model to crap. Even the new ones are getting bad reviews. Can you say Toyota?
I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport and have had the same problem. It must be pretty common because every salvage yard I go to has Cherokees and they're all missing their driver's seat. My jeep failed its Virginia inspection last week because of the seat, now I have 10 days left to get it fixed or I can't drive it. I looked underneath the seat and couldn't believe the flimsy material they used, it was torn to pieces. I love the look of the Cherokee, but I've had several expensive problems with this vehicle.
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Driver's seat creeked first, then wobbled, then the back brackets of the seat track snapped. Jeep dealer said "never seen this before." Quoted $505 to fix.
Took the Jeep to another place, they said common problem, should report it to gov.
Engineer looked at it and said the "cold rivets" that hold the brackets together should allow the brackets to move, but they are put in so tight the metal bends over time until they break. He quessed this would happen in all vehicles eventually.
I've tried to find a replacement seat track, but the salvage yards tell me that they are hard to find because they are so popular!
I'm now looking to have the parts fabricated. I'm not giving Jeep $505-1000 for 2 10 cent brackets.
I've had a 98 Cherokee and 98 Grand Cherokee both for many years. I've been very pleased with then, both have been remarkably trouble free. But I had the same rocking driver's seat and the bracket snapped recently as everyone has described on the Cherokee. Very flimsy and poorly designed. Seems to me that this is a serious safety issue and Chrysler should own up to it and issue a recall. I will not pay a dealer for this so like everyone else I'll grudgingly fix myself. I'm going to check Quadra-tec, I think they sell just the brackets.
Unbelievable. Here I thought I was the only one, especially after talking to the dealer. Exactly the same problem with our 99 Grand Cherokee Laredo. Dealer can only special order from manufacturer for $400.00 plus the usual whatevers. Salvage yards seem to have a few available ($150 in Dallas) and welding the current bracket is also an option.
Chrysler should own up to this. HUGE safety issue to have the drivers seat fly backward while driving. My wife weighs around 100lbs soaking wet so weight isn't the issue - shoddy engineering is.
My drivers seat mounting frame also failed on my 2000 grand. Took it apart and had my son weld some additional plate steel to fix it.
I've had the "clicking" or slight movement (driver side) in my 2002 Grand Cherokee forever now (I'm 200#), but I have never inspected the frame rail assembly (I did have thoughts of small Allen screws and some nylon shims on the rails awhile back). I just assumed that the rails had too much "play" in them.
But yesterday at the car wash, the attendant who vacuum's the car moved the seats all the way to the rear, THEN all the way to the front (so now my pass. seat is all the way forward!). Well when I went to leave the car wash, I always go to the passenger side first to move the seat to the rear. This time it didn't move (AND obviously nobody speaks ENGLISH!). I fiddled with it for a moment, just figuring the switch or motor went bad.
Today I took the seat loose and removed the track assembly with the motors on it (really simple with just a few tools). The "horizontal" (front to rear) motor was just bound up (this is the motor that moves the seat front to rear), if you look at the little gear case there is a square drive (Roberts) shaft in there. I took a sq. bit and backed it off a few turns and then tried it and it worked fine. So I went through all of the operations while I had it apart, and now the "rear" motor (marked as "rear motor") was not working either (yet I could feel it spinning). This motor lifts and lowers the rear of the seat (10 way seat)... so I removed the motor with the gear case from the frame (1 roll pin and one knurled pin and the motor unit comes right out). Opened the gear case (2 screws) and I see the plastic gears are broken...
Well now at this point in the day, I have spent more time in trying to find out if the motor only is available (it appears not {Mo-par #5709790}). So I opened my Grand Cherokee parts book (CD version on my computer) and it shows that ONLY a track assembly available. Who'd a thunk! Such a simple part to R&R yet you have to buy a whole rail assembly. Tomorrow I will check the bone yards for a motor or maybe a broken frame assembly. I'm sure the car wash will not step up to this situation, much less MO-PAR!.
When I went to my repair manual (also CD version on computer) it says NOT to "hold these switches for long" after the seat stops moving... (there are NO limiter switches on these motors with the little plastic gear boxes!). So this week will be yet another expensive one in my life, while I R&R the drivers seat also and probably do some "MIG" work on the frame rails. Guess I could be in a worse situation of having to take it somewhere for repairs. Good luck to all, I'm glad I have some remaining shop equipment AND I'm retired!
The part number (4856471AB) mentioned in the first post is incorrect. That gets you the entire front seat frame. What you want is the "track assembly" Driver seat Right ($82.17) and Driver seat Left ($75.61) (for the manual parts) (this from wholesalemopar dot com). No way am I going to spend an entire weekend trolling among salvage yards for an entire $200 seat when I can order the parts on-line and save the hassle. Since the left side is the only one broken on my Jeep (so far), I've just ordered the left track assembly. Will post back on my experiences.
I have a 99 Grand Cherokee and my seat has broken twice. At first I thought it was my kids pulling on the chair, but the second time I know it was poorly made seats.
I to called the company and they said I was the only person to ever complain about the seat snapping. Well, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Adm. 1-800-424-9393 has had a hell of a lot of complaints, but not enough to issue a recall. So please call them and complain.
Not only so I can get my money back, but because this is a safety issue. I am blessed that my seat snapped when I was getting out of my car, and that my children were not on the back.
I don't know what I going to do because the junk yard here (Pittsburgh, PA) said this is a common problem, and they don't have the part that I want.