Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1998 Jeep Wrangler owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. I've owned my Jeep for 15 years. It has been garage kept. We were changing the shocks a few weeks ago and noticed severe rust damage. The frame is rusting from the inside out. It's severe. Years before I was traveling down a 2 Land rd and had to press my brakes harder than I usually would due to a car pulling out in front of me. At that moment I blew a brake line. I could not get my vehicle stopped. Luckily it's a 5 speed. I geared down as fast as I could and managed to pull it off the main road onto a hill to get it stopped. After inspecting my vehicle I found severe damage. The motors mounts are barely there. The part where the frame mounts to the body is actually missing one due to rusting completely out. Every single bolt and nut is rusted. Every single square inch of the frame is rusted. …
Takata recall reporting this in hopes of having the issue resolved by NHTSA or Chrysler... I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler and like thousands of others, mine has developed major frame rust. I know this isnt going to be resolved anytime soon, but I need to get mine fixed now. Hopefully if there is ever a recall I can still be apart of it even after mine is repaired. Im going to be having it patched for now as a frame replacement will cost way too much for me at the moment. Myself, along with many others would greatly benifit from this being recalled. There are a lot of jeeps out there driving on repaired frames. This issue should be resolved being as there are so many with the exact same problem.
I have an excessive amount of frame rust and my vehicle has less than 150xxx miles and this is a severe safety hazard. I have read that there are many people who have experienced this and I am wanting to know what you guys could do to resolve this issue. I bought this vehicle and I do not want to resale because I do not want to sell it in this condition and I want to keep it but I also do not want to drive because of this. There's a lot of life left in this vehicle and it only has 126xxx miles so I need help
Due to excessive rot that is common on this vehicle, while traveling I hit a bump and snapped my driver side control arm. This consequently made for a dangerous ride. While attempting to repair it I noticed how bad the frame was rotted, but unlike normal circumstances where the outside and inside would have equal corrosion. The inside was rotted much worse, and parts of the frame easily crumbled.
The rust is so bad on the jeeps it's ridiculous it's not safe your going to kill someone when there rear axle shoots out from under them this is a issue you should fix not the consumer I will not be buying this product again if it is my fixed. 98 tj Jeep Wrangler
Had to replace the frame due to left rear rusted through the whole frame, just a small amount of the frame was left. Other areas had rust eating threw the frame, and in a matter of time would have failed!!!.
Purchased a used 1998 Jeep Wrangler sport on December 27 2014. Had it in a shop for new tires when they told me the frame was rotted and it was unsafe to drive. The dealership I bought it from inspected it and sure enough, rotted frame and unsafe to drive. They agreed to pay 1700 dollars towards the cost of a frame swap and it cost me 1000 dollars more for a total of 2700 dollars. This seems to be a real issue with jeeps between the years of 97 to 04, I May be wrong on the exact years but there is a definite pattern of bad manufacturing practices/bad quality steel to be contributing to this frame rot. Is Chrysler waiting for someone to get killed in order to address this issue? Big corporations and politics meet to screw the general public once again? …
I am writing today to complain about my 1998 Jeep Wrangler. After my last service was performed, the mechanic illustrated to me that the frame on my Jeep was severely rotting away on the drivers side. This is not an unknown concern for me since my employer has had the same concern repaired on one of his family members Jeep. This is very disheartening to me since I have been a Jeep owner for many years. I contacted Chrysler customer service and according to the operator they are not familiar with this problem. I find this unbelievable, considering that I am not the only one with this concern and other vehicle manufactures have recalled their vehicles for similar frame rot problems. Ie Toyota pickup trucks, Ford windstar minivans, and I am sure there are others. …
Many problems with this vehicle. Water pump leaked - fixed under warranty, gas tank seal leaked - fixed under warranty, seats ripped - fixed under warranty, suction cup marks on window - fixed under warranty, front stabilizer shock leaked - fixed under warranty, rear window seal leaked - repaired under warranty two times and still leaks, instrument panel fails - out of warranty not repaired, radiator failed - out of warranty fixed at my cost, stabilizer arm failed both sides twice - fixed under warranty once and the out of warranty fixed at my cost, exhaust manifold failed - out of warranty - fixed at my cost, clutch fork failed - out of warranty fixed at my cost, leak under the dash board passenger side - fixed under warranty. Of all the problems above... Loss of instrument panel needs to be fixed by the manufacturer regardless of in or out of warranty. …
Noticed a noise while driving home the other day thought it May have been my exhaust rattling around, so I got under vehicle to inspect the noise, and what I found was that the rear part of the frame has rusted away and the brackets for the rear trailing arms had detached from the frame allowing the arms to drop, and on this particular side the brake lines are attached to this control arm. I know that Toyota had a similar recall on the truck frames for rust perforation, and that Jeep had one on the liberty for the rear lower control arms rusting and breaking. I am an automotive technician and my personal Jeep is not the first one I have seen with this potentially dangerous condition. I also googled this problem and found that its very common in these vehicles as well.
Body complaints in other Wrangler years
Frequently asked questions
How common are body problems on the 1998 Jeep Wrangler?
NHTSA has 25 complaints about the body & structure of the 1998 Jeep Wrangler, 9% of the model year's 265 complaints. The component named most often is body (15 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1998 Jeep Wrangler body problems?
No. NHTSA lists no body & structure recall for the 1998 Jeep Wrangler, though it has 2 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1998 Jeep Wrangler body problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 106,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 2 fires and 1 injury to body & structure problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.