[mrmustang]

Anyone else ever have this happen and find out why it did so

A little backround: So the wife and I decide to take the kids (our son and his friend) out to dinner last night. We were only out for about two hours tops....Come home to my wrangler missing from the top of my driveway (driveway slopes back from the road into my level backyard).........First thing I think is that it was stolen, then my wife says, "no honey, it's parked at the bottom of the driveway just in front of your Expedition, maybe you forgot you put it there"...Of course I forgot, because I left it out front........It seems that while in first gear, with the parking brake set, something (still not sure) caused the car to roll down the driveway and smash into the front end of my truck......I can see the back window broken out on the jeep, along with a dented rear door, but since it's raining (and dark), I figure OK, I'll take some pictures, throw a tarp over it and deal with it in the AM...........Boy, it's a good thing I did not look closely at the jeep last night, or I would have not gotten any sleep at all....Just for reference, the car was still in first gear, and the emergency brake was still on first thing in the AM when I unlocked the Jeep......Check out the pics below to see the basic results....







Score, Expedition one, Jeep nothing...Have a small dent in the front bumper of the truck, the jeep on the other hand needs new rear door, interior trim, rear glass, rear hatch trim (inside and out), new hinges, new spare tire carrier(cause of most of the damage I think), bumperettes, new spare rim, amd a host of other small trim and parts.All this from rolling back 35-40 feet down a slight incline and into the trucks front bumper..........Can't wait for the adjuster to come out and see the Jeep up close and personal.......This is going to be real interesting.........

Bill S.

[JungleLarry]

I think you would be happy your Jeep doesn't have any sort of serious lift on it or else you'd have two cars to worry about. :P

That sucks, man. Did you respond to that recall on the YJ's parking brake?

[Punisher]

Sooooo what failed?? I'm assuming the E-brake?
Good luck with the insurance adjuster...

[PhilipJ]

That sucks.

Interestingly... I was rear-ended a while back by a good sized utility truck similar to a U-Haul. Impact was 15-20 MPH range but did almost nothing to my Jeep except for leaving a small dent underneath the tail light and cracking the lens. It looked like a baseball had hit it, nothing more. The truck took some decent fender damage and the bumper was hanging on the ground.

It's known that the e-brake sucks ***. Even after getting the recall work done on mine, it won't engage to hold itself on even a modest hill unless I push it clear to the floorboard on the last click. After rolling back your e-brake would still be in the same position you left it in but what's weird is that it was still in gear. Hope it didn't toast the tranny too bad.

[sticksnstonesru]

If it was in gear...than something has to be broken?!?!?

Clutch?

I mean, if the drivetrain is solid than in order to roll 35-45 feet, the motor would have to be turning over backwards....provided it is in gear and the drivetrain is solid.

[mrmustang]

4cyl, 5spd, not sure if the E-brake recall was ever done as this one was bought second hand for use as a plow truck on a long driveway......Engine was rebuilt 25,000 miles ago(excellent compression), same for the clutch and transmission.....Still not sure how it happened, going to speak with the local Jeep service writer and his head tech. on Monday morning to see what could have happened.......

[TSEJEEPERS]

Yes that just sucks! It could be worst though. A buddy of mine was working on something electrical on his Jeep. Had the ignision on and in gear. Now his driveway is way steep. He got a phone call and walked into the house, the Jeep started to roll and yes it started. Ran down the driveway and hit a tree. Bent the frame and did 5 or 6 thousand dollars damage!

[94 Sahara]

yea man jeep ebreaks just suck, same thing happened to my buddies except his rolled towards the road and BOOM F350 dually hit it at 55mph, totalled his jeep, sucks man

[TellyDSP]

The Rio Grande was included in the e-brake recall. Could have been part of your problem.

I would think if it were in gear, that the Jeep would have had some resistance to the roll and not have gotten enough momentum to do that much damage. Sux man.

I would look around the forums for parts. I've seen tailgates, spare mounts, and cheap tops floating around. Might be cheaper to buy a top and just take the liftgate/glass off of it.

[vaughn.smithjr]

dude! Mine did that to me in the post office parking lot, in gear brake set. Rolled into a windstar, killed the tailgate of it from just my spare, not even a scratch on my spare. When i got in the truck, the tranny had come out of 1st(or maybe i hadnt had it in all the way), my e brake pedal lets go couple clicks occasionaly, never had the recall done, never knew there was one. Im convinced Jeeps just hate Fords, after all who doesnt? Anyway, I dont know what to tell you other than youre not alone, sucks learnin the hard way, but thats usually the only way I figure it out! Good luck man, maybe you could coax the Jeep into not being pissed at you for owning a Ford(LOL).

[Big-n-Broke-YJ]

sure you don't have some little punk kid playing with your jeep while you were out resulting in a "WHOOPS!"

[mrmustang]

The jeep was locked tight as a drum (as tight as it could be with the hardtop and full steel doors on it.), nope, left it for Saturday morning, had my business partner come over (he is a retired Federal Marshall) and open the jeep to check if it was in gear and if the parking brake was set at the lowest the pedal would go to the floor...Both affirmative.........2-5 business days before the appraiser shows up at the body shop...It's still got full collision on it ($500 deductable though), so I'mreally not worried about getting it fixed, The shop I use does not play around with aftermarket "overseas" crap, so that is a plus in my corner as well....

At least I see that it's not just me............Thanks guys...........

Bill S.

Originally Posted by Big-n-Broke-YJ

sure you don't have some little punk kid playing with your jeep while you were out resulting in a "WHOOPS!"

[Walkr]

Originally Posted by TellyDSP

The Rio Grande was included in the e-brake recall. Could have been part of your problem.

I would think if it were in gear, that the Jeep would have had some resistance to the roll and not have gotten enough momentum to do that much damage. Sux man.

I would look around the forums for parts. I've seen tailgates, spare mounts, and cheap tops floating around. Might be cheaper to buy a top and just take the liftgate/glass off of it.

I have a rio grande, I notice the e-brake is very unreliable. How can I take advantage of this recall

[mYJ]

Originally Posted by Walkr

I have a rio grande, I notice the e-brake is very unreliable. How can I take advantage of this recall

You can either run your VIN at Jeep.com under the "contact us" option to find out if there are any outstanding recalls. Or just run it by the stealership service department and they'll check the VIN for you. Any recalls are performed free.

[monsterhangnail]

One mans curse is another mans blessing, te engine blew in my jeep, and I was able to get a good deal on an engine out of a Rio Grande that drifted downhill and hit a pole. The rear end was trashed and even the frame was bent. I felt bad for the previous owner, but it was good for me.