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Grand Cherokee Fuel Tank Fires
Jeep Grand Cherokee Defect Petition File – DP09-005
Updated 5/5/15
Fuel tank probe rekindles old issue
The placement of fuel tanks on passenger vehicles has changed over the past three decades, and for good reason.
Automakers gradually have repositioned the tank to an area in front of the rear axle, generally below the rear passenger seat. Statistically speaking, the tank in that location is less vulnerable in a high-speed, rear-end crash than in the previous location — between the rear bumper and axle.
Fiery crashes of the Ford Pinto and Mercury Bobcat in the 1970s prompted automakers to rethink how to protect the gasoline tank.
Grand Cherokee Is Investigated for Gas Tank Danger
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it would grant a consumer group’s request to investigate whether an estimated three million Jeep Grand Cherokees had gas tanks that were too vulnerable to fires after a rear impact.
The petition to investigate the 1993–2004 Jeeps was made last October by the Center for Auto Safety, which says the gas-tank design is defective.
Video: SUV Recall Request
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Fire a recurrent peril in Jeep collisions
Chenequa motorist was at least the 3rd to die in 2007 after fuel tanks ruptured
Nineteen-year-old Stacey Mayer lost her life July 3 inside a Jeep Grand Cherokee after her vehicle was struck from behind by another motorist in Waukesha County, rupturing the Jeep fuel tank and sparking an intense fire.