The Chrysler Group, LLC has announced a recall on almost 70,000 SUVs over a defective skid plate that could lead to dangerous fires.

The action was prompted after an investigation by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration was opened in late March as a response to eight complaints from owners who reported that their vehicles had caught fire. The automaker has acknowledged that they are aware of as many as fourteen complaints of fire that are directly related to the skid plate.

A spokesman from the American car manufacturer said that they had received no reports of injury as a result of the sudden car fires. Their own investigation into the issue covered over 100,000 vehicles, including 32,000 fitted with a manual transmission, where they determined the cause of the problem.

The recall effects exactly 67,872 Jeep Wranglers from the 2010 model year equipped with an automatic transmission. An investigation into the SUV revealed that debris could be collected on the skid plate that protects the transmission, which causes a serious risk of fire if that debris were to make contact with the nearby catalytic converter.

The official language of the problem is described as “less than optimal clearance between the exhaust catalyst and the automatic transmission skid plate.”

The recall is to go into effect before the end of the month, at which time owners can take their faulty vehicles to the nearest Jeep dealer for repair at no charge. The fix would be to install a “skid bar” in place of the plate.

Starting in July of 2010, Chrysler replaced the skid plate with a skid bar for the purpose of saving weight, though it also unintentionally eliminated the fire issue.

At this time, Chrysler is describing the recall as voluntary, but under federal regulations, once a manufacturer is made aware of a safety defect the company has five days to inform the NHTSA of their plans for the recall.

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