Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[Saejin]

I have a 4-door which I think drives fine. I plan to be at the dealer next week for the cruise control recall and will test drive a 2-door since I may be getting one of those or a Ram Rebel next...will report back what differences I notice between the two.

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[Dormamu]

I completely discount any BS about 2 dr vs 4 dr.

That's a deflection.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Just got a call from the service guy and I got the response I was afraid of and frankly expected.

"We've checked everything related to your steering on your new 2 dr Wrangler and everything is fine. All 2 dr Wranglers have crappy steering. You can come and pick it up tomorrow. We found nothing unusual."

I am beyond frustrated. I very clearly said there is about an inch of play in the steering wheel and I want no play or a reason why some Jeeps steer fine and some don't. I guess I should have bought a 4 dr and everything would be cool. What an idiot I am. Don't know what to do next. Have lost confidence in the Brand and the dealership. Jeep Cares...anybody out there with common sense. Buehler? Shit

Is there another dealer in a decent driving distance that you can take it to? If yes, don't mention what the other dealer told you so they won't be biased. Maybe start with you and the service manager take a ride in another similar model, tires, etc. from the lot - let them drive, then drive your Wrangler so they can experience it first hand. Then they will have a different mindset from the get-go.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Just got a call from the service guy and I got the response I was afraid of and frankly expected.

"We've checked everything related to your steering on your new 2 dr Wrangler and everything is fine. All 2 dr Wranglers have crappy steering. You can come and pick it up tomorrow. We found nothing unusual."

I am beyond frustrated. I very clearly said there is about an inch of play in the steering wheel and I want no play or a reason why some Jeeps steer fine and some don't. I guess I should have bought a 4 dr and everything would be cool. What an idiot I am. Don't know what to do next. Have lost confidence in the Brand and the dealership. Jeep Cares...anybody out there with common sense. Buehler? Shit

My 2dr steers perfectly. He’s full of shit. Also, 2drs are unicorns. How many could he have possibly driven besides yours?

Keep applying pressure.

 

[Jhoward136]

I have a 4 door and my steering is loose as well.

First dealer I went to wasn't very helpful, but 2nd dealer has been very responsive. I still haven't solved the issue quite yet though. The 2nd dealer applied the TSB 0809218 update which didn't help, but next we are scheduling an hour to drive several new JLs on their lot to compare to mine. If indeed the difference is noticeable, the dealer will continue to try and correct. (Relpacing steering box is next on my list.)

Just got a call from the service guy and I got the response I was afraid of and frankly expected.

"We've checked everything related to your steering on your new 2 dr Wrangler and everything is fine. All 2 dr Wranglers have crappy steering. You can come and pick it up tomorrow. We found nothing unusual."

I am beyond frustrated. I very clearly said there is about an inch of play in the steering wheel and I want no play or a reason why some Jeeps steer fine and some don't. I guess I should have bought a 4 dr and everything would be cool. What an idiot I am. Don't know what to do next. Have lost confidence in the Brand and the dealership. Jeep Cares...anybody out there with common sense. Buehler? Shit

 

[SteadyC]

I also have a 2 door, and the steering is perfect, his statement is crap. If I move the steering wheel just a tiny bit, the wheels react, really no play. It’s not a 2 door thing.

 

[Mr Bill]

OK it is obvious that quite a few 2 dr and 4 dr 2018 Wranglers have steering issues! I reported this (around 50 other 2018 JL owners also) to the NHTSA. This only take a few minutes and believe this may be the best and only way to get FCA's attention (or until someone gets injured of god forbid dies as a result of this) I know back when I bought my 2007 JK and it had the issue of everything shutting down WHILE driving quite a few of us went and filed a safety complaint with NHTSA and within a couple of weeks Jeep recalled the vehicles! Issue/problem was fixed. Just my suggestion.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

snip:

OK it is obvious that quite a few 2 dr and 4 dr 2018 Wranglers have steering issues!

YOU and those talking this issue here on the forum think "it is obvious that quite a few 2 dr and 4 dr 2018 Wranglers have steering issues!"

I'm thinking that just maybe this issue is not as wide spread as you might think. Time will tell.

 

[Holymoly1963]

A Ray of Hope. Got my Wrangler back this AM with a laundry list of steering related items they checked. Said steering was normal. Decided to walk from service to the sales side of the dealership and asked one of the Jeep peddlers who was their most knowledgeable Wrangler enthusiast . Turns out they had one (in sales) who said let's take your Jeep for a ride...great idea! He knew everything Wrangler and owns a JLU. Within 5 minutes on our ride he turned the wheel back and forth, a noticeable amount, and the car did not change direction. "This is definitely not right" or similar words. There is a God. We went back to the manager and they are escalating it. I feel like after 60 days of trying to get someone at Jeep to agree with me (and most of you) that this was a major breakthrough and I am feeling far more positive. Only time will tell but my new Jeep friend says his JLU does not have this problem. He also laughed when I commented about the steering play being a 2dr vs 4dr issue. This guy is actually one of us! Maybe the brightest one of us.

 

[Holymoly1963]

snip:


YOU and those talking this issue here on the forum think "it is obvious that quite a few 2 dr and 4 dr 2018 Wranglers have steering issues!"

I'm thinking that just maybe this issue is not as wide spread as you might think. Time will tell.

I suspect it might only involve 5% of the Wranglers, but when they are selling 25,000/ month...that would be 1250 owners each month. We need a little understanding hear. LOL

 

[Rhinebeck01]

I suspect it might only involve 5% of the Wranglers, but when they are selling 25,000/ month...that would be 1250 owners each month. We need a little understanding hear. LOL

@Holymoly1963 Do not take my earlier post as my playing down the issue that many here are having with the steering. I was just mentioning the issue is affecting very few or the lid would have blown off the steering thing already... Reality is it does not matter how many it is affecting if you are the one with the issue..... luckily my 2dr. steers / drives great.

 

[Mr Bill]

I agree! And I Hope you finally get resolution. At least you were able to get "this is not right" instead of "this is a jeep thing"! Just because John next door with a JL does not have an issue with the steering does not mean you/we do not. Bottom line is if there is and issue on a 40,000 dollar plus vehicle it needs to be acknowledged and fixed for those of us that have the problem. Believe me it is not fun driving at highway speeds in something that feels as if it is going to veer into the other lane. Please keep those of us with issues informed WE would appreciate it!

 

[GinjaNinja]

The adjuster screw is hard to turn but not impossible. You probably can’t do it with a small Allen key, as you need more torque. Do NOT use 5/32 as it is smaller than 4 mm. Use 4 mm.

Thanks for the info! I will be sure to buy a new 4mm allen socket as this is probably the reason why folks are rounding them off. I will try to find time this weekend to give this a shot.

 

[Bearded_Dragon]

Thanks for the info! I will be sure to buy a new 4mm allen socket as this is probably the reason why folks are rounding them off. I will try to find time this weekend to give this a shot.

Not the reason.

 

[cohocarl]

- Some have adjusted the steering box screw with good results...however I have read that this could cause other issues if you over adjust it. Also, if you over adjust you can't undo it as the screw is meant to push something in and not back something out...I'm not a steering box engineer, but I've read a few posts and have stayed at a Holiday Inn a few times.

Thought I'd do a little searching tonight on what I would consider very sloppy steering on my JL I picked up a couple weeks ago. All of my driving of it up until today have been short, local country road trips, but today my wife and I took a longer drive, which reinforced my opinion of the sloppy steering.

After reading through most of the posts on this thread, I thought I'd put in my $0.02 regarding adjusting the pitman center. (Sector shaft adjustment).

I realize there are a lot of improvements/developments since I worked at GM building recirculating ball steering gears (a couple thousand a shift...), but by the looks of the design on our JL's, they haven't changed much in decades.

On doing a "hit or miss" adjustment of the "screw" on the top of the steering gear.....I would suggest strongly not to try it.
During production of the gears, they are adjusted while being monitored for correct torque values of the output shaft, then the lock nut on top of the pitman cap is torqued down to retain that calibrated setting. Which I agree, if you had a bonehead on the adjuster while yours was produced, or the equipment was out of adjustment, we may have a sloppy steering gear.
BUT...while adjusting the center, it was very easy to strip out the threads in the aluminum pitman cap. Very easy. We usually had 2 attempts to tighten the lock nut if it was out of spec. and needed re-adjustment, then it would most likely strip out. Then it's garbage.

So even though I have assembled thousands and thousands of these things, I wouldn't touch it. I might be lucky in it actually being out of adjustment and able to take some slop out of it and get the lock nut torqued back down without it stripping.
But if I turn my steering box into a boat anchor, I better hope I have a 2nd form of transportation because I don't think Autozone would have an extra JL steering gear sitting on their shelf.
If you have already adjusted yours and were successful, excellent, but I'm going to have the dealer do any wrenching on mine.

Check out this video of a guy rebuilding an old gear. (really only about 15 seconds of it beginning at link)

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