Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[vavaroutsos]

Hey nice choice in the Jeep I bought my wife the same model and color. We have had it a week and as most have said it’s scary at 70mph+ speeds it moves all over the lane and if you’re not paying attention it will be in the wrong lane before you know it. My air pressure is 43psi on BFG all Terrain T/A K02 285 x 17. Unlike some of these Macho men replies indicating you should suck it up or a jeeps not for you attitude. This is my 3rd Jeep and none have driven like this one. You don’t spend $50k on a completely factory stock vehicle and have these aftermarket add on caused problems. This Jeep has factory 285 17” tires. I have a 1999 rock cawler with a 12” lift and 35” tires that moves around like it’s on the dance floor but not a stock vehicle. This is not our daily driver and don’t expect to have to get used to driving it the way it is. Will most like add steering stabilizer and adjust the air to make it work. Oh and for all the post that say with a straight axle this is how it handles nothing you can do about it remarks. I have a 1988 Samari and a Toyota pickup both solid front axles and don’t have this problem!

Definitely drop your tire air pressure to about 36 psi. I will make a noticeable difference, although it's definitely not the root cause in my opinion.

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[x8086]

The drive home was a dry 75F according to Uconnect. It was a semi white knuckle experience. Weaving, bobbing in between the lanes. Parked it in the closed garage and let it bake.

Two hours later.. 68F and it was about two miles down the road the loose wandering steering was back.

Pulled in the garage after a short trip and could hear a slight but noticeable power steering pump whine. The pitched increased with input on the wheel. My wife even noticed it and she could care less about a Jeep, or anything else man related. It might have been there before because the A/C is typically on with the windows rolled up, but I don't think so. Because this last weekend I spent all weekend at our beach house with a high of 60F and the windows were down at low speeds driving the beach and other outlying areas. The Jeep isn't that big of a vehicle and I think I would have noticed. Hell, my OCD picks up everything and I think I would have noticed. I might be going crazy, but again, I don't think so.

The wheels move when parked and the engine is off. 1/2" maybe? Not sure if that is important.

Jeep Cares did contact me. Summary. Take it to the dealer. They are experts and they will solve your problem for you. =)

 

[Saejin]

@Saejin - where in MD are you located? feel free to PM me. I had the TSB applied awhile back and my vehicle is no longer randomly darting into other lanes like it was so I think it may have helped. My wife drove it for the first time and said that the steering really sucked and she really had to focus on steering to keep the jeep in a straight line. I don't know if I got used to it or if the wife just isn't used to driving a jeep (it doesn't drive like our Honda Pilot, nor do I expect it to - but it doesn't drive like the JKU I traded for it either).

I’m near Ft Meade which is close to BWI airport. I’d be up for meeting and comparing steering if you’re close by. PM me and we’ll go from there.

 

[Arndog36]

Took mine to the dealership today (technically yesterday). They told me it's operating as intended and gave me back the keys. I hit the road and noticed that there were only 3 more miles on than when I dropped it off, despite them telling me they test drove it on a freeway/freeway speeds (the closet freeway puts on minimum 8 miles round trip just to get to it). Took it immediately back to the dealership and then a tech got in with me riding shotgun and told me he doesn't notice the problem. To be fair, it wasn't really freeway speeds since we started hitting traffic so I'm not sure how much he could have noticed it. Bringing it back in this morning for the senior tech to try it out/compare it with another JLU (which may have steering problems of it's own). We'll see how it goes.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Jeep Cares did contact me. Summary. Take it to the dealer. They are experts and they will solve your problem for you. =)

LOL @ "They are experts".

 

[MotoMax]

Have an appointment tomorrow morning 8/29 to have the first oil change, re-flash for the cruise control issue and to flash my loose "constant two handed steering correction" issue. My question is does anyone know if I can get away with leaving my FlashCal module that comes with the tuner pluged in when I have the reflash done?
It's a real pain in the A$$ to get under there to unplug and plug back in.

 

[fat_head]

The guy at FCA called me. He said the tech bulletin to fix the steering is 08092-2018. I think I've read that here already, but that's what he just told me.

EDIT TO ADD: I just read that bulletin. No, that's not the problem I'm having and that wont fix it. *sigh*

 

[Holymoly1963]

,

LOL @ "They are experts".[
My expert, from the Regional office, told me he had driven 1 other JL 2 door and it was the same as mine and therefore they both met Jeep design standards. HUH? 1 other ???

 

[jomar]

Ok add me to the list of loose steering with my new JLU sport. Dealer says it drives like a jeep to him. I can't stand it all over the road on country roads of Mississippi, scary. Passing trucks on interstate not fun either. When going around 40 mph I can turn wheel back and forth quick at least 2 inches each direction and jeep stays straight doesn't even wobble. Don't know what to do next dealer said tsb did not apply to my jeep.

 

[Mr Bill]

BLUF: THEY NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE IS A PROBLEM BEFORE SOMEONE GET HURT OR KILLED! TOTAL BS!! I have owned a TJ, YJ and JK NONE OF THEM DROVE LIKE THIS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS@

 

[Jzsquared]

Well I did receive a claim number for the steering from Jeep care and it’s at the dealer now. Crossing fingers they can find a cure. This is my 5th Jeep and they have been good to me in the past so hopefully it will go well. At least I have my 35’s to show on Jeep rims.

 

[x8086]

Drove in this morning at a cool Northwest temperature of 50 degrees. Felt normal, drove normal.

 

[Jzsquared]

Well that covers 70% of the year here in Illinois so that’s good

 

[packetpilot]

Have an appointment tomorrow morning 8/29 to have the first oil change, re-flash for the cruise control issue and to flash my loose "constant two handed steering correction" issue. My question is does anyone know if I can get away with leaving my FlashCal module that comes with the tuner pluged in when I have the reflash done?
It's a real pain in the A$$ to get under there to unplug and plug back in.

AFAIK, and I don't have one (have just looked at videos), the jumper module effectively bypasses the Secure Gateway (SGW) and that ECU won't show up on the bus(ses) it normally would, so I'd say leaving the jumper module in would be asking for trouble, and could lead to some troubleshooting that'd potentially incur out-of-pocket expenses.

Well I did receive a claim number for the steering from Jeep care and it’s at the dealer now. Crossing fingers they can find a cure. This is my 5th Jeep and they have been good to me in the past so hopefully it will go well. At least I have my 35’s to show on Jeep rims.

Yikes; have you seen the page of the owner's manual (371) stating that dolly towing is "NOT ALLOWED" irrespective of which axle is off the ground? Flat tow or roll-back (aka flatbed) are the only ways to tow 4x4 models.

 

[Jzsquared]

Well I see that now why would FCA not tell the towing company that who sent the truck

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