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Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

Cypher

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I don’t know what build date is, but I ordered 8/27 received 9/28.. do i have the new AE Steering, track bar, and draglink ends?
I would assume so
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californiajeeping

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I don’t know what build date is, but I ordered 8/27 received 9/28.. do i have the new AE Steering, track bar, and draglink ends?
Build date is on the door jam. You can see the part number for the steering box if you turn the steering wheel hard right or left and look into the driver's side wheel well. You'll need to crawl under the Jeep to get the part number off the track bar and drag link.
 

Nomud

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Hey y’all, new to the forum but not to the Wrangler. This is my fifth Wrangler. New 2019 JLR black with tan soft top with around 2k miles and it’s a six speed with 3.6L. Previously I had a 2000 TJ, 2004 TJU, 2006 TJ and 2016 JKU.


My Jeep was wandering from the time I drove it home from the dealership. I didn’t notice the problem on the test drive. Shame on me. At that time I haven’t read or heard about the steering problems. I do have some play or (dead-spot) in my steering. I have NOT had any steering wheel shaking.


Now it drives better than any of my previous jeeps! I can tell you what I did to stop my wandering. I put some adjustable lower control arms on and adjusted the caster to 5.8 degrees. Big improvement but it still wasn’t right.


So what I did next was loosen both upper and lower control arms bolts at the axle housing. The Jeep was in my garage with the front wheels straight. Tires on the ground. I bounced the front up and down a few times. Tighten and Torque all the bolts.


Bam, the steering now is different. I know my upper control arms were my problem. The bushings has teeth on both sides and it’s almost like they were tighten before any weight was on the Jeep. I feel like they were in a bind. Oh, the play in the steering is still there but now it feels more like it’s part of the steering (hard to explain). Steering box is AD.


I’m not saying this is everyone problem, it just fix mine.

Edit: Oops sorry. :)
 
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AndysJL

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Ok, we're on page 300 now - with no real progress..
What do you think.. could it help if there were some simple questions asked on the official Jeep instagram and facebook sites..
Like.. when will my steering be fixed.. etc..
 

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NCPolock

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It is difficult to make the adjustment that makes the steering wheel straight when there is that much slop. They need to adjust, test drive, adjust, test drive over and over until they get the steering wheel straight. Most Jeep dealerships won't spend the time necessary for that type of testing. Are you sure they checked torque? Did you watch them work on it? Look at the ball joint nuts cotter pin and see if it looks like it was bent with pliers vs a factory robot. And did they adjust toe to the max range of the spec as the Star Case says they should?
I'll need to check for myself although paperwork I believe indicated they torqued everything to spec. They also adjusted toe per recent star cases.

I'm leaning more towards in the near future hitting a reputable 4wd shop and have them look at it and give me there thoughts on "the jeep thing". Hats off to those of you that have been going round and round with the dealerships. I'm only 2 visits in and I'm exhausted.
 
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df007

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No, my 2020 was driving like all other 2020's I have driven. I am pretty sure that a combination of all the cheap factory parts leave the steering less than ideal. I did all this on my own as I knew what I was getting into when I bought it, and had no desire to have multiple frustrating trips to a dealership to not make it any better. however, as it sits now it drives like a JK did with much less plan than a normal JL.

before I drove my 2020 home my salesman and I looked at a few weeks there JLs and a JT and then all had the same play (some even worse). at this point I am pretty sure they are just made like this, and if you want it tighter you need to do some of the things others have had success with. since I started with a 2020, I already had the update dated track bar, steering box and draglink link ends. the other items I had no issues doing myself.

For those with a 2018 or 2019, I would work with the dealership to get the new AE steering box, drag link and track bar and then put the aftermarket stabilizer of your choice on. then either the Mopar LCA swap from he 2" lift if you are stock, or adjustable LCAs t make sure you are at around 6* Caster. that was the most noticable change for me.
Just for reference; I have a 2019 with a July '19 build sticker and it also had all the latest parts and the AE box. Not sure when exactly they started coming with all the most current stuff, but seems like June/July ish.
 

californiajeeping

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I'll need to check for myself although paperwork I believe indicated they torqued everything to spec. They also adjusted toe per recent star cases.

I'm leaning more towards in the near future hitting a reputable 4wd shop and have them look at it and give me there thoughts on "the jeep thing". Hats off to those of you that have been going round and round with the dealerships. I'm only 2 visits in and I'm exhausted.
My service document said the Jeep dealership checked torque. They didn't. The ball joint nut cotter pins were still factory bent and the 4x4 shop I brought it to found finger tight ball joints and the track bar, LCAs, drag link, etc. were around 50% of torque specs. Trust, but verify.
 

thadius65

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After discussing the issue with my dealer on Tuesday, the basically told me that with the electric power steering in the Jeep that this was normal. They were supposed to escalate to FCA yesterday and call me, but I have not heard back yet. @JeepCares - your team and all of FCA should be aware of this and would hope steps are being planned on correcting? The TSB still only shows for Jan 2019 builds, but yet Aug 2019 and the 2020 Wranglers appear to be showing same steering play. Help!
 

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rainmakerjjo

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Ok, we're on page 300 now - with no real progress..
What do you think.. could it help if there were some simple questions asked on the official Jeep instagram and facebook sites..
Like.. when will my steering be fixed.. etc..
I would try emailing FCA management as a mentioned in another post. It helped get a fast track solution on a previous vehicle issue as long as its done in conjunction with others in the forum to reflect the number of impacted individuals.
 

JeepCares

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After discussing the issue with my dealer on Tuesday, the basically told me that with the electric power steering in the Jeep that this was normal. They were supposed to escalate to FCA yesterday and call me, but I have not heard back yet. @JeepCares - your team and all of FCA should be aware of this and would hope steps are being planned on correcting? The TSB still only shows for Jan 2019 builds, but yet Aug 2019 and the 2020 Wranglers appear to be showing same steering play. Help!
Hi Ted,
We do understand your frustration. If you would like to have a case opened in the Customer Care side to ensure everything is properly documented, as well as connect you with a Case Specialist to work with you and your dealer throughout this process, please send us a private message.
Alex
Jeep Cares
 

RagTopDeluxe

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Hey y’all, new to the forum but not to the Wrangler. This is my fifth Wrangler. New 2019 JLR black with tan soft top with around 2k miles and it’s a six speed with 3.6L. Previously I had a 2000 TJ, 2004 TJU, 2006 TJ and 2016 JKU.


My Jeep was wandering from the time I drove it home from the dealership. I didn’t notice the problem on the test drive. Shame on me. At that time I haven’t read or heard about the steering problems. I do have some play or (dead-spot) in my steering. I have NOT had any steering wheel shaking.


Now it drives better than any of my previous jeeps! I can tell you what I did to stop my wandering. I put some adjustable lower control arms on and adjusted the caster to 5.8 degrees. Big improvement but it still wasn’t right.


So what I did next was loosen both upper and lower control arms bolts at the axle housing. The Jeep was in my garage with the front wheels straight. Tires on the ground. I bounced the front up and down a few times. Tighten and Torque all the bolts.


Bam, the steering now is different. I know my upper control arms were my problem. The bushings has teeth on both sides and it’s almost like they were tighten before any weight was on the Jeep. I feel like they were in a bind. Oh, the play in the steering is still there but now it feels more like it’s part of the steering (hard to explain). Steering box is AD.


I’m not saying this is everyone problem, it just fix mine.

Edit: Oops sorry. :)
Thanks for that report. Very interesting. I’m still waiting for one more attempt to fix (would like to try an AE box). I’ll keep this in mind.
 

RagTopDeluxe

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I had a 2019 repurchased for steering issues among other things. my 2020 replacement drove better, but was still wandering on the highway and had the dead spot. I set my tire pressure to 32lbs, and added a fox Factory race ATS adjustable stabilizer and that helped a lot. then I picked up a set of the Mopar Lift LCA and had them put on. now it is like an entirely different vehicle. no more wandering, can drive easily with one hand. so with the AE steering box, new track bar and draglink ends that are on the 2020, and with a good stabilizer and Mopar Lift LCA it fixed all of the bad manners. still has a little play in the wheel but is 100% better. my next changes will be a new track bar and draglink, then tie rod. I am making one change at a time to see the difference. so far it seems like best bang for the buck is the Mopar LCA swap.
I’m curious as to the steering issues you had on your ‘19 (I’m sure it’s upthread) and did you try LCAs on it?

I’m losing hope that mine will be fixed.
 

Aceman

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I just brought my brand new 2020 JLUS to the dealer for the second time regarding very loose steering. I had the tech drive with me on the highway this time; he was clearly working pretty hard to keep the jeep in the lane. But he said, "this is how the JL's drive, they are very loose". So now I have to drive further away to a different dealer to get a second opinion. I immediately went to a well respected auto repair shop near me and the owner noticed the play in the steering. He had me move the wheel left and right while he watched the tires. He said there's clearly something wrong with the steering box and that no vehicle should have that much play. He said if there's that much play in the steering wheel while it's parked, it will be exacerbated even more at high speeds.

I mentioned replacing trackbar, LCA's, etc but those are bandaids to a bigger problem. I shouldn't have to re-engineer my front end on a brand new jeep.
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