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Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

HoundDude

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Hi Rag Top Deluxe,

Congrats on getting your loose steering fixed, take no offense in what I'm about to say.......You're CRAZY spending that kind of money to fix a defective steering system due to FCA's negligence. But seriously, glad you like it and the steering is doing what it should have done from day one......operate SAFELY!!!
strongly disagree... life is short, it's money well spent
 
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RagTopDeluxe

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Hello, another day with the steering. It is definitely nice to drive in that the Jeep responds when I turn the wheel. I’m still getting used to it feeling lighter than expected. I feel like I’m re-learning how to drive the Jeep because it’s been a long seven months of horrible steering and constant corrections. I still find myself making an occasional small correction and I don’t know if I need to “unlearn” that or if I have other work to do. Overall, I’m very happy with it.

I’ll admit to being overwhelmed my spending so much on this. All that money and no cool wheels to show for it :).


Glad it turned out for you. I knew labor would be more. Not sure if it was you or another guy posting on here that he was quote like $600 for labor I told him to get that in writing. My installer said the same thing that it was not all that easy. Small places and lots to remove to just get to the places needed. PSC told him 8 hrs. That is what he quoted and charged me but he said it told him more like 11 as well.
I can’t imagine six hours. It might have been closer to eight without the winch. The Warn winch on the OEM steel bumper is a true pain in the ass to install.


Amazing news @RagTopDeluxe. I will be calling my 4x4 shop this morning to validate if the cost is set, or variable.

Question - is the Falcon stabilizer needed for anything particular with this issue?

Keep us posted as the week progresses with your experience. Thanks!
Hubby surprised me with the Falcon a few months ago to help the steering. I like it, but it’s not required.


Hi Rag Top Deluxe,

Congrats on getting your loose steering fixed, take no offense in what I'm about to say.......You're CRAZY spending that kind of money to fix a defective steering system due to FCA's negligence. But seriously, glad you like it and the steering is doing what it should have done from day one......operate SAFELY!!!
No offense taken and I agree with you :CWL:. My husband had to talk me into doing it. It was not easy for me to spend the money to *fix* what FCA should do. If the new JLs had updated steering, I’d do the lemon law route and start over. But they don’t and I have too much going on to fight what appears to be an uphill battle. I don’t want any other vehicle to drive—just the exact Jeep I ordered.


I did the same. I would actually say all these other people are CRAZY for spending days and days dealing with dealerships, FCA, Jeep Cares, and all this money in rentals, other parts masking the problem, lawyers and some parking their rigs while trying to get something fixed that can be done in a day and $3K. People are spending 4X that in other mods. I justified it as a mod and now I can enjoy what is actually an amazing rig, driving wonderfully down the road and NOT handling like a "Jeep thing".
I’m in for $4,500 on steering. I’m not at all happy about that, but it had to be done. My JLR is our “practical” vehicle and the only one that we can use with our dog, who hasn’t been to the beach all summer because of the steering. I wasn’t about to miss out on the snow, too.
 

thadius65

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I can always fall back on my wife starting all of this. She said "I am afraid I will get pulled over for drunk driving" after her first weekend drive and all the wheel play. So at least I am in a pre-approval state!! Sometimes that is harder than to get FCA to approve something!

Thanks for all the info being shared. Very helpful!
 

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Goin2drt

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I can always fall back on my wife starting all of this. She said "I am afraid I will get pulled over for drunk driving" after her first weekend drive and all the wheel play. So at least I am in a pre-approval state!! Sometimes that is harder than to get FCA to approve something!

Thanks for all the info being shared. Very helpful!
My wife drove the Jeep one day to work and said she will never drive it again and isn't excited about being on the freeway even with me driving it was so bad. Easy sell for me. She was all in.
 

thadius65

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My wife drove the Jeep one day to work and said she will never drive it again and isn't excited about being on the freeway even with me driving it was so bad. Easy sell for me. She was all in.
So more importantly... Get her back in the Jeep and lets see what happens. That is the real test! ;)
 

thadius65

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** Just an FYI for any wishing to proceed with PSC SK500, PSC is price matching legit other sites and I was able to get one for $1984 shipped, no tax direct from manufacturer. Talk with Preston or Kelvin.

Good Luck!
 

RagTopDeluxe

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** Just an FYI for any wishing to proceed with PSC SK500, PSC is price matching legit other sites and I was able to get one for $1984 shipped, no tax direct from manufacturer. Talk with Preston or Kelvin.

Good Luck!
Damn. Are you serious? I called Preston and the best they would do for me was $2217, not including the tazer.

:angry:
 

thadius65

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Damn. Are you serious? I called Preston and the best they would do for me was $2217, not including the tazer.

:angry:
I guess black friday and cyber monday factors in to all the current weeks pricing.
 

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Aceman

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** Just an FYI for any wishing to proceed with PSC SK500, PSC is price matching legit other sites and I was able to get one for $1984 shipped, no tax direct from manufacturer. Talk with Preston or Kelvin.

Good Luck!
Just curious who was offering it for $1,948. If I pull the trigger I'll need to show PSC that price from another vendor.
 

RagTopDeluxe

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I guess black friday and cyber monday factors in to all the current weeks pricing.
I get that, but someone here had just purchased the kit for $2,000 and when I asked about that they said no. Now they’re selling it for less. That’s what is frustrating.
 

Saltysnook

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I’m also eager to hear about the power steering calibration. I told my @JeepCares rep the same thing the other day. I said let’s reflash the pcm and see if there are any software updates just to check those off the list. But dealers wouldn’t do it. Don’t understand why since it’s not labor intensive.

I’m thinking out loud here:

I’m wondering if the issue is a combination of both the thermal expansion of the steering box in conjunction with the electronic assist. We’re all aware that the steering is tighter when cold and very loose when warm probably due to the aluminum case. How does the electronic assist adjust for this thermal expansion? How can the software determine the operating temp of the steering box at any given time without a temperature probe? It can’t. Software is binary and deals in absolutes but in this case, it’s interacting with a box that has variables built into it due to thermal expansion. This might explain why the steering is inconsistent from day to day. However, it doesn’t explain why other jl’s with the same steering box and electronic assist system don’t have this problem. Perhaps unaffected Jeeps have software that uses a median value between hot and cold operating temps while ours does not.

Could it be something as simple as the power steering fluid? Do some brands maintain consistent viscosity throughout a larger temp range?

Or does it all just come back to a bad batch of steering boxes?
Does your a/c or cooling fan sound like a plane ready for take off? Do you have any abnormal hiccups in the engine when coming to stop? If so, then you qualify for a TSB (not sure which one but could be easily found here). The fix on the TSB is simply to flash the PCM. In my case, they also on their own flashed the TCM too. Let me tell you, my 2 door turbo now shifts and accelerates like a bat out of hell. (for a jeep)
 

mysto

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Could it be something as simple as the power steering fluid? Do some brands maintain consistent viscosity throughout a larger temp range?
Fluid variablity is a good theory, or air bubbles in the fluid. That might explain a lot of the variability in the anecdotes. As part of replacing the steering box they also would replace the fluid and re-bleed. The results might depend on how that was done and what brand was used.
 

Encycloman

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He adjusted the box to return it to factory spec because his original adjustment not only didn't fix the issue, it caused the wheels to no longer return to center.
My dealer said the same. That's when I started looking for something else, and discovered a HYDRAULIC REPLACEMENT. Loving the way it steers now.
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