Any truth to this possible September steering box recall?

[palumbum]

Saw this on a Facebook page about their new 2020 Wrangler. Says they're upgrading the aluminum to cast iron. Any evidence of this? My 2020 JL definitely pulls left. If I let go of the steering wheel, I'd be off the road in about 15 feet. To keep the Jeep straight, I always have to have a hand pushing the wheel about half an inch to one inch to the left. The dealership had told me it's normal and probably the angled road itself.

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[cb4017]

Haven't heard about a recall but that amount of pull would not be normal. Mine does not do it.
Road crown will cause a vehicle to drift but in the direction of the slope. I would think to the right. It could also be caused by a dragging brake.
Hope your dealer gets it sorted out.

 

[emptyminded42]

I would not believe anything on Facebook, especially anything posted by someone who heard something from their service advisor - I've heard plenty of incorrect stuff from an advisor and heard 10x as much wrong info from people who misunderstood/misinterpreted their service advisor.

If you're having pull/wander, have the dealer check your alignment at a minimum. Whenever I get around to my oil change/tire rotation, I'm going to have them do my clutch recall and check my steering. My wander isn't too bad on good highways but it's frustrating on beat up rural roads around 45-50 mph because every bump seems to redirect the vehicle so I'm constantly putting in pretty significant corrections. My other cars don't need really any corrections on the same roads. Might be the SFA on the Jeep or it might be a problem. I don't know because I don't have really any other experience driving trucks with SFAs.

 

[DadJokes]

Mines loosened up a bit over its mostly easy life at 20k miles but it’s still not bad. I’ll be down for any improvement though and if they have a new gearbox, it’ll be on my mod list eventually if they don’t cover it. Our 17 JK has very little dead play compared to our 7/‘19 JL.

Also, you’d think they’d be all over getting this over to the extremely minor dead play category with some tough sales competition on the horizon. I think that’sa major factor for some Wrangler owners to jump ship.

 

[clayps]

Mines loosened up a bit over its mostly easy life at 20k miles but it’s still not bad. I’ll be down for any improvement though and if they have a new gearbox, it’ll be on my mod list eventually if they don’t cover it. Our 17 JK has very little dead play compared to our 7/‘19 JL.

Also, you’d think they’d be all over getting this over to the extremely minor dead play category with some tough sales competition on the horizon. I think that’sa major factor for some Wrangler owners to jump ship.

Agreed. All those folks interested in a new Jeep or Bronco are now going to test drive both. Sloppy handling is a terrible first impression and I have a hard time believing the Bronco will have even anything close to these problems due to IFS. Price, options, perceived reliability kind of go out the window when you hate the vehicle you're testing, even if it's just crap luck on the one you're testing.

 

[palumbum]

Yeah I know it's not normal what I have going on. I have only gone to one dealer (trustworthy) who said the alignment was fine and the pull was normal. When I'm on the road, highway speeds or not, I am constantly moving back and forth on the wheel, never more than half an inch maybe, to keep it straight. Long trips are a little more taxing, but overall it doesn't overly bother me so I haven't made a fuss. But I agree, none of my older cars did this and I've tried tire PSI at 42, 38, 36, and 28. I have a Sport S. It happened on my stock highway tires, and then I upgraded to some Sahara wheels/tires, still happened, and now I have willy's wheels/tires and same issue.

 

[palumbum]

Sadly, I'm rocking a JLU. I'll look into it again. Luckily I am in a city, when I find the time I can go around to like one of the 6 dealers within 45 minutes.

 

[palumbum]

Sorry I send corrected, my Jeep pulls to the right. The dealership has had it the past week for warranty work on the soft top and that’s how little I pay attention to this that I forgot. But if you see in the picture, I have to hold the wheel about an inch to the left to go straight at all times. If I let go it starts to straighten and goes right.

 

[cb4017]

OP, did your dealer show you the alignment numbers? Pay for an alignment at some place that knows what they're doing. All they can really adjust is toe-in but you'll have the numbers for everything in hand to see just what is going on. You'll also be better informed to deal with the service department.

Maybe I missed it, if you only had your Jeep 10 days why are they replacing the steering box?

 

[Dkretden]

I just can’t understand the root issue here. I don’t understand how the Jeep’s steering can be so variable.

my 2020 JLUR can drive down a straight highway at 75mph, on a windless day, and not need correction until the road crown starts moving the Jeep to the right or left (depending on the ,and and crown). Otherwise zero need for correction.

i don’t understand how things could be so variable On a stock, in-modded Jeep.

 

[2mnycars]

I just can’t understand the root issue here. I don’t understand how the Jeep’s steering can be so variable.

my 2020 JLUR can drive down a straight highway at 75mph, on a windless day, and not need correction until the road crown starts moving the Jeep to the right or left (depending on the ,and and crown). Otherwise zero need for correction.

i don’t understand how things could be so variable On a stock, in-modded Jeep.

good post. With quality control there wouldn't be a problem. I'm glad yours works.

 

[DaddyEngineer]

Sorry I send corrected, my Jeep pulls to the right. The dealership has had it the past week for warranty work on the soft top and that’s how little I pay attention to this that I forgot. But if you see in the picture, I have to hold the wheel about an inch to the left to go straight at all times. If I let go it starts to straighten and goes right.

Mine did that too. I loosened the sway bar disconnects and only torqued them back to 45 ft-lbs (it was on the huge bad steering thread, although the author of that post didn’t torque it that much- I chickened out and torqued higher). Amazingly it got rid of almost all of that pull for me.

Scott

Edit - “Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts” is the name of the post.

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