Check in here if your steering is good. Tight, No wander, No Wobble

[309trina]

10,000 miles. Wanders with about 5" play before steering reacts. Was blown off the road the other day and unable to recover because steering wouldn't respond.

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[Shepherd12]

I think there is something to be said about relativity here.

The steering on my JLR is less busy than my JKUS was. It’s still busy, but better than I expected from a Jeep.

 

[Birchrun]

I'm just over 4500 miles. I drive some easy road and some dirt ones too. This is my 3rd Wrangler (YJ, TJ and now JL) and there is a constant correction (wandering) in my paved driving experience with my JLU sport that I didn't have from any former Wrangler. I'm still on stock rims/tires/suspension. It is my daily driver and I started getting used to it and then I drove my other 2 vehicles this weekend (non Jeeps) and coming back to the Wrangler I noticed right away the constant correction of the wheel. This is not a normal 'Jeep' driving experience...

I'll continue to keep an eye on this updated Track Bar and how to get corrected.

This poll and the overall forum is very helpful for these types of issues.

 

[Al13]

Just hit 1k miles on my 2019 JLUs. I find that my jeep commands a lot more driving attention than any of my other vehicles. I do have wandering issues on the freeway but I've gotten used to it by now. I can't tell if my steering wheel is overly sensitive or if there is a dead space at center position. Best way for me to describe it is I'm always making small steering adjustments to stay in my lane when traveling on the freeway. Its almost more comfortable to have both hands on the wheel. First time Jeep owner so I've just figured it was a normal jeep thing.

Same here, it’s a constant effort to stay in my lane. No one hand on wheel.

 

[jaldeborgh]

I have an early 2018 JLUR, took delivery at the end of March 2018. I'm now at about 5,500 miles, yes I don't drive much as I travel 50% of the time and have several other vehicles. I had the tires rotated at ~5K miles when the 1st oil change was done. I may be nuts but I feel the steering seems better. I'm wondering if the tires, as they ware actually improve the steering feel.

We recently purchased a 2019 Grand Cherokee Summit and the steering in that is much better than the wrangler so Jeep does know how to design a steering system. I will be asking my dealer for support as I'm not convinced that something is not right. It's really my only complaint with the vehicle.

 

[Jeeper Fever]

10,000 miles. Wanders with about 5" play before steering reacts. Was blown off the road the other day and unable to recover because steering wouldn't respond.

I'm just over 4500 miles. I drive some easy road and some dirt ones too. This is my 3rd Wrangler (YJ, TJ and now JL) and there is a constant correction (wandering) in my paved driving experience with my JLU sport that I didn't have from any former Wrangler. I'm still on stock rims/tires/suspension. It is my daily driver and I started getting used to it and then I drove my other 2 vehicles this weekend (non Jeeps) and coming back to the Wrangler I noticed right away the constant correction of the wheel. This is not a normal 'Jeep' driving experience...

I'll continue to keep an eye on this updated Track Bar and how to get corrected.

This poll and the overall forum is very helpful for these types of issues.

At 28 psi on the stock KO2's, I can take my hands off the wheel, on level yet bumpy and rough pavement, at 85 mph on the freeway, and go 50-100+ yards untill the lane curves before I have to put my hands back on the wheel.

At 40+ psi from the dealer, it was funny, kinda pulled left or right depending on the pavement. Was not right, salesman said Jeep Thing, ofc. Being that I knew about this stuff due to reading this forum, I said nothing and took the Jeep anyway.

Any slight turn on the steering wheel will send the Jeep off in that direction, slowly and surely. The wheel has to be dead center to track straight.

The Jeep does track or drift according to any bank of the road, bank left -> drift left, bank right -> drift right. Seems normal, but this is my first Jeep so I cannot compare properly.

You guys definately have steering issues, don't let some lazy dealer tell you otherwise.

 

[Lou3.6]

Need To Know . . . JEEP has announced it is UPDATING (in the near future) the BUSHINGS - seems they feel the current ones may be too soft !? IF jeepers don't want to go with JEEPS new Bushings, I recall seeing a video (perhaps Sema?) in which a 3rd party had been interviewed about their Jeep parts -- some including many "new fangled" Bushing Composition ! I assume harder/more durable ? Something else to go re-research and bookmark for future reference, if needed !?

 

[Onyx Dragon]

Mine is good so far (2200 miles). It wanders if it catches a groove or if the road crown is bad, but that's to be expected. My TJ did that after it was lifted and had 33"s put on it, and both my Cherokees with 30 and 31 inch tires started doing that afterwards too. My JK didn't and it was stock.

So far it's behaving as I would expect a Wrangler with the size tires it has to behave.

 

[GGolds]

At almost 4K miles I have to say my steering is laser perfect. Tight and light, no wondering, no issues. I have a 19 that I had ordered (built) and perhaps that's why it works so well. First of all it's a 19. Secondly, I think when it's actually built for a specific person perhaps they spend a little more time making sure it all works well. I may be living in a fantasy land but I have this feeling that when someone connects the product to an actual human they put more effort into it's build. Clearly the steering issue is fixable because mine works well. If one works well then that means that there is clearly a fix to the ones that don't. On an unrelated note; I can't figure out how in the world to put a picture in the photo space to the left of my thread like so many of you do. I can't believe that I have a degree in genetics but I can't figure out something so basic that a 10 year old can do. Can anyone help with this please?. Thank you!.

 

[AlamedaJeep]

On an unrelated note; I can't figure out how in the world to put a picture in the photo space to the left of my thread like so many of you do. I can't believe that I have a degree in genetics but I can't figure out something so basic that a 10 year old can do. Can anyone help with this please?. Thank you!.

For the Avatar, go to the top right of the menu bar, there are links for your settings (mine looks like my avatar, yours is probably generic), private messages, alerts, and search. Click on your settings and a menu drops down. Click on Avatar and you can upload a file from there.

 

[BrntWS6]

2019 Sahara built in January and so far everything is tight and straight as an arrow.

 

[garfieldtcat]

2019 JLUR, built Nov 2018, bone stock and the steering is still fine at 3500 miles. Sure, it drives like crap compared to any other vehicle I’ve owned, but it drives as well as I could reasonably expect from a Jeep. Tire pressures made a world of difference for me too. Mine likes 34psi with the stock KO2s.

 

[Roadglide]

I think mine is good

Just got mine back from the dealer. Took them a week but it is fixed now. Only 850 miles on my 2 door Rubicon when the steering went very loose plus the death wobble. They tightened everything up underneath and torqued things and it is perfect now. But that was only yesterday when I got it back. Sure hope it stays fixed or I will do after market parts.

 

[zingat]

At 28 psi on the stock KO2's, I can take my hands off the wheel, on level yet bumpy and rough pavement, at 85 mph on the freeway, and go 50-100+ yards untill the lane curves before I have to put my hands back on the wheel.

At 40+ psi from the dealer, it was funny, kinda pulled left or right depending on the pavement. Was not right, salesman said Jeep Thing, ofc. Being that I knew about this stuff due to reading this forum, I said nothing and took the Jeep anyway.

Any slight turn on the steering wheel will send the Jeep off in that direction, slowly and surely. The wheel has to be dead center to track straight.

The Jeep does track or drift according to any bank of the road, bank left -> drift left, bank right -> drift right. Seems normal, but this is my first Jeep so I cannot compare properly.

You guys definately have steering issues, don't let some lazy dealer tell you otherwise.

Brand new JLUR ... custom factory order, drove off the lot today. 180 miles driving on I-95 from MD to NJ ... symptoms exactly as described above. The Jeep steering wanders excessively. My first Jeep / truck ever ... so am struggling if this is a ‘Jeep Thing’ or not. Not happy at all.

 

[Jeeper Fever]

Brand new JLUR ... custom factory order, drove off the lot today. 180 miles driving on I-95 from MD to NJ ... symptoms exactly as described above. The Jeep steering wanders excessively. My first Jeep / truck ever ... so am struggling if this is a ‘Jeep Thing’ or not. Not happy at all.

First, check your tire pressure. I bet it is at 40+. Take it down as low as 28, 5 psi or so at a time. This should improve things quite a bit. Take a good look at your tires first, I will also bet that they look like puffy balloons, all blown up and over inflated. The tread will show a clear curve across its midsection, and will not properly touch the groud. Air it down, and inspect your contact patch, be sure it is touching all the way across. The tires will still look puffy, but you should see a bulge where your tire meets the road.

Your Jeep should wander a lot less after you air down, yet it will still want to turn with any bank in the road. This seems normal to me, but I cannot compare to older Jeeps as I am also a new Jeep owner.

BRB, gunna take some shots from my Jeep outside.

Note the curve of the tire, it is around 44 psi from the dealer:

Curve is less after airdown to 28 psi:

Note bulge at contact patch, this will appear after airdown, will not be prominent at dealer PSI:

Second look at contact patch, showing front and rear:

Gratuitous Jeep shot:

Also, the steering box has a delay in response, about 300ms or so, roughly a third of a second. You have to pilot the Jeep ( at any speed ) like you would a sports car at high speed, slow steady and sure. Or, like it was a huge truck, as it has the suspension of a huge truck. You need to start unwinding a turn before your turn is finished.

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