How to tighten steering.

[Gradofan]

Please provide your summary advice on how to tighten steering and stop wander on my Rubicon 2dr JL. Of the following actions, please rank those (high 1 to low 5) that are most effective:

1. Custom steering stabilizer / damper (brand)
2. Custom dual steering stabilizers / dampers (brand)
3. Custom track bar which is more rigid and doesn't flex (brand)
4. Custom tie rod (brand)
5. Custom drag link (brand)
6. Flash PCM / Steering CM
7. Correct alignment - increase caster and toe in
8. Tighten steering joints / connections to factory specs
8. Reduce tire air pressure to 33-36 lbs
9. Adjust play in steering box
10. Other (specify)

Driving home in our new Rubicon JL from the dealer I noticed quite a bit of steering wander. No vibration, or wobble, except for the darting back and forth (wander).

After a lot of research, checked the tire air pressure and reduced it from about 45+ lbs to about 36 lbs, which seemed to reduce the wander and the rough ride. But, the steering still feels a bit loose, and there is still a bit of wander, especially when the road is rough.

I've talked with the dealer's service dept., and several custom shops and read most of this and other threads, as well as viewed a bunch of YouTube videos, and have listed most of the suggested solutions above. But - still do not have a good idea of what the most effective solutions are to improving the steering tracking of the Rubicon JL.

It would be very helpful, for me and many others... if... some of you who have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue could simply summarize, in the order of priority, what solutions are most effective, without a lot of discussion.

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[digitalbliss]

Please provide your summary advice on how to tighten steering and stop wander on my Rubicon 2dr JL. Of the following actions, please rank those (high 1 to low 5) that are most effective:

1. Custom steering stabilizer / damper (brand)
2. Custom dual steering stabilizers / dampers (brand)
3. Custom track bar which is more rigid and doesn't flex (brand)
4. Custom tie rod (brand)
5. Custom drag link (brand)
6. Flash PCM / Steering CM
7. Correct alignment - increase caster and toe in
8. Tighten steering joints / connections to factory specs
8. Reduce tire air pressure to 33-36 lbs
9. Adjust play in steering box
10. Other (specify)

Driving home in our new Rubicon JL from the dealer I noticed quite a bit of steering wander. No vibration, or wobble, except for the darting back and forth (wander).

After a lot of research, checked the tire air pressure and reduced it from about 45+ lbs to about 36 lbs, which seemed to reduce the wander and the rough ride. But, the steering still feels a bit loose, and there is still a bit of wander, especially when the road is rough.

I've talked with the dealer's service dept., and several custom shops and read most of this and other threads, as well as viewed a bunch of YouTube videos, and have listed most of the suggested solutions above. But - still do not have a good idea of what the most effective solutions are to improving the steering tracking of the Rubicon JL.

It would be very helpful, for me and many others... if... some of you who have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue could simply summarize, in the order of priority, what solutions are most effective, without a lot of discussion.

How many miles do you have on your Jeep?

 

[californiajeeping]

Please provide your summary advice on how to tighten steering and stop wander on my Rubicon 2dr JL. Of the following actions, please rank those (high 1 to low 5) that are most effective:

1. Custom steering stabilizer / damper (brand)
2. Custom dual steering stabilizers / dampers (brand)
3. Custom track bar which is more rigid and doesn't flex (brand)
4. Custom tie rod (brand)
5. Custom drag link (brand)
6. Flash PCM / Steering CM
7. Correct alignment - increase caster and toe in
8. Tighten steering joints / connections to factory specs
8. Reduce tire air pressure to 33-36 lbs
9. Adjust play in steering box
10. Other (specify)

Driving home in our new Rubicon JL from the dealer I noticed quite a bit of steering wander. No vibration, or wobble, except for the darting back and forth (wander).

After a lot of research, checked the tire air pressure and reduced it from about 45+ lbs to about 36 lbs, which seemed to reduce the wander and the rough ride. But, the steering still feels a bit loose, and there is still a bit of wander, especially when the road is rough.

I've talked with the dealer's service dept., and several custom shops and read most of this and other threads, as well as viewed a bunch of YouTube videos, and have listed most of the suggested solutions above. But - still do not have a good idea of what the most effective solutions are to improving the steering tracking of the Rubicon JL.

It would be very helpful, for me and many others... if... some of you who have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue could simply summarize, in the order of priority, what solutions are most effective, without a lot of discussion.

Usually it is a combination of fixes, not one silver bullet fix. Also, not in priority order, but these should be added to the list for "other":

10a) Replace Steering Gear Box per Star Case # S1819000003

10b) v41 Steering damper recall https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...g-issues-68394087aa.25299/page-15#post-746368

10c) New upcoming Rubicon specific steering box - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...steering-box-options.27318/page-2#post-744501

Note: Installing aftermarket, non-Mopar brand track bar, drag link, etc. will in most cases prevent the dealership from replacing other steering components like the new Rubicon specific steering box, Mopar OEM steering damper, etc.

 

[TopPinArcher]

Please provide your summary advice on how to tighten steering and stop wander on my Rubicon 2dr JL. Of the following actions, please rank those (high 1 to low 5) that are most effective:

1. Custom steering stabilizer / damper (brand)
2. Custom dual steering stabilizers / dampers (brand)
3. Custom track bar which is more rigid and doesn't flex (brand)
4. Custom tie rod (brand)
5. Custom drag link (brand)
6. Flash PCM / Steering CM
7. Correct alignment - increase caster and toe in
8. Tighten steering joints / connections to factory specs
8. Reduce tire air pressure to 33-36 lbs
9. Adjust play in steering box
10. Other (specify)

Driving home in our new Rubicon JL from the dealer I noticed quite a bit of steering wander. No vibration, or wobble, except for the darting back and forth (wander).

After a lot of research, checked the tire air pressure and reduced it from about 45+ lbs to about 36 lbs, which seemed to reduce the wander and the rough ride. But, the steering still feels a bit loose, and there is still a bit of wander, especially when the road is rough.

I've talked with the dealer's service dept., and several custom shops and read most of this and other threads, as well as viewed a bunch of YouTube videos, and have listed most of the suggested solutions above. But - still do not have a good idea of what the most effective solutions are to improving the steering tracking of the Rubicon JL.

It would be very helpful, for me and many others... if... some of you who have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue could simply summarize, in the order of priority, what solutions are most effective, without a lot of discussion.[/QUO

 

[TopPinArcher]

Don’t have time to rate all this.. I installed Fox ATS , it helped but it’s a bandaid, I installed Yeti steer smart system, helped big time. Everything has to perfect but each case is different. What made mine perfect was a computer update(flash).

 

[spiritrider1]

Please provide your summary advice on how to tighten steering and stop wander on my Rubicon 2dr JL. Of the following actions, please rank those (high 1 to low 5) that are most effective:

1. Custom steering stabilizer / damper (brand)
2. Custom dual steering stabilizers / dampers (brand)
3. Custom track bar which is more rigid and doesn't flex (brand)
4. Custom tie rod (brand)
5. Custom drag link (brand)
6. Flash PCM / Steering CM
7. Correct alignment - increase caster and toe in
8. Tighten steering joints / connections to factory specs
8. Reduce tire air pressure to 33-36 lbs
9. Adjust play in steering box
10. Other (specify)

Driving home in our new Rubicon JL from the dealer I noticed quite a bit of steering wander. No vibration, or wobble, except for the darting back and forth (wander).

After a lot of research, checked the tire air pressure and reduced it from about 45+ lbs to about 36 lbs, which seemed to reduce the wander and the rough ride. But, the steering still feels a bit loose, and there is still a bit of wander, especially when the road is rough.

I've talked with the dealer's service dept., and several custom shops and read most of this and other threads, as well as viewed a bunch of YouTube videos, and have listed most of the suggested solutions above. But - still do not have a good idea of what the most effective solutions are to improving the steering tracking of the Rubicon JL.

It would be very helpful, for me and many others... if... some of you who have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue could simply summarize, in the order of priority, what solutions are most effective, without a lot of discussion.

I've done 1, 7, 8, 8#2, 9(don't recommend), and 10 - installed custom LCA's to fix castor on my 2.5" lift. I suffered from steering wander from day one. Took it to dealer twice, no help. Did a 2.5" lift which did not affect the wandering either good or bad. Then last November my wife suddenly got Death Wobble. Enough to scare the SH*T out of her. It was all of a sudden - no warnings, no build-up. ??? I think she hit just the right combination of curve/road undulations/speed/etc. to cause the suspension to finally show me what DW is all about. This was our first experience with it, and I say our because I was right behind her at night coming from a hospital visit with her mom. I saw the front rim reflections from my headlights as we rounded a bend and I swear I though the lug nuts had come off and the wheel was about to fly off!!
Cutting to the chase... I had a fight with the dealer who threatened to cancel my warranty due to my 2.5" lift (more to that story if you want to search my posts) so I did all my own investigating and trial & error chasing the steering wanter and DW. This is where I found comfort for the time being:

1. I installed adjustable LCA's and set castor to aprox 6 degrees which toned the DW down but could not eliminate it.
2. I adjusted the steering box probably less than 1/16" of turn. I'm not convinced this helped in any way though. I did turn it about 1/8" at first but steering felt too tight and it would not easily return to center (even though it doesn't very well from factory anyway).
3. I tightened all the suspension hardware to factory specs. Some were extremely loose. On the castellated nuts with cotter pins I went to the tighter side to capture the next opening vs. the looser side. I know I could have shimmed with washers to get it just right but this was an experiment.
4. Lastly, since my Steering stabilizer/damper was not in the affected range of the (at the time) "hush-hush" recall, I bought a Falcon Nexus 2.2 adjustable SS and never looked back. This was by far the best band-aid of the bunch. Steering wander has just about completely gone away, I have not felt DW yet, and in heavy wind on long trips I can set it to FIRM and it helps reduce grinding at the wheel to keep the JL in a straight line. I usually leave it in MEDIUM for everyday driving but my wife feels the steering is a little too heavy. SOFT does give you a wiggle or two if you hit certain bumps at medium speed such as railroad tracks. But I can leave it there and not have any issues correcting very mild oscillations when they do occur. Just to be on the safe side though I leave it in MEDIUM since my wife will NEVER crawl under the JL to check it out and therefore knows no better!

 

[Kidder212]

Good idea! Anyone in Atlanta area who says their steering is tight in the Atlanta area? And would you humor me for a meet up to compare? I'll buy you a beer for your trouble!

I offered this on another thread and seemed others were not really interested. I bought my JLUR in Macon. My wife is a Travel Nurse and now we are in Albuquerque NM. For the first 5000 miles the JLUR wandered a bit. Now tracks well. I still think the KO2 tires are very sensitive with tire pressure and due to heavy lug pattern the tires tend to squirm around until broke in. We now have 12,000 miles on our Jeep in the last 90 days since we bought it.

 

[wrangster]

One size up on the tires and a Fox 2.0 stabilizer keeps my steering just fine.

 

[californiajeeping]

One size up on the tires and a Fox 2.0 stabilizer keeps my steering just fine.

Which tires did you get?

 

[wrangster]

Which tires did you get?

275/65/18 Nitto Terra Grapplers on fuel wheels.

 

[First Jeep Johnny]

Anyone installed the Big Bore XD Overlander steering kit? Takes it back to old school power steering. Interested in finding out if it eliminates the steering issues.

 

[amnesiac]

I adjusted my steering box today.

dead spot went from 1.5-2” to less than .5”

I’m going to live with it for a bit before making any more adjustments. I’m cautious to not over tighten.

 

[amnesiac]

So I took the Jeep on the Freeway and it tracks so much better now!!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread!

There is still a noticeable dead spot especially at lower speeds.

I’m hoping someone may be able to answer a few questions:

1. How much dead spot is “normal” or supposed to be there? I’m considering doing another small adjustment to the steering box.

2. What exactly happens if it’s slightly too tight? And can I back it off again if this happens?

Messing with the steering makes me nervous, but it’s already so much better than it was.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SteadyC]

Usually it is a combination of fixes, not one silver bullet fix. Also, not in priority order, but these should be added to the list for "other":

10a) Replace Steering Gear Box per Star Case # S1819000003

10b) v41 Steering damper recall https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...g-issues-68394087aa.25299/page-15#post-746368

10c) New upcoming Rubicon specific steering box - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...steering-box-options.27318/page-2#post-744501

Note: Installing aftermarket, non-Mopar brand track bar, drag link, etc. will in most cases prevent the dealership from replacing other steering components like the new Rubicon specific steering box, Mopar OEM steering damper, etc.

The link to your 10a is for the new track bar, not steering gear box. Wrong link? Or did you mean the track bar?

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