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Is there a true fix for the Steering/Wandering issue?

xtopherm

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Since FCA refuses to fix my steering/wandering issue with my Jeep.

I have two options, to either sell it or fix it out of my own pocket.

If I choose to fix it, are there any "TRUE" fixes out there in which I can purchase quality products the first time so I can enjoy my Jeep the way I intended to when I purchased it.
From what I have been able to glean reading everything about this issue and working on my own steering in my '19 JLUR, there are a number of potential factors here, any or all of which might apply to your situation:
  • Some early JLs shipped with inadequately filled steering stabilizers that did essentially no damping on center
  • Some JLs were (are still?) shipping with steering systems that had inadequately tightened bolts - people have described "finger tight" bolts on the ends of tie rods and drag links
  • Over-inflated tires and upgrades to larger mud terrain treads which tend to wander seems to be something of a problem
  • Folks putting lifts on that change the castor (by effectively rotating the front axle forward) and changing the roll center of the vehicle (by making the trackbars less parallel to the axles) can mess up the handling and make the jeep feel pretty squirrelly
  • Some 4 door models apparently had 2 door steering software installed by mistake (according to @Sbnewsom )
  • Some folks complaining that the lighter and thin-walled parts used in the new JL steering systems (trackbars, drag links and tie rods) are not up to the job of controlling larger wheels and tires and therefore start to resonate or vibrate back and forth in wobble situations accentuating it rather than preventing it
  • Some folks complain that their steering box had defects in it - bad/loose gears and/or bad electro hydraulics
  • People with incorrect toe-in specs
  • Track bars with soft bushings (added by edit with credit to @Arrowhead and x-ref to: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...o-help-cure-steering-issues-68394087aa.25299/)
  • Drag Link ends wearing out prematurely (added by edit with credit to @Arrowhead and x-ref to: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...steering-issues-68394087aa.25299/#post-601234)
Any one or all of these could be an issue on any given Jeep, so it is probably important to diagnose what is going on with a particular Jeep. But there are some cheap easy fixes anyone can do, as well as some more serious fixes, in rising order of hassle/cost:
  • FREE/EASY: Check inflation and set it to spec or even a pound softer than spec
  • FREE/EASY: Check steering bolts and torque to spec
  • FREE/EASY: Check toe-in - super easy to check at home and adjust at home - google it
  • CHEAP: Throw an upgraded aftermarket steering stabilizer on it if you want - not expensive, and it is an easy install anyone can do (side note: the adjustable Teraflex Falcon Nexus EF 2.2 one is a very nice part and has the advantage of letting you adjust between soft, med, firm to give you a very good sense of exactly what a steering stabilizer does and doesn't do (hint: not as much as some people think)
  • SORTA CHEAP: Throw a beefier trackbar on to eliminate the flexy OEM trackbar
  • SORTA CHEAP: Throw on some adjustable front lower control arms that allow you to make the arms a little longer and recover 100%-105% of factory castor angle
  • MODERATELY EXPENSIVE: throw an upgraded aftermarket tie rod and draglink (with upgraded bushings) on as well - if you throw this kind of $$ at it, you are pretty much guaranteed to lick the problem, assuming your steering box is good)
  • MINOR HASSLE: get your dealer to install the proper 4Door steering software
  • BIG HASSLE: get your Jeep dealer to replace the steering box or the OEM steering stabilizer (good luck with that, especially if you have made any mods - waste of time in my book).
Personally, I have done the free adjustments and put on an aftermarket stabilizer and trackbar so far (as well as trackbar relocation brackets to compensate for my lift) and have had great steering with no problems. I think I could stand to have a bit more castor because my MOPAR lift is just so d*mn tall (4 inches is apparently the new 2 inches), so I may add some adjustable lower control arms at some point soon and should be in pretty good shape at that point.

That said, I am concerned (probably overly concerned) about death wobble and in particular, I worry that it could go nuts when my spouse is driving, which, in addition to being unsafe, would completely sour her on the vehicle, so over time I may go totally belt and suspenders and toss on an upgraded aftermarket tie rod and drag link too. But it is not the top priority right this minute.
Hope that helps.
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JLSahara2019

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I have a couple of points worth mentioning here. I have a custom-ordered 2019 Sahara with only 100 miles on it. On the way home from the dealership, keeping it in the lane on the road was a nuisance. It kept wandering and steering was sloppy/loose in general.

I talked to the dealership, they were clueless. I called Jeep, they knew nothing but I did log a case with Customer Care.

Tire pressure:
It is noteworthy that the tires were at 41 psi. I guess they ship like that and the dealership didn't care to adjust them. On the door jam, it suggests 36 psi. I have 255/70R18 113T. I just dropped them down to 36 psi and went on a quick test drive. It seems better in terms of wandering. The result is not conclusive. I have to go on another test drive and will write here again. But initially, it appears that wandering decreased.

Wandering vs. Loose Steering:
For me, I am separating between loose steering and wandering. I feel that loose steering is just the way it is. But when it wanders, correcting course with loose steering makes for an annoying experience, further amplifying the issue.

So next steps for all of us experiencing this (let's team up on this):
1. Check tire pressure and reduce to 36 cold. Please report back and tell us what the PSI was and what you changed it to, tire size etc... Test drive and write back.
2. If it persists, please submit a complaint here. This is so important if we're ever gonna get heard.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2019/JEEP/WRANGLER%2520UNLIMITED/SUV/4WD%2520Later%2520Release#complaints
3. Log a case with Jeep Customer care. When you call them, demand that they log a case for you and get the case number. A call without case logged is useless. Tell them that you are concerned about your safety. Number: 877-426-5337. more contact info here: https://fcacommunity.force.com/Jeep/s/article/How-do-I-contact-Jeep2
4. Last but not least, if you feel desperate :) consider tweeting Jeep about it.

I will write back once I drive it more to conclude whether the tire pressure was an adequate fix. Let's keep this discussion going. Try not to tinker with the vehicle by adjusting and modifying things especially if you bought it new and it's still under warranty.

IMG_20190425_074124.jpg
Quick Update: I went on a longer test drive with the tires still set to 36 psi. The Jeep felt much more "grounded" if that makes sense. It was much tighter and I felt much more in control, but only at speeds less than 50mph. Above 50, it was still loose and wandering.
 

Andrew05LJR

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Actually depending on the problem it can correct an issue, besides which what would that larger issue be. Sort of as helpful as the guy who suggested buying a 2019 or 2020......

In the really long thread about death wobble at the point I stopped reading several were reporting that after repeated replacement of various stock steering stabilizers not solving the problem an upgrade to an aftermarket SS did.

One thing that you and nobody really seems to look at is tread pattern. If the OP were to put his original tires back on his Jeep would the problems go away? Also this death wobble issue, some people report having it big time, others say they don't but what I do is look at the user sig and see which flavour of JL they are driving. Is there a correlation to the package vs problem and since different packages have different tires and different tread patterns....

Yes it's entirely possible that setup could be an issue but looking at the OP's sig he started off with a Sport and appears to have upgraded his wheels and tires. If he just kept the stock SS then that would be the first place I'd be looking though he has not provided a whole lot of details on what he is now running and what he has upgraded..... But on the various Jeeps and 4WD pickups I have owned and currently own after installing upgraded wheels and tires and then having everything set up I've found that the tread can also throw things off. When I upgraded to the Mopar 2" factory lift with my 34" Generals which have a fairly straight grooved tread the Jeep tracked straight and had no issues hitting pot holes and having the steering wheel gyrate wildly, at that time I upgraded my ball joints as well. After changing to KO2's hitting a pot hole sent the steering wheel rocking back and forth just like all the videos showing the 'death wobble'. Jeep still tracked straight. Upgrading to the Fox stabilizer completely got rid of the wobble. However the KO2's with their zig zag tread pattern I find react a lot quicker to steering input vs the Generals or any of the performance street tires I run on my other vehicles.
No. A steering stabilizer will NEVER fix a wobble. Reason being, the steering stabilizer can not cause a wobble, it will only mask it. And thats the case with the Fox SS you installed. Whatever was causing your wobble, is still there. The stiffness of the Fox SS is masking and absorbing it. However, I do agree with you on tires. Certain tires will be or become crown sensitive causing tracking issues, especially when over inflated. This is only increase the feel of a dead spot in a steering system.
 

Roky

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Stock Jeep Wrangler JL Sport.

Only removed stock wheels which were the Goodyear A/T's and installed 17x9 mammoth wheels with 285/75R17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers.

**** NOTE: Wandered with stock wheels as well ****

Only other mod is a Rubicon Steel bumper up front.

Just brought the Jeep back from the dealer after replacing all the bearings in the rear axle. Guess what?????? Rear axle is already popping on the drive home. Less than five miles from dealer. Obviously there's a reason why the bearings failed, if you don't fix the root of the problem replacing bearings will do nothing but guarantee a temporarily fix.

They noted the wandering but blame my aftermarket tires for it even though there are thousands of Jeeps with the same issue and even a service bulletin about it.

I'm a Jeep owner since 2007. My previous Jeep was a 2003 TJ X with a 2"BB and Rubicon springs, wheels, and tires.
I'm very familiar with how Jeeps handle and this thing is a handful to drive on the road.
This is just my opinion based on my own experience, and this is a fix for wandering, having to correct your line constantly to keep it straight. Not death wobble, not loose steering, where you turn the wheel a little ways before the wheels turn, not bump steer. @xtopherm did a real nice write up and covered about everything to try and I agree with it 100 %. But I believe that Jeep needs to address castor in the new Jeeps, I don’t think there putting enough in the specs. Get you some adjustable lower control arms and adjust in more castor. This is why you here some say that there rig drives better after they lifted it. Couldn’t hardly keep my rig on the road coming home from dealer, now tracks straight as an arrow.
 

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Brooklynjlu2018

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Did the dealer give you a hard time acknowledging the existence of the issue? A lot of people are getting the "it's a jeep thing" excuse which is totally unrelated in this case.
Nope my dealer has been real good as far as that they keep telling me they are waiting on parts
 

Jeeper Fever

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Quick Update: I went on a longer test drive with the tires still set to 36 psi. The Jeep felt much more "grounded" if that makes sense. It was much tighter and I felt much more in control, but only at speeds less than 50mph. Above 50, it was still loose and wandering.
I took my KO2s down to 28 psi, after testing at 32 and 30, got better all the way. Drives fine at 85+.

From what I have been able to glean reading everything about this issue ... ... ...Hope that helps.
That is a nice write up of how to proceed, from easy and cheap to hard work and expensive, regarding the accumilated wisdom of how to fix a Jeep JL steering problem. Thank you for keeping me from having to repeat it! :P

And yea, I may just upgrade my steering parts over time, just for safetys sake.
 

Rdmitch

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Great post. As one with the wandering issue since day one, I have had almost every of the listed fixes done including new steering box. While the local dealer has been accommodating, even with all the changes the improvements have not been very impressive. The wandering still is annoying and I’m trying to patiently await some better solution from Jeep.
I am planning on having an independent shop reset the alignment to what other posters have done and see if that helps at all. I have stock everything,no lifts or mods to the steering or suspension.
The issue is just so damn frustrating.
 

KodyT215

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Great post. As one with the wandering issue since day one, I have had almost every of the listed fixes done including new steering box. While the local dealer has been accommodating, even with all the changes the improvements have not been very impressive. The wandering still is annoying and I’m trying to patiently await some better solution from Jeep.
I am planning on having an independent shop reset the alignment to what other posters have done and see if that helps at all. I have stock everything,no lifts or mods to the steering or suspension.
The issue is just so damn frustrating.
For those with stock Jeeps, maybe stop in to your local dealer and take a Jeep or two for test drives. See if they wander and steer similarly to yours. Could be a good litmus test to see if you have a valid issue or simply don't care for the Jeeps mannerisms. 10 minutes might satisfy your concerns.

All of my Jeeps (6 over the past 25 years) have handled the same or better after being lifted with wheels/tires. My installer has a lot of experience with Jeeps (critical point) and is a freak perfectionist. While on vacation last week I rented a JLU Sahara, fresh out of the wrapper. The thing wandered a bit at all speeds but was acceptable IMO. We got home and hopped in our lifted JLU Sport with 35's and the improved ride was obvious.

I'm not trying to downplay the steering, wandering or wobble issues. They do exist and I've seen the vids. I am a bit skeptical when I sense that some of the complaints come from Jeep owners with potentially poor setups (ridiculous wheel offsets, tires sticking out 3" because it looks cool, rear sag, suspect installs...) or from those who may not understand or aren't willing to accept the differences in how Jeeps handle compared to other vehicles. The JL is by far the most refined litter of the Jeep
 

Andrew05LJR

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For those with stock Jeeps, maybe stop in to your local dealer and take a Jeep or two for test drives. See if they wander and steer similarly to yours. Could be a good litmus test to see if you have a valid issue or simply don't care for the Jeeps mannerisms. 10 minutes might satisfy your concerns.

All of my Jeeps (6 over the past 25 years) have handled the same or better after being lifted with wheels/tires. My installer has a lot of experience with Jeeps (critical point) and is a freak perfectionist. While on vacation last week I rented a JLU Sahara, fresh out of the wrapper. The thing wandered a bit at all speeds but was acceptable IMO. We got home and hopped in our lifted JLU Sport with 35's and the improved ride was obvious.

I'm not trying to downplay the steering, wandering or wobble issues. They do exist and I've seen the vids. I am a bit skeptical when I sense that some of the complaints come from Jeep owners with potentially poor setups (ridiculous wheel offsets, tires sticking out 3" because it looks cool, rear sag, suspect installs...) or from those who may not understand or aren't willing to accept the differences in how Jeeps handle compared to other vehicles. The JL is by far the most refined litter of the Jeep
Ive also owned several lifted Jeeps of many variations. Not one of them wandered like my stock Rubicon does. Including when I bought my LJ with 6" Rough Country ift and 38 TSLs, it tracked straight and was very easy to drive, despite the crappy control arm angles, stock steering linkages and huge tires/wheels. Reality is, the wandering issue is ridiculous for such a "refined" vehicle. The dead spot only makes the wandering issue worse. I know I sound like a little girl about it, Im really not as annoyed as I sound. Its just annoying enough to be a pain in my side.
 

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From what I have been able to glean reading everything about this issue and working on my own steering in my '19 JLUR, there are a number of potential factors here, any or all of which might apply to your situation:
  • Some early JLs shipped with inadequately filled steering stabilizers that did essentially no damping on center
  • Some JLs were (are still?) shipping with steering systems that had inadequately tightened bolts - people have described "finger tight" bolts on the ends of tie rods and drag links
  • Over-inflated tires and upgrades to larger mud terrain treads which tend to wander seems to be something of a problem
  • Folks putting lifts on that change the castor (by effectively rotating the front axle forward) and changing the roll center of the vehicle (by making the trackbars less parallel to the axles) can mess up the handling and make the jeep feel pretty squirrelly
  • Some folks complaining that the lighter and thin-walled parts used in the new JL steering systems (trackbars, drag links and tie rods) are not up to the job of controlling larger wheels and tires and therefore start to resonate or vibrate back and forth in wobble situations accentuating it rather than preventing it
  • Some folks complain that their steering box had defects in it - bad/loose gears and/or bad electro hydraulics
  • People with incorrect toe-in specs
Your missing a couple:


 

Sbnewsom

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xtopherm

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From what I have been able to glean reading everything about this issue and working on my own steering in my '19 JLUR, there are a number of potential factors here, any or all of which might apply to your situation:
  • Some early JLs shipped with inadequately filled steering stabilizers that did essentially no damping on center
  • Some JLs were (are still?) shipping with steering systems that had inadequately tightened bolts - people have described "finger tight" bolts on the ends of tie rods and drag links
  • Over-inflated tires and upgrades to larger mud terrain treads which tend to wander seems to be something of a problem
  • Folks putting lifts on that change the castor (by effectively rotating the front axle forward) and changing the roll center of the vehicle (by making the trackbars less parallel to the axles) can mess up the handling and make the jeep feel pretty squirrelly
  • Some folks complaining that the lighter and thin-walled parts used in the new JL steering systems (trackbars, drag links and tie rods) are not up to the job of controlling larger wheels and tires and therefore start to resonate or vibrate back and forth in wobble situations accentuating it rather than preventing it
  • Some folks complain that their steering box had defects in it - bad/loose gears and/or bad electro hydraulics
  • People with incorrect toe-in specs
  • Track bars with soft bushings (added by edit with credit to @Arrowhead and x-ref to: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...o-help-cure-steering-issues-68394087aa.25299/)
  • Drag Link ends wearing out prematurely (added by edit with credit to @Arrowhead and x-ref to: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...steering-issues-68394087aa.25299/#post-601234)
Any one or all of these could be an issue on any given Jeep, so it is probably important to diagnose what is going on with a particular Jeep. But there are some cheap easy fixes anyone can do, as well as some more serious fixes, in rising order of hassle/cost:
  • FREE/EASY: Check inflation and set it to spec or even a pound softer than spec
  • FREE/EASY: Check steering bolts and torque to spec
  • FREE/EASY: Check toe-in - super easy to check at home and adjust at home - google it
  • CHEAP: Throw an upgraded aftermarket steering stabilizer on it if you want - not expensive, and it is an easy install anyone can do (side note: the adjustable Teraflex Falcon Nexus EF 2.2 one is a very nice part and has the advantage of letting you adjust between soft, med, firm to give you a very good sense of exactly what a steering stabilizer does and doesn't do (hint: not as much as some people think)
  • SORTA CHEAP: Throw a beefier trackbar on to eliminate the flexy OEM trackbar
  • SORTA CHEAP: Throw on some adjustable front lower control arms that allow you to make the arms a little longer and recover 100%-105% of factory castor angle
  • MODERATELY EXPENSIVE: throw an upgraded aftermarket tie rod and draglink (with upgraded bushings) on as well - if you throw this kind of $$ at it, you are pretty much guaranteed to lick the problem, assuming your steering box is good)
  • HASSLE: get your Jeep dealer to replace the steering box or the OEM steering stabilizer (good luck with that, especially if you have made any mods - waste of time in my book).
Personally, I have done the free adjustments and put on an aftermarket stabilizer and trackbar so far (as well as trackbar relocation brackets to compensate for my lift) and have had great steering with no problems. I think I could stand to have a bit more castor because my MOPAR lift is just so d*mn tall (4 inches is apparently the new 2 inches), so I may add some adjustable lower control arms at some point soon and should be in pretty good shape at that point.

That said, I am concerned (probably overly concerned) about death wobble and in particular, I worry that it could go nuts when my spouse is driving, which, in addition to being unsafe, would completely sour her on the vehicle, so over time I may go totally belt and suspenders and toss on an upgraded aftermarket tie rod and drag link too. But it is not the top priority right this minute.
Hope that helps.
This should really be the end of the conversation. Everything is ACCURATELY covered. I would only add a great video from BleepinJeep that covers the issue one of their members had with his wife's Jeep. He did a major upgrade to it (cost over $1000) with SteerSmarts parts.


I would also add that Dr DeathWobble on Facebook is an outstanding resource.
 

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Stock Jeep Wrangler JL Sport.

Only removed stock wheels which were the Goodyear A/T's and installed 17x9 mammoth wheels with 285/75R17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers.

**** NOTE: Wandered with stock wheels as well ****


I'm very familiar with how Jeeps handle and this thing is a handful to drive on the road.
A couple of things to try:

  1. Get an alignment done.
  2. If you’re not already doing this, run tire pressure at 36 lbs.
  3. Check the steering stabilizer, as in, check that it has tension. If you can depress it with your hand its an issue and needs to be replaced.

I’d find another dealer since they’re not helping at all. If they rebuilt the rear end, and the problem persists, they’ve proven the mechanic working on your rig isn’t very good.
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