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Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

47Jeepster

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OCD alert:

In several postings, the gear box part number has been referenced as 68250508AC. But, if you look at ~3:44 in Brandon's Excessive Play in Steering Finally Fixed you'll notice that the part number on the box is 68259596AD. Did the part number really change? Not just the suffix as normally occurs.
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vavaroutsos

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OCD alert:

In several postings, the gear box part number has been referenced as 68250508AC. But, if you look at ~3:44 in Brandon's Excessive Play in Steering Finally Fixed you'll notice that the part number on the box is 68259596AD. Did the part number really change? Not just the suffix as normally occurs.
68250508AC is for the 2-door (has a different ratio).
 

dangerz

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Explain please.
I've had an LJ and a JKU before this JLU. Those wandered a little bit, but in having driven the JLU since March now, I forgot how little the JKU wandered (compared to the JLU) and how little of a dead spot that it had until I got back in the seat of one. My JLU is a lot worse than this JKU that I currently have as a rental.
 

47Jeepster

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My dealership did open a Star Case on the loose steering. FCA told them to tighten the steering box a quarter turn. Got with the mechanic and we agreed that he'd use common sense and adjust it somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 based on staying just off a binding condition. Next week he'll work on it.

Shared the link to @brandonh 's video with the mechanic. We'll see if he watches it. Told him about the possibility of stripping the allen socket because of the red Locktite ... and to either heat the nut or back off the nut until it bottoms out (tops out?) the adjustment bolt and the Locktite will break free.

When I dropped the Jeep off for the first time there was a list of things I'd done relative to steering, things I was interested in them doing, and things that they would probably have to get with FCA for guidance. Adjusting the steering box was one of the two items I listed as needing FCA guidance. The mechanic said they were the ones to suggest adjusting the steering box, so maybe FCA is kind of recognizing that as a legitimate fix.
 

jeremyjeep

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Great news. I now consider my JLUR steering problems fixed. It now “drives like a Jeep”. I was tired of dealerships telling me there was no problem and it is designed that way, and when I finally found a dealer who admitted it drives like crap, they told me everything was “in spec” and there was nothing that can be done. Also Jeep Wave has not followed up with my case with me in over 4 weeks. And after hearing many of you having the same exact Jeep dealer experiences, I felt drastic measures were required. I was at a point that I was going to punch the next person who said “it’s a Jeep thing”.

So I took a 750+ mile, 14 hour road trip to the Jeep Informant. I had been in touch with him before his steering video came out and already had the trip planned. I had also planned on being in his area in the near future anyway so I changed my travel plans to coincide with the attempted repair.

Keep in mind, I like the steering of a truck, SUV, etc. I hate the steering of a car. On a scale of 1 to 10, I expect a BMW to steer/drive/handle at a 10. I have driven JKs before and had the expectation for a 5 on that same 10 scale but my JLUR steered like a negative 5. Dangerous drifting and needing to constantly over correct which looked like drunk diving. I had test driven other JLURs and they steered at a 5.

My JLUR symptoms were major drifting and loose steering. Steering box had been changed to AD version and no change in steering. The steering TSB flash didn’t affect my steering.

I had found out the lower control arms LCAs from the JL lift kit were about 1/4 to 1/2 inches longer than the LCAs on my JLUR. I asked the Jeep Informant if he would be open to using them to increase caster vs the method in his video. He agreed and ordered the LCAs ahead of time. 68322798AA X2

Please note that the caster spec ranges are different for JL Rubicons, Sahara and Sports, so this caster correction may or may not work on Sports and Sarahs depending on what your caster is at now. Mine was 4.8 and is now 5.8 after changing out the LCAs. The spec for JLURs is 4.8 plus or minus 1.0. The dangerous drifting is now gone. And it returns to center much better. About the same you’d expect for a truck or SUV to return to center.

As for the sloppy steering, he adjusted the steering box, which is the AD version, somewhere shy of 1/4 turn. Now the loose steering is gone.

He will be producing ver 2.0 of the steering video in the near future with more technical details.

I am happy now that I can focus on all of the other cool mod threads on the JL forums again instead of this steering problem thread. You know, the steering problems that 99.9% of dealers are saying doesn’t exist or that everything is “in spec”.
 
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skrubi12

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@jeremyjeep - persistence paid off. Nice suggestion on the LCAs! I wonder what will happen on a greater scale. Will FCA start shipping a shitload of mopar lift LCAs? I’ve been following jeepinformant on you tube and have messaged him a few questions - he’s a good dude and seems to know his stuff. Congrats on getting the Jeep straightened out (pun half intended maybe?)!!
 

TaiMc

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Please note that the caster spec ranges are different for JL Rubicons, Sahara and Sports, so this caster correction may or may not work on Sports and Sarahs depending on what your caster is at now. Mine was 4.8 and is now 5.8 after changing out the LCAs. The spec for JLURs is 4.8 plus or minus 1.0. The dangerous drifting is now gone. And it returns to center much better. About the same you’d expect for a truck or SUV to return to center.

As for the sloppy steering, he adjusted the steering box, which is the AD version, somewhere shy of 1/4 turn. Now the loose steering is gone.
GRATZZZZZZZZ!!!!! Thanks for the information :) :like:
 

Mickgolf00

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Great news. I now consider my JLUR steering problems fixed. It now “drives like a Jeep”. I was tired of dealerships telling me there was no problem and it is designed that way, and when I finally found a dealer who admitted it drives like crap, they told me everything was “in spec” and there was nothing that can be done. Also Jeep Wave has not followed up with my case with me in over 4 weeks. And after hearing many of you having the same exact Jeep dealer experiences, I felt drastic measures were required. I was at a point that I was going to punch the next person who said “it’s a Jeep thing”.

So I took a 750+ mile, 14 hour road trip to the Jeep Informant. I had been in touch with him before his steering video came out and already had the trip planned. I had also planned on being in his area in the near future anyway so I changed my travel plans to coincide with the attempted repair.

Keep in mind, I like the steering of a truck, SUV, etc. I hate the steering of a car. On a scale of 1 to 10, I expect a BMW to steer/drive/handle at a 10. I have driven JKs before and had the expectation for a 5 on that same 10 scale but my JLUR steered like a negative 5. Dangerous drifting and needing to constantly over correct which looked like drunk diving. I had test driven other JLURs and they steered at a 5.

My JLUR symptoms were major drifting and loose steering. Steering box had been changed to AD version and no change in steering. The steering TSB flash didn’t affect my steering.

I had found out the lower control arms LCAs from the JL lift kit were about 1/4 to 1/2 inches longer than the LCAs on my JLUR. I asked the Jeep Informant if he would be open to using them to increase caster vs the method in his video. He agreed and ordered the LCAs ahead of time. 68322798AA X2

Please note that the caster spec ranges are different for JL Rubicons, Sahara and Sports, so this caster correction may or may not work on Sports and Sarahs depending on what your caster is at now. Mine was 4.8 and is now 5.8 after changing out the LCAs. The spec for JLURs is 4.8 plus or minus 1.0. The dangerous drifting is now gone. And it returns to center much better. About the same you’d expect for a truck or SUV to return to center.

As for the sloppy steering, he adjusted the steering box, which is the AD version, somewhere shy of 1/4 turn. Now the loose steering is gone.

He will be producing ver 2.0 of the steering video in the near future with more technical details.

I am happy now that I can focus on all of the other cool mod threads on the JL forums again instead of this steering problem thread. You know, the steering problems that 99.9% of dealers are saying doesn’t exist or that everything is “in spec”.

[Mic drop]
Great post. My sentiments exactly. Mine has been at the dealership (officially) for 30 days today. They closed out the original Star ticket last week. It took a week and me going bananas for everyone involved (dealership and case manager) to acknowledge that there is still an issue, nothing was fixed, and that something still needs to be done. I received confirmation that either my original Star case was re-opened or a new case was opened. It wasn't clear which but whatever it takes to get this resolved. I've decided to give them another 7-10 days to look at it before I decide to whether to take it to the dealership where I purchased the Jeep. I've hit the Lemon Law milestone in for my state and that's an option but I'd rather not have to pull that card. I really want this to work out. I really do like everything (except this issue) about my Jeep. Having said that, I'm also not willing to leave this open ended given the purchase price. In a couple of weeks the Jeep will have been in the shop for 50% of the total time I've owned the Jeep.
 

Mickgolf00

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Yeah, they've done all that. They did stop short of replacing the gear box with the new PN. Not sure why. I think the proper thing for them to do to get it close would be to swap out the gear box with the new PN and adjust per the 1/8-1/4" recommendations. I'm on my 2nd Star ticket with the engineers currently. The technician indicated the gear box adjustment broke (2) tools so I'm not actually sure if he got it adjusted. All I know is that after all the checks and "adjustments" the steering was worse than when I dropped it off. I couldn't keep it centered in the lane at low speeds to save my life. We'll see in the next few days what they come up with.
 

hubble

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If the caster is the problem you would think all the Rubicons would drive like crap. Just don't make sense that a few are affected, don't they all have the same caster? Then there's my jeep ( Rubicon ) that drove like crap when new and after a few thousand miles drives much better although still wanders and drifts a little. What got better to make it drive better? I've been to the dealer twice with no resolution. So I guess I will try to adjust my caster and the steering box although I think thats a FCA thing to do. Or I might wait a little longer and see what happens. If there is no response from FCA by years end I might just turn all this info over to an attorney and see where it goes.......................
 

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Periokid

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Great news. I now consider my JLUR steering problems fixed. It now “drives like a Jeep”. I was tired of dealerships telling me there was no problem and it is designed that way, and when I finally found a dealer who admitted it drives like crap, they told me everything was “in spec” and there was nothing that can be done. Also Jeep Wave has not followed up with my case with me in over 4 weeks. And after hearing many of you having the same exact Jeep dealer experiences, I felt drastic measures were required. I was at a point that I was going to punch the next person who said “it’s a Jeep thing”........

[Mic drop]
I am very happy for you but really pissed at this same time. While people are congratulating you and your success the horrible part, I feel, is that FCA did not fix the defective steering and you were forced to travel far away and pay for your "repairs". That to me is unacceptable. You should submit your bills to FCA. To me a total failure of FCA. Again, I am happy for you but what did it cost you in time and money?
 
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scotland007

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Our Steering issue on our 3.6 Sahara was eventually resolved by FCA agreeing to trade out the vehicle with a discount Code. We couldn't find the same spec in the 3.6 but moved to the 2.0 Sport which had much tighter steering from the get go. It's a shame that the whole issue seems to be random and not tied to any one type, build date etc.
 

CanadianTravis

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So it took me about 2
I bought my wife a new Rubicon JL and I drove it the other day and it seems to have some play in the steering and feels like I am constantly trying to correct the direction we are traveling. I thought it was out of alignment but I went and drove another one and it felt the same way. Is anyone else feel this issue and is it just the way it is or is it just a jeep thing? We just sold our 2013 JKU and it was like that too but I expected improved steering on the new JL model. I would like to hear other peoples thoughts about this steering play or drifting feeling. O by the way, She loves her new ride!

IMG_9731.jpg
months to really adjust. I felt the same way, coming from a 2015 Sahara Unlimited. In my Rubi, I am all over the damn place. Its much smoother though, once you get the feel down.
 

parkertl

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Great news. I now consider my JLUR steering problems fixed. It now “drives like a Jeep”. I was tired of dealerships telling me there was no problem and it is designed that way, and when I finally found a dealer who admitted it drives like crap, they told me everything was “in spec” and there was nothing that can be done. Also Jeep Wave has not followed up with my case with me in over 4 weeks. And after hearing many of you having the same exact Jeep dealer experiences, I felt drastic measures were required. I was at a point that I was going to punch the next person who said “it’s a Jeep thing”.

So I took a 750+ mile, 14 hour road trip to the Jeep Informant. I had been in touch with him before his steering video came out and already had the trip planned. I had also planned on being in his area in the near future anyway so I changed my travel plans to coincide with the attempted repair.

Keep in mind, I like the steering of a truck, SUV, etc. I hate the steering of a car. On a scale of 1 to 10, I expect a BMW to steer/drive/handle at a 10. I have driven JKs before and had the expectation for a 5 on that same 10 scale but my JLUR steered like a negative 5. Dangerous drifting and needing to constantly over correct which looked like drunk diving. I had test driven other JLURs and they steered at a 5.

My JLUR symptoms were major drifting and loose steering. Steering box had been changed to AD version and no change in steering. The steering TSB flash didn’t affect my steering.

I had found out the lower control arms LCAs from the JL lift kit were about 1/4 to 1/2 inches longer than the LCAs on my JLUR. I asked the Jeep Informant if he would be open to using them to increase caster vs the method in his video. He agreed and ordered the LCAs ahead of time. 68322798AA X2

Please note that the caster spec ranges are different for JL Rubicons, Sahara and Sports, so this caster correction may or may not work on Sports and Sarahs depending on what your caster is at now. Mine was 4.8 and is now 5.8 after changing out the LCAs. The spec for JLURs is 4.8 plus or minus 1.0. The dangerous drifting is now gone. And it returns to center much better. About the same you’d expect for a truck or SUV to return to center.

As for the sloppy steering, he adjusted the steering box, which is the AD version, somewhere shy of 1/4 turn. Now the loose steering is gone.

He will be producing ver 2.0 of the steering video in the near future with more technical details.

I am happy now that I can focus on all of the other cool mod threads on the JL forums again instead of this steering problem thread. You know, the steering problems that 99.9% of dealers are saying doesn’t exist or that everything is “in spec”.

[Mic drop]
Remind me, is your lifted or is everything still factory spec?
Thanks!
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