Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[Buckeyedave]

FIXED!!!!
THIS TSB and cast iron steering box fixed the jeep. It feels like a normal driving jeep now. No wandering up to 75 mph and minimal to no dead spot. Amazing! Went from irritated as hell to happy.

Background. 3" lift 35" tires. Synergy tie rod, drag link sector shaft/track bar brace and rancho geometry correction bracket. Performed power steering fuse technique reset. Caster @ 5. None of that stuff helped ($3000 with labor and 2 months in 4wd shop given back ordered parts).

The only thing that worked was the new steering box.

Did they put your sector shaft brace back on, or did they leave it off??

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[drvn]

Did they put your sector shaft brace back on, or did they leave it off??

I personally took it off the night before. At the moment I dont think I'm going to reinstall. Doesn't seem like I need it

 

[SilverRubi]

FIXED!!!!
THIS TSB and cast iron steering box fixed the jeep. It feels like a normal driving jeep now. No wandering up to 75 mph and minimal to no dead spot. Amazing! Went from irritated as hell to happy.

Background. 3" lift 35" tires. Synergy tie rod, drag link sector shaft/track bar brace and rancho geometry correction bracket. Performed power steering fuse technique reset. Caster @ 5. None of that stuff helped ($3000 with labor and 2 months in 4wd shop given back ordered parts).

The only thing that worked was the new steering box.

Have you had a chance to drive it much on the highway yet?

 

[drvn]

Have you had a chance to drive it much on the highway yet?

Drove home (total 15 miles) on highway about 8 miles. Cranked it up to 80 mph. Smooth sailing so far.

 

[SilverRubi]

Drove home (15 miles) on highway about 8 miles. Cranked it up to 80 mph. Smooth sailing so far.

I'm jealous. Haha. What tires are you running?

 

[2mnycars]

So, for anyone who is interested, here's a video comparison of the difference in play between the original (AE) aluminum box, and the new cast iron box, on the bench. Watch the black rubber seal to see the movement better. Even with just fingers, the play in the old box is clearly noticeable. There is zero play in the new box. The old box only has ~3K miles on it, so you can't really ascribe the play to wear and tear. That play translated into a 1/2-3/4 inch dead spot in the steering wheel.

So, new box is going in at the moment, and I should be able to report back in the next day or two.

Thanks for your video.
Love to see more.

We went to two dealers; our parts are on order. I'd love to have "WANDERER" as a personal plate.

 

[drvn]

I'm jealous. Haha. What tires are you running?

35" bfg ko2 (@32 psi), 17" method wheel

 

[kkarnage]

The other thing you're not going to see if the dealer does your box swap...
Take a look at what the mounting surface of the original box (AE version) from my 2020 JLUR looks like. See those pock marks in what is supposed to be a flat surface? Yeah, those are from weld spatter on the frame, where the box mounts. There is no way this box was mounted as well as it was supposed to have been with all that shit between it and the surface it was supposed to be in contact with.

 

[Rdmitch]

Thanks for your video.
Love to see more.

We went to two dealers; our parts are on order. I'd love to have "WANDERER" as a personal plate.

that would be funny..
my old avatar on this forum when i was battling FCA on my Sahara was a Walmart shopping cart.

 

[kkarnage]

Oh, and one more thing: did your dealer also order and install new bolts for your box swap? You may want to check, and make sure they do.
So, the other thing I learned today is that, on the original aluminum boxes, 2 of the 4 bolts used to attach the box, are aluminum. Which kinda makes sense, because chasing stainless bolts into those aluminum threads is only ever going to end in tears. But it is also a shit design IMO, especially for something like a steering box which you want attached to its mounting point as firmly as possible.

Anyhow, the new box is supposed to be attached with new bolts, and not the original ones.

For a component this important, and which essentially interfaces directly with the driver, it just seems like FCA designers did not properly think through the potential consequences of their design choices for this component.

 

[c2m2h3]

Can anyone confirm if all new JL’s leaving the assembly line will have this newest box?

 

[Cliebo]

Why no recall for this?

 

[JayJay]

Why no recall for this?

$$$$

 

[Jabarsetti]

honestly, I think Jeep will eventually do a recall(hopefully) maybe there just testing the waters to see. Just had mine replace and it is beyond night and day difference. I didn't find it a terrible issue before. but now that I know what it should be. it's a huge issue. My service consultant even said, that if this is the fix to a known issue than Jeep should issue a full recall, it doesn't have to be a full emergency, stop driving recall. It's now known what a fix is for a faulty powertrain item, they should just issue a standard recall.

 

[Jeep&dogs]

Well I just got back from picking mine up and it’s much better,not perfect but better. I put the sector shaft brace back on and I think it still makes an improvement. However I will say when I went to remove the nut for the sector shaft there was absolutely no way that was 190 ft lbs. I would say 90 at BEST! I damn near busted a knuckle because I put everything I had into it expecting it to be like it was the first time and it busted lose like nothing. Also I don’t think they got all the air out of the system, I ran it lock to lock a few times and it felt tighter afterwards.

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