Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[donnyb313]

I was planning on purchasing a 2018 JLUR this week, but after reading about the steering, welds, and other issues I'm a bit hesitant to buy one. I really want a JLUR but I don't want to deal with steering problems. I also don't want BSG that might be on the 2019's.

Do all of the new JL's have the sloppy/wandering steering issues, or is it just some of them?

Did the problem exist on day one? or was it a problem that developed over time?

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[Jhoward136]

I also have had the dead spot in my steering from day 1. I now have over 2k miles and an happy to say that because of the discussions in this thread I've made huge improvements and am no longer frustrated.

First off, it is not all JLs. We have a friend who has a JL that has no dead spot.

The TSB flashing made an improvement to steering at low speeds, but dead spot still found at speeds over 55mph. Tightening the ball joints made great improvement to the dead spot....I torqued bottom to 80lbs and top to 70lbs. Just drove 300 miles for vacation today and it was awesome. Very normal now. Thanks for everyone's comments and I hope others find ways to correct their specific issue.

 

[JlinNC]

Whenever I'm driving straight down the highway it is a constant struggle to keep the jeep from swerving back and forth. I'm afraid I'm going to get pulled over for drunk driving (that is not a joke.) I thought there was something wrong with my vehicle until I found this post. I took it to the dealer and they said they never heard of the problem, nor could they duplicate it. I've lowered the air pressure in the tires but that didn't help. I'm not a mechanic and therefore not comfortable messing around with the steering settings.

Does anybody know a trustworthy mechanic in the Charlotte, NC area that can fix this problem? I'm certainly willing to pay at this point to get it fixed.

 

[Holymoly1963]

#21
DanPop
Newb

Well I made the call to my dealer today, this is starting out bad. I explained the problem with my JL steering and the first thing I heard was "well have you ever driven a Wrangler before?" So then I explain about the TSB and she says "we don't just apply TSBs because someone says so on the internet."
I do have to say though, although my appt. is next week, she promised I'd be the first call if she had a cancelation.

Sounds like "the check's in the mail" to me. What's wrong with these people?

 

[Holymoly1963]

I was planning on purchasing a 2018 JLUR this week, but after reading about the steering, welds, and other issues I'm a bit hesitant to buy one. I really want a JLUR but I don't want to deal with steering problems. I also don't want BSG that might be on the 2019's.

Do all of the new JL's have the sloppy/wandering steering issues, or is it just some of them?

Did the problem exist on day one? or was it a problem that developed over time?

My guess is that maybe 5% have the steering problem. I suspect that half of those don't notice it because they're not car people and don't read forums or understand what a quality vehicle should feel like....until they hit something . Hell, my service manager said it was normal and I had to go to the sales side of the store to find a hardcore Wrangler expert to drive mine and say "this is not right, there is a problem here". Thank God for car guys. My steering was bad starting on day 1. Today is about day 80 and I'm unhappy.

 

[DanPop]

So as I stated earlier, my service manager said first appt. available is next week, I realized this morning that she never gave me a day. So I call about 11am today to confirm what day my appt. was. She says TODAY at 1:30, she had a cancelation. Well that's great but how the hell was I suppose to know, no one called me.

Well as expected, they took it for a drive, checked alignment, and said it's just a Jeep thing. And of course they refused to do the TSB flash.

At this point I give up on this piece of S**t.

 

[3uPh0riK]

So i got approval from FCA and i made an appointment with my dealer. He basically mailed me and said there are no steering issues, and no TSBs apply to my vehicle. I told him he can call the FCA rep, to which he replied this regarding the TSB:

---
NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles built on or after October 30, 2017 (1030XX) and on or

before May 08, 2018 (0508XX) equipped with Long Wheel Base (Sales Code 595).

The build date for the VIN number you provided is 5-11-18. The TSB listed does not apply to your Wrangler
---

I actually knew this was going to happen. Im not even sure why I even bothered. Needless to say im just going to leave this, dealing with this stuff is worse than flipping over my vehicle on the highway

 

[Holymoly1963]

So as I stated earlier, my service manager said first appt. available is next week, I realized this morning that she never gave me a day. So I call about 11am today to confirm what day my appt. was. She says TODAY at 1:30, she had a cancelation. Well that's great but how the hell was I suppose to know, no one called me.

Well as expected, they took it for a drive, checked alignment, and said it's just a Jeep thing. And of course they refused to do the TSB flash.

At this point I give up on this piece of S**t.[/QUOTE


UNBELIEVABLE....These people need Customer Relations 101 and a whole lot more.

 

[Holymoly1963]

So i got approval from FCA and i made an appointment with my dealer. He basically mailed me and said there are no steering issues, and no TSBs apply to my vehicle. I told him he can call the FCA rep, to which he replied this regarding the TSB:

---
NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles built on or after October 30, 2017 (1030XX) and on or

before May 08, 2018 (0508XX) equipped with Long Wheel Base (Sales Code 595).

The build date for the VIN number you provided is 5-11-18. The TSB listed does not apply to your Wrangler
---

I actually knew this was going to happen. Im not even sure why I even bothered. Needless to say im just going to leave this, dealing with this stuff is worse than flipping over my vehicle on the highway

Until your Wrangler does bodily harm to someone.

 

[jeremyjeep]

So as I stated earlier, my service manager said first appt. available is next week, I realized this morning that she never gave me a day. So I call about 11am today to confirm what day my appt. was. She says TODAY at 1:30, she had a cancelation. Well that's great but how the hell was I suppose to know, no one called me.

Well as expected, they took it for a drive, checked alignment, and said it's just a Jeep thing. And of course they refused to do the TSB flash.

At this point I give up on this piece of S**t.

Possible options:

1. Are there other dealers you could take it to within a decent driving distance?

2. Get JeepCares to contact the dealer (same dealer you mentioned or a new dealer) to make the TSB flash. FYI: Supposedly the TSB flash is just the latest flash update, so if you need to bring it in for something unrelated in the future, you will get the TSB steering mod flash too.

3. Take it to a Firestone type of business and pay them to check the torque on the ball joint nuts and to adjust the steering box by 1/8 of a turn - see other steering related threads for specific torque details and adjustment technique. That way you can eliminate those as part of the troubleshooting process. I know you shouldn't have to do that, but time is money and it will cost less to pay Firestone $100 than the amount of work-loss it takes to go to a Jeep dealership that gives you the "it's a Jeep thing" default excuse.

 

[jeremyjeep]

So i got approval from FCA and i made an appointment with my dealer. He basically mailed me and said there are no steering issues, and no TSBs apply to my vehicle. I told him he can call the FCA rep, to which he replied this regarding the TSB:

---
NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles built on or after October 30, 2017 (1030XX) and on or

before May 08, 2018 (0508XX) equipped with Long Wheel Base (Sales Code 595).

The build date for the VIN number you provided is 5-11-18. The TSB listed does not apply to your Wrangler
---

I actually knew this was going to happen. Im not even sure why I even bothered. Needless to say im just going to leave this, dealing with this stuff is worse than flipping over my vehicle on the highway

Try another dealership, if there is one in range of your location. I brought it to one dealership, they said almost the same thing "there are no steering issues with JLs", "it is a jeep thing", "don't trust anything at all you read on the internet", etc. barraakkkkk (sound of a parrot repeating the same thing over and over). I went to another dealership, and they said "This TSB may or may not work, but we will be glad to apply the TSB" and "it will be a good learning moment for us too" (right attitude, finally). Took them 7 minutes. Done. Most of the major steering problems are gone. In your case, you may already have the latest flash update since it was after 5-11-18, but it won't hurt to apply it. In parallel, you might want to look at the ball joint nuts, steering box adjustment, etc. as the TBS steering flash update may either not make a difference or fix just part of the steering problem. Also, check your tire pressure with a digital tire pressure gauge and compare it to what the dash shows you. There could be a bad sensor in one of the tires and it only takes a few minutes to compare to eliminate that as a possible problem.

 

[chadc880]

So as I stated earlier, my service manager said first appt. available is next week, I realized this morning that she never gave me a day. So I call about 11am today to confirm what day my appt. was. She says TODAY at 1:30, she had a cancelation. Well that's great but how the hell was I suppose to know, no one called me.

Well as expected, they took it for a drive, checked alignment, and said it's just a Jeep thing. And of course they refused to do the TSB flash.

At this point I give up on this piece of S**t.

give me her information

 

[DanPop]

Who's information ?

 

[chadc880]

Who's information ?

Your service manager

 

[DanPop]

Her name is Delsa, at Willie Racines in South Burlington Vermont. Why are you asking?

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