Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[COBill]

Agreed! The JK steering does the same thing. It may be exaggerated by play in the steering, but rocking the wheel back and forth that quick will not likely result in movement in any wrangler new and old.

Try that in something like a TJ, YJ or CJ, or for that matter my FJ Cruiser and you will be flying all over the road.

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[jeremyjeep]

This 2019 owner also reported finger tight ball joints, just as many 2018 owners have - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...s-drifting-resolved.17478/page-11#post-493283

"I highly recommend everyone check their upper and lower ball joints! I was just installing the spidertrax on my 2019 and the ball joints were finger tight. I was skeptical of others finding the loose ball joints but I really couldn’t believe how loose they were."

This Star case for 2018s is also referring to loosening and then re torque steering related components: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...has-play-and-drifts.3691/page-142#post-426243

 

[Jlrut]

I have had the same steering issues. Star, jeep wave, jeep cares, dealers, and Mike all say there is nothing they can do. Ive started the lemon law process and am just waiting on a hearing date. Probably a waste of time but i am at a loss as to what to do. I paid a lot of money to be driving a vehicle that handles like a 1970 something beater!

Have you tried going thru the dealer or thru corporate starting with Jeep cares?

 

[Jordon_Taylor]

Steering gear is on the way to the dealer.

Did they end up getting your installed? I just had my steering box replaced (-AD) and there's no recognizable difference. Going back to test drive a brand new one sometime this week. I understand that this is a Wrangler, not a sports car, but this still feels a little off for a brand new vehicle.

 

[jforse]

Did they end up getting your installed? I just had my steering box replaced (-AD) and there's no recognizable difference. Going back to test drive a brand new one sometime this week. I understand that this is a Wrangler, not a sports car, but this still feels a little off for a brand new vehicle.

My appointment is on Friday.

 

[SCWilly]

We brought our JL in because is was almost not driveable because of the steering issue. They did the TSB / software upgrade and big difference. Still not as tight / firm steering as I would like but much better.

 

[jeremyjeep]

We brought our JL in because is was almost not driveable because of the steering issue. They did the TSB / software upgrade and big difference. Still not as tight / firm steering as I would like but much better.

Check the torque on the ball joint nuts.

 

[Holymoly1963]

We brought our JL in because is was almost not driveable because of the steering issue. They did the TSB / software upgrade and big difference. Still not as tight / firm steering as I would like but much better.

Is yours a 2 door? If yes, what Tsb software specifically?

 

[jeremyjeep]

I dont understand how no one has helped you? Steve is hard to get ahold of but has been very helpful, @JeepCares has been helpful, and the current dealer has been good to deal with. (previous dealer was awful)

Its not a one day deal to fix this. There is an escalation process. Follow it and be polite and they will take care of you. Im hoping to get mine into the dealer next week.

Because most of us have had similar, or worse experience with dealerships than this one: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...at-2-9k-miles-arghhh.19794/page-2#post-498772

 

[jforse]

Because most of us have had similar, or worse experience with dealerships than this one: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...at-2-9k-miles-arghhh.19794/page-2#post-498772

Same type of crap I delt with for the first dealership I went to. have you seen my seat popping thread? They damaged interior panels, scratched the paint, and got anti seize all over the interior.

My point was that you should escalate. Talk to your state Attorney Generals office, run up the chain at FCA, get a lawyer, sell the Jeep, there are many options. I work for a company that produces a complex product and deal with most of the Tier 1 machine shops and metal fabricators. There are a lot of issues with first year products. I knew that when purchasing the JL. I regret trading my 4runner in on the Jeep, but I dont regret buying it. I have faith that FCA and the current dealership will fix the issues.

 

[Vylentqt]

Ok so here is a video of what I am talking about. This was driving up 288 outside of Richmond, VA on a flat straight section with the cruise set at 65mph.

1st post, newish reader, and new owner of a JL Rubicon. Started reading this forum about 6 months ago. Bought my JL in November. Built September.

For the whole time I’ve owned my Jeep I thought this ‘loose’ stearing was a “Jeep” thing. Up to 1600miles now...

Made an account finally just to post this. Tire PSI was the first thing I checked the moment I parked my JL in the garage the next morning (out of habit, I love working on cars and am fortunate to know my way around vehicles).

After reading 161 pages of information (it took awhile), I am ready to make an appointment @ my dealership. I’ve checked all the toque settings of all the stearing components (ball joints, track bar, etc). I do have an -AC damper (which sounds like they have upgraded to an -AD. DW seems to not exist on my rig (I’ve purposely have tried). I’m stuck with loose stearing. Exactly like the video above. And what pushed me over the edge was a pretty good cross wind yesterday (30mph gusts or so), it damn near scared the st*t out of me on the highway (about 65mph) basically was pushed into the next lane.

I’ve owned many cars (SUVs) and by far This JL has had the worst stearing out of all of them. My knee jerk reaction yesterday was to by a Falcon SS as some have mentioned that could help. But going to take it to the dealer first prior to install and see what happens. Definety going to bring up this thread.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

1st post, newish reader, and new owner of a JL Rubicon. Started reading this forum about 6 months ago. Bought my JL in November. Built September.

For the whole time I’ve owned my Jeep I thought this ‘loose’ stearing was a “Jeep” thing. Up to 1600miles now...

Made an account finally just to post this. Tire PSI was the first thing I checked the moment I parked my JL in the garage the next morning (out of habit, I love working on cars and am fortunate to know my way around vehicles).

After reading 161 pages of information (it took awhile), I am ready to make an appointment @ my dealership. I’ve checked all the toque settings of all the stearing components (ball joints, track bar, etc). I do have an -AC damper (which sounds like they have upgraded to an -AD. DW seems to not exist on my rig (I’ve purposely have tried). I’m stuck with loose stearing. Exactly like the video above. And what pushed me over the edge was a pretty good cross wind yesterday (30mph gusts or so), it damn near scared the st*t out of me on the highway (about 65mph) basically was pushed into the next lane.

I’ve owned many cars (SUVs) and by far This JL has had the worst stearing out of all of them. My knee jerk reaction yesterday was to by a Falcon SS as some have mentioned that could help. But going to take it to the dealer first prior to install and see what happens. Definety going to bring up this thread.

Welcome to the club of those of us that have been working like crazy to figure this out. As an owner of the Falcon Nexus 2.2 I can tell you that it is a great piece of equipment, however, for the steering issue that you have it will provide only a small amount of relief. Watching you saw the wheel is exactly how I have felt for 4400 miles. I have had two scary incidents now where the Jeep nearly got away from me. So far I have added the stabilizer and the Yeti track bar. Both have helped a bit but my rig is still loose as heck and a real chore to drive in the highway. Full disclosure I added Rubicon shocks and springs and achieved a "lift" of 1.5-2 inches. Stock my rig handled poorly, following the suspension upgrade it was terrible. I added adjustable lower control arms two weeks ago, added 1/2 inch to increase caster. It is better though now it is probably about the same as the stock setup. Next Thursday I have a kid who is going to help me use his rack and we are going to get a caster reading from the computer and set the caster to my specs, not what FCA says is "in spec". I am planning to go around 6.3 drivers side, 6.0 passenger or something in that area. If that does not fix the loose steering then the only thing left is the steering box as I have also torqued all steering components. Through this saga I have researched this to death and been in communication with a number of guys on this forum that have a good deal of experience with Jeep suspensions. I consider myself a decent wrench, but honestly there are many folks out there who have skills that far surpass mine. That is why I have sought out many opinions on this. I fully believe that all of my symptoms mimic a "too little caster" situation even though I am "in spec". Once I have a definitive caster setting and can test the Jeep I will report back with my findings. The part that I am struggling with is why the tremendous disparity between Jeeps? I get that they all will drive a bit different and may like slightly different settings but honestly this is crazy. After the lift my caster was 4.8/4.7 and I had all I could do to keep the Jeep on the road. Whey then do some Jeeps at the same or very similar settings drive great? I believe that beyond the known welding issues that FCA had a problem with a line or a couple of lines and the Jeeps geometry is off. I have been racking my brain to try and figure out a few quick measurements we could all take to compare to see if the tight Jeeps and loose Jeeps may have been assembled to different specs. I guess after thinking about this someone with more knowledge than me would need to determine which measurements could be off. For instance could the track bar mount on the frame be somewhat off? What effect would that have on geometry, you know that sort of thing. Anyway, sorry to be long winded but I just cannot wrap my head around this, why does one Jeep with an identical setup to another run great at 5 degrees or so of caster and the other needs to be north of 6.5 for similar results? Good luck to you whatever you decide, I hope that you have one of the few dealerships that will work with you to try to get your rig to handle the way it was designed.

Chewi

 

[jeepauug]

For what it's worth I'm going all in - Steer Smarts track-bar, tie-rod, and drag-ling. Tereflex adjustable lower control arms, and rusty's brace. One item, is i have the falcon 2.1 vs 2.2 - other than ability to adjust damping, is there a reason I should upgrade to the 2.2?

 

[vavaroutsos]

Welcome to the club of those of us that have been working like crazy to figure this out. As an owner of the Falcon Nexus 2.2 I can tell you that it is a great piece of equipment, however, for the steering issue that you have it will provide only a small amount of relief. Watching you saw the wheel is exactly how I have felt for 4400 miles. I have had two scary incidents now where the Jeep nearly got away from me. So far I have added the stabilizer and the Yeti track bar. Both have helped a bit but my rig is still loose as heck and a real chore to drive in the highway. Full disclosure I added Rubicon shocks and springs and achieved a "lift" of 1.5-2 inches. Stock my rig handled poorly, following the suspension upgrade it was terrible. I added adjustable lower control arms two weeks ago, added 1/2 inch to increase caster. It is better though now it is probably about the same as the stock setup. Next Thursday I have a kid who is going to help me use his rack and we are going to get a caster reading from the computer and set the caster to my specs, not what FCA says is "in spec". I am planning to go around 6.3 drivers side, 6.0 passenger or something in that area. If that does not fix the loose steering then the only thing left is the steering box as I have also torqued all steering components. Through this saga I have researched this to death and been in communication with a number of guys on this forum that have a good deal of experience with Jeep suspensions. I consider myself a decent wrench, but honestly there are many folks out there who have skills that far surpass mine. That is why I have sought out many opinions on this. I fully believe that all of my symptoms mimic a "too little caster" situation even though I am "in spec". Once I have a definitive caster setting and can test the Jeep I will report back with my findings. The part that I am struggling with is why the tremendous disparity between Jeeps? I get that they all will drive a bit different and may like slightly different settings but honestly this is crazy. After the lift my caster was 4.8/4.7 and I had all I could do to keep the Jeep on the road. Whey then do some Jeeps at the same or very similar settings drive great? I believe that beyond the known welding issues that FCA had a problem with a line or a couple of lines and the Jeeps geometry is off. I have been racking my brain to try and figure out a few quick measurements we could all take to compare to see if the tight Jeeps and loose Jeeps may have been assembled to different specs. I guess after thinking about this someone with more knowledge than me would need to determine which measurements could be off. For instance could the track bar mount on the frame be somewhat off? What effect would that have on geometry, you know that sort of thing. Anyway, sorry to be long winded but I just cannot wrap my head around this, why does one Jeep with an identical setup to another run great at 5 degrees or so of caster and the other needs to be north of 6.5 for similar results? Good luck to you whatever you decide, I hope that you have one of the few dealerships that will work with you to try to get your rig to handle the way it was designed.

Chewi

The difference between stock and after adding Rubi coils/shocks is probably due to the accompanying reduction in caster. You really can't set the driver/passenger side caster independently without twisting the axle housing and loading the control arm bushings unless you go to caster adjusting ball joints. With the factory setup the difference in driver/passenger caster is fixed by the axle assembly/weld tolerances.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

The difference between stock and after adding Rubi coils/shocks is probably due to the accompanying reduction in caster. You really can't set the driver/passenger side caster independently without twisting the axle housing and loading the control arm bushings unless you go to caster adjusting ball joints. With the factory setup the difference in driver/passenger caster is fixed by the axle assembly/weld tolerances.

I agree that the suspension upgrade decreased caster which is why my rig got worse. Adding a bit of caster got me back to handling closer to stock, hoping now that further increased caster will be the magic bullet. Still can't understand how these things in general are so all over the board with handling, my buddy has a very similar Jeep to mine in stock setting. His drove great right off the lot, he could not believe how bad mine drove, that is what I was getting at.....oh I gotcha regarding setting caster, I was going to do that with the adjustable LCA's. Thinking a few tenths difference would help take into account road crown, though I may be off with that thinking.

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