Loose steering feels like it has play and drifts

[jmcdtucson]

Correct. Engine on, engine off, no play at all, wheels react immediately. I'm not sure if adjusting the gear box more would reduce your's to zero though. I think there are tolerances that some are going to have some play depending on the other components in the steering box. For example, someone in another thread mentioned there are shims that affect how the steering box works.

My experience with that test is totally unpredictable. Sometimes the wheels move immediately. Sometimes they don't. Seems to depend on how fast I move the wheel. Sometimes just seems random. The problem seems worse in warmer temperatures. Waiting for spring to return to dealership.

Sponsored

 

[californiajeeping]

Your caster is very low. JLUR is 4.8 plus or minus 1.0, but you want it to be as close to 5.8 as possible. It isn't adjustable, but you can change out your lower control arms with the Mopar lower control arms from the lift kit - you can order them separately. Here is where someone confirmed the improvement - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/caster-specification-for-the-jl.17016/#post-420044

 

[JeepCares]

Throwing my hat in the ring on this one. I leased my Rubicon ('18) last friday. Took it on it's first long drive, about 50 miles, and had a white knuckle experience about 65MPH just constantly correcting it in the lane. I'm sure this all sounds familiar to many of you. No death wobble, yet, but definitely a dead spot in the steering and lots and lots of corrections on the highway.

Going to drop it off at the dealer for round 1 and ask for the steering control unit flash and maybe the updated parts for the track bar/dampener. I have never had luck with dealerships doing things because they should. It's a lease and it doesn't put me out to not have the car for a bit (I kept my paid off car in the garage instead of trading in, happy day), so I want them to fix it and not incur costs, but my patience for such things is also thin. Im definitely considering just doing the steersmarts kit with the recommended camber change and calling it a day since that seems to fix many peoples issue. This will void my warranty, and also need to be removed at the end of the lease... so there is a downside.

For those who have dealt with this for a long time, what was your order of operation that either made you whole or where you feel the cost/benefit stopped being worth dealing with FCA on this?

Hi eightamrock,
We are very sorry to hear that you are experiencing this. If you would like some extra assistance while your Jeep is at the dealer, please feel free to send us a private message.
Alex
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

[Rdmitch]

Oh my goodness. Being one of the first few with the steering issues and one with many videos and my own research and reading all of these new posts is just mind boggling. #JeepCares ?? Do you not see we are telling people not to buy the Wrangler ? Do you guys seriously not get it ???? I mean wow y'll are so clueless it baffles me. I already sent an email to Mike Manley, already have a corporate contact, at least I did, they stopped calling me. Engineers came to visit promising a new gear box sent to me personally checked and adjusted by them now there is nothing. No contact or anything. Dealers telling customers they check the ball joint nuts only to see the cutter pins have not been touched. I mean just wow!!!! I am just shaking my head in shame. Not to mention so many people are listing their JL's up for sale and the dealers are now getting these damn things traded back in.

FCA Can you Hear Me ???? Isn't that what Steve Jobs once said ???? HELLO ????

Sounds like your dealer has blown you off as well.
My steering box was changed and the new track bar installed 2 days ago and I see a definite improvement. Maybe not 100% since I’m being cautious, but as of today I would say it’s like 60% better. It’s a real start and maybe a few little tweaks would get it a tad better. Much easier and safer to drive.
Get this done right away!

 

[sacourtney07]

My Jeep is in the shop and I have a JK loaner. After almost a year of driving the JL and dealing with the shit sloppy steering, I can 100% report that the JK is amazing to drive. No drifting, no dead spot, no paying attention to stay in the lane. I can just drive and zone out. There is a huge difference and the problems we have been saying are not made up.

 

[Tony V]

Really messed up now. Trying to tighen the steering box and snapped Allen in the screw. What would happen if I pulled the adjuster all the way out?

 

[Woodynj]

Sunday update: I took the jeep in moderate traffic on a ~20 mile each way trip on the highway last night. I can say it is VERY improved. It still has some quirks, but they remind me of my JK more than anything.

Wife even commented she noticed a difference from the passenger seat! Said " you're not jerking the steering around like you were recently " ... Finally happy with this thing. Let's hope it stays and doesn't deteriorate.

What was your fix?

 

[Woodynj]

Everyone should upload videos to YouTube and tag it so we can organize a group. Shit I would even run point on it.

I’m in. Already have a video.

 

[HoundDude]

Really messed up now. Trying to tighen the steering box and snapped Allen in the screw. What would happen if I pulled the adjuster all the way out?

what does "snapped the Allen in the screw" mean? if you stripped the allen head of the adjuster screw then you won't be able to adjust it by turning it but your steering gear should be fine. if you broke a chunk of the Allen head off out of the adjusting nut, then it depends on how many threads are left. if the adjustment nut and attached top of Allen head broke off, then your going to need a new adjustment screw + nut (at a minimum) and probably a mechanic too. do not pull the adjuster screw out until you consult with a mechanic. keep us posted and good luck.

 

[Woodynj]

This normal?

According to jeep yes. Told me the same thing. This is what mine does.

 

[Holymoly1963]

According to jeep yes. Told me the same thing. This is what mine does.

I would say mine is a bit worse than that...ridiculous.

 

[californiajeeping]

I posted this in the other steering thread, thought this might be helpful here too. This is a summary of what I've read throughout all of the steering related threads. There are a couple of funny easter eggs in some of the links as well.

Note: Click the highlighted text links below to see references to this information.

Yes, it is solvable, otherwise every JL would have the steering issues. It is like a combination lock situation, you have to get all numbers right, otherwise, it won't operate as designed. Most likely due to poor factory quality control the geometry varies - if they let so many with obvious welding problems slip through the factory, just imagine what else they missed, like the proper front end geometry. The factory workers must of been high or drunk to miss such super bad welding - yeah, maybe someone at the assembly plant didn't didn't weld the frame, but someone is supposed to check quality. In other words, some JLs with steering problems have loose steering components and need toe-in fine tuned to 1/8" toe in versus just being in spec, and some need the new steering stabilizer, more caster via the longer Mopar lower control arms - 68322798AA, new track bar part number 68394087AA - old one is 68317849AA, new drag link part number 68258760AD (new as of mid Feb 2019), tires need to be balanced, new steering box, torque loose components and the TSB flash, some JLs need combinations or all of the above. The problem is finding a dealership that first agrees there is a problem, then hopefully that same dealership is tenacious enough to find every number in the combination to solve the problem vs just saying it is in spec and-or it is operating as designed. Then you finally get it the steering right, you hit a speed bump or pothole just right and you get to start over again. I've had POS economy rental cars for weeks at a time traveling for work, drove faster over speed bumps, aimed for potholes instead of avoiding them, etc. shouting "rental car!" each time and the steering never had a problem after all that abuse.

In my case, my JL's wobble and drifting was fixed by torquing the finger tight ball joint nuts, loose track bar and drag link bolts to FACTORY spec, replacing the bad date code steering stabilizer, and changing the toe-in to 1/8" which is at the far side of the spec. I had everything perfect, then I had my tires rotated during an oil change and the dealer said "we noticed your toe settings was on the extreme side so we adjusted it to zero". Great, thanks. The drifting came back. So I re-adjusted toe-in back to 1/8" and problem solved. I'd rather have a little bit of extra wear on my tires than drift into an oncoming 18 wheeler head on.

 

[DeekT]

Really messed up now. Trying to tighen the steering box and snapped Allen in the screw. What would happen if I pulled the adjuster all the way out?

The adjuster does not come out just by unscrewing. Would have to take the top off the gear box.

 

[catdaddy63]

I've been following this thread since it's inception, and my JLUR exhibits quite a few of the same issues as the others here, I work in a CJDR dealership and am a used car manager and have worked at this dealer for over 26 years. I did most of the things listed here in the forum when I first received the Jeep, seat the fuses, check and lower the tire pressures (34 all the way around settled it down a lot.) I put it in the shop at 400 miles to have the cruise control recall done and complained also about the wandering and loose feeling steering. The recall was done, the steering complaint came back as "drives as designed." Fast forward a few months, I had a JLUS with lift brought to me on an appraisal that drove absolutely perfect, no slop in the steering, no pull, no drift. So back to the shop I go with mine, they ordered the new steering stabilizer. Once that was installed the steering tightened up just a little but the wandering problem persisted along with a drift to the right. So back in again, at this time there were other customers bringing their JL's in with similar issues so the techs are working with the factory to try to figure out what's going on. This trip they did an alignment (reset the toe per the STAR document), checked all the front end components for proper torque and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Jeep still wanders down the road and has a drift to the right though it is very slightly better. They ordered the new track bar which is now listed in the STAR bulletin and we're waiting for it to arrive. I was talking with our shop foreman who has been personally involved with my Jeep and he mentioned that our tech advisor (direct liaison to the factory) had been in earlier in the week, he shared that this is an issue getting a lot of attention in Detroit and they are working on multiple things to correct the wandering. He mentioned that one of the things they are looking at and actively testing is reprogramming the electric power steering to reduce the boost substantially and early reports are very promising, not a total fix but a noticeable improvement. So I would expect that to become a TSB at some point in the hopefully not too distant future. It's pretty obvious that there isn't a magic bullet that will fix this problem that so many of us have but they are aware and working on it. I absolutely love my Jeep and am not ready to throw in the towel at this point.

 

[californiajeeping]

I've been following this thread since it's inception, and my JLUR exhibits quite a few of the same issues as the others here, I work in a CJDR dealership and am a used car manager and have worked at this dealer for over 26 years. I did most of the things listed here in the forum when I first received the Jeep, seat the fuses, check and lower the tire pressures (34 all the way around settled it down a lot.) I put it in the shop at 400 miles to have the cruise control recall done and complained also about the wandering and loose feeling steering. The recall was done, the steering complaint came back as "drives as designed." Fast forward a few months, I had a JLUS with lift brought to me on an appraisal that drove absolutely perfect, no slop in the steering, no pull, no drift. So back to the shop I go with mine, they ordered the new steering stabilizer. Once that was installed the steering tightened up just a little but the wandering problem persisted along with a drift to the right. So back in again, at this time there were other customers bringing their JL's in with similar issues so the techs are working with the factory to try to figure out what's going on. This trip they did an alignment (reset the toe per the STAR document), checked all the front end components for proper torque and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Jeep still wanders down the road and has a drift to the right though it is very slightly better. They ordered the new track bar which is now listed in the STAR bulletin and we're waiting for it to arrive. I was talking with our shop foreman who has been personally involved with my Jeep and he mentioned that our tech advisor (direct liaison to the factory) had been in earlier in the week, he shared that this is an issue getting a lot of attention in Detroit and they are working on multiple things to correct the wandering. He mentioned that one of the things they are looking at and actively testing is reprogramming the electric power steering to reduce the boost substantially and early reports are very promising, not a total fix but a noticeable improvement. So I would expect that to become a TSB at some point in the hopefully not too distant future. It's pretty obvious that there isn't a magic bullet that will fix this problem that so many of us have but they are aware and working on it. I absolutely love my Jeep and am not ready to throw in the towel at this point.

What is the star case document # for the new track bar? What is star case document # for the toe adjustment? I called 2 dealerships and they said it doesn't exist (as usual), but they said the same thing about the steering box star case until I printed it out and showed it to them.

Sponsored