Loose Steering is NORMAL for the JL

[LowOnCash]

Just so everyone understands - loose steering does not cause the vehicle to wonder, wonder is created by road crown, wind gusts, trucks etc. Positive camber is the only thing that keeps the vehicle pointing down the road since it automatically centers the wheel to the axis of the vehicle. This is the problem with these jeeps and my gladiator is just as bad.

Changing all that crap is a waste of time - all the dealers are doing is making the vehicle worse than it was originally.

It's a design problem folks!

Mike

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[cmcclintock]

i have a 2018 Rubicon. have been to the dealer 6 times to get it fixed. Still nothing. Updated track bar, steering stabilizer, and gear box. Nothing has fixed the slop, looseness and play. last resort is a new steering box.

BBOTT. Please tell me your caster is set at 6+/- degrees and not 4. My 2018 JLU Rubicon drove like a piece of garbage (wandering all over the road & loose steering-hated it at 4.2 degrees of caster until I adjusted the caster up to 6+/- with some lower front adjustable control arms. Now it drive straight down the Freeway and steering is not loose. Drives normal. HUGE DIFFERENCE! Love it.

Note: I took it to the dealership twice with no resolution/assistance...then purchased the lower control arms took it to an alignment shop-problem solved for not much out of pocket cash. Good luck- hope you gets yours resolved.

 

[Bri_BKT]

Just so everyone understands - loose steering does not cause the vehicle to wonder, wonder is created by road crown, wind gusts, trucks etc. Positive camber is the only thing that keeps the vehicle pointing down the road since it automatically centers the wheel to the axis of the vehicle. This is the problem with these jeeps and my gladiator is just as bad.

Changing all that crap is a waste of time - all the dealers are doing is making the vehicle worse than it was originally.

It's a design problem folks!

Mike

Honest question: If it's a design problem, then wouldn't everyone have steering issues? How can there be so many with perfect steering?

 

[LowOnCash]

Honest question: If it's a design problem, then wouldn't everyone have steering issues? How can there be so many with perfect steering?

Everyone has the same exact problem - the only difference is some guys are more aware of it than others!

As an example, one driver might be driving with only 10 lbs of air in a tire (near flat) with it pulling to the right or left and not know it, while other drivers would feel a low tire long before that.

Wondering has nothing to do with loose steering on these modern trucks, once the vehicle is rolling, positive caster is what that keeps the wheels centered to the chassis. Positive caster is the same thing you feel as you come around a corner and let the wheel go, its camber that returns the wheel to center.

I've driven hundreds of solid axle trucks smaller and bigger than the Gladiator and none have steering problems, so don't let anyone tell you this is normal because that is not the case.

Mike

 

[PavementWarrior]

Honest question: If it's a design problem, then wouldn't everyone have steering issues? How can there be so many with perfect steering?

no. Poor design gets bad yield. The designer has to meet cost goals, strength, and enough margin for good yields.

In some cases its the oddest things, at my job we had a great product go out last year, but then one connector had a terrible yield/reliability... even though we bought he part and it was supposed to be up the task it was not, as a result we look bad.

I am sure the trackbar deisgner is annoyed the yield on the bushing is not where it was supposed to be... thats life, 90% designs work fine during proto testing, but 10% of the people think you are an idiot

 

[LowOnCash]

no. Poor design gets bad yield. The designer has to meet cost goals, strength, and enough margin for good yields.

In some cases its the oddest things, at my job we had a great product go out last year, but then one connector had a terrible yield/reliability... even though we bought he part and it was supposed to be up the task it was not, as a result we look bad.

I am sure the trackbar deisgner is annoyed the yield on the bushing is not where it was supposed to be... thats life, 90% designs work fine during proto testing, but 10% of the people think you are an idiot

I've driven over 20 of these Gladiators in Sport Overland and Rube, big tires small tires, lifts etc. and every single one of them have the same exact steering problem.

Once you put in a steering input, the camber does not return the wheel and steering back to neutral. When this happens the truck continues to travel in the direction of the last corrective input, requiring constant input to keep the vehicle in its lane.

Something is restricting the steering from going back to true center. It can be a number of mechanical reasons, but I highly suspect the Power steering system output is too high (easy steering) and is over powering the front end's positive camber preventing it from centering the wheels.

What pisses me off is Jeep is 1000% aware there has been a problem, yet they come out with the Gladiator and what do they do? they replicate the same problem rather than provide a fix. It's my guess they figured the pickup's long wheel base would help mask the problem, but it didn't.

Foreign manufactures (like the one who who own Dodge) are the most thrifty in the world and hate to fix anything as long as its selling, and selling is what is happening with the PU. While I'm not the least bit interested in pursuing - nothing short of a class action lawsuit will get Daimler to accept responsibility and fix the problem. While every other solid axle vehicle is going down the road straight, every time you see a Gladiator you better give him some extra room!

Mike

 

[Firemadz]

I've driven over 20 of these Gladiators in Sport Overland and Rube, big tires small tires, lifts etc. and every single one of them have the same exact steering problem.

Once you put in a steering input, the camber does not return the wheel and steering back to neutral. When this happens the truck continues to travel in the direction of the last corrective input, requiring constant input to keep the vehicle in its lane.

Something is restricting the steering from going back to true center. It can be a number of mechanical reasons, but I highly suspect the Power steering system output is too high (easy steering) and is over powering the front end's positive camber preventing it from centering the wheels.

What pisses me off is Jeep is 1000% aware there has been a problem, yet they come out with the Gladiator and what do they do? they replicate the same problem rather than provide a fix. It's my guess they figured the pickup's long wheel base would help mask the problem, but it didn't.

German manufactures (like the one who who own Dodge) are the most thrifty in the world and hate to fix anything as long as its selling, and selling is what is happening with the PU. While I'm not the least bit interested in pursuing - nothing short of a class action lawsuit will get Daimler to accept responsibility and fix the problem. While every other solid axle vehicle is going down the road straight, every time you see a Gladiator you better give him some extra room!

Mike

Daimler hasn’t owned Chrysler in years. They are owned by the Italian Fiat.

 

[ArchAngel]

My original premise was all JLs have loose steering (compared to just about all other modern cars). Some have stated their steering is not loose. Does anyone has a video of “tight” JL steering, especially with the fast rocking motion showing movement of the Jeep back and forth?

The reason I asked: I’ve seen lots of videos on loose steering with the fast rocking back and forth with no vehicle response, but all of my Jeeps and others I’ve driven are the same way. It would be interesting to see something different.

 

[HoundDude]

my 2019 JL was delivered with a nearly 3" dead spot in the steering, but I test drove a 2018 JL that had no dead spot. it still suffered from driver induced oscillation as mentioned above though... the finest movement of the steering wheel resulted in the Jeep moving toward that side. it was predictable though, with a large dead spot it's hard to guess when the steering will kick in which exaggerates the driver induced oscillation. there was talk in here a few months ago the fca was working on a tsb that would reduce the power steering response. I think that's what we need. either that or a class action lawsuit.

 

[chiefersutherland]

my 2019 JL was delivered with a nearly 3" dead spot in the steering, but I test drove a 2018 JL that had no dead spot. it still suffered from driver induced oscillation as mentioned above though... the finest movement of the steering wheel resulted in the Jeep moving toward that side. it was predictable though, with a large dead spot it's hard to guess when the steering will kick in which exaggerates the driver induced oscillation. there was talk in here a few months ago the fca was working on a tsb that would reduce the power steering response. I think that's what we need. either that or a class action lawsuit.

A dead spot that large is annoying. However it is within the range of “normal” for a steering box setup. Again, this dead spot can never be fully eliminated, just reduced by tightening the balls in the recirculating ball steering box.

 

[DEM]

Not wanting to get nailed to the stake here, but our 2019 JL MOAB came with the Mud Terrain tires. It was a bit of a mystery when driving. We swapped out to the Rubicon All Terrain TA’s and the problem disappeared.
One finger on the wheel at 80mph - used to require two hands in the wheel at 60mph.

 

[DEM]

And we got about a 1.5” lift with the taller tires

 

[T.T.T]

Tighten up your tie rod. End of story. K.I.S.S

 

[Psycho Therapist]

Was registering on the My Jeep app and this came up. Was told it was a campaign and not a recall. Supposed to replace the steering dampner with a more beefy model. Anyone had this done yet? My steering isn't what I would call loose. There is slight play but not much.

 

[MNWrangx2]

I am really sorry to hear people who have steering problems with their Jeep.i have driven hundreds of thousands of miles in solid axle vehicles I have owned them in all brands. My Jeep drives exactly the same as every solid axle vehicle I have owned. At higher speeds when a bump is impacted you get bump steer. It all has to do with the depth the length of the bump, speed, wheel base of the vehicles, crown of the road and if the vehicle in in a turn. My point is all this is hard to reproduce. This has been a common with solid axles. The vehicles sometimes feel like the will change lanes, or skid/ skip off the road. This is very normal and there is no fix for it. I often wonder if people think this is the “death wobble” it is not.

My 2010 Ford Mustang V6 manual (of course) had a solid axle and it definitely would hop a bit on a bump, or a fast corner (which I might do on purpose...). That was fun to drive like my JL and JKs, but in a very different way. It's because of that solid axle. Yes, my JL did seem to have more play in it when I bought than my JK, but either I got used to it or some mud smoothed it out. It's not too crazy on the steering - my teenage daughter learning is doing just fine in both the JL and JK, although she is fighting it a bit back and forth.

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