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Poll: Is your steering this loose?

Is your JL steering this loose ?


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Woodynj

Woodynj

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Hey OP, where'd you get your JL from if you don't mind me asking? Trying to figure out which dealers around here are actually helpful vs. not at all. I have a bunch that are more or less local - Salerno Duane, Nielsen, Beyer, Autoland, Global, Liccardi and I'm sure some others - and am amazed by how shady some are vs. others when it comes to acknowledging that issues exist, or that there are actual recalls.

I was going to get one around this time last year until these threads started to pop up all over and I decided to wait on the '19s. Going to revisit now, but would like to at least start with a dealer that's in the know.
I bought the jeep at Koons in Tysons VA and I highly teccomend purchasing from them. Awesome experience.

Problem is I live 4 hours away from them in North Jersey. I have been going to Johnson Dodge in Budd Lake, NJ. So far they have not confirmed the issue which is why I continue to talk with FCA. FCA is sending the Area Tech Manager to look at it on Friday so we will see.
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Woodynj

Woodynj

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Your steering looks exactly like all the cars and trucks I grew up driving. The worst was my 1970 F100, really kept you on your toes. I don't think your steering should have that kind of play in a brand new jeep. The one I test drove was tight. You could always sell the jeep and get a Tacoma, super tight steering and pretty good off-road performance. You young whippersnappers comparing a crv to a jeep, it's never gonna steer like a crv.
Never expected it to drive like a CRV. But it should drive better than a 1970 F100 and should not be unsafe.
 

LLANERO

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I don't drive wiggling the steering wheel to see if it's loose, all I can say is that my JL drives perfect with a 3.5" lift and MT 37s.

Here's a video doing 70 mph on the highway and hands off the steering wheel.

 

fat_head

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Yes, and my Jeep is going back to the dealer (again) today so they can have another look at it.
 

IPvFletch

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Can someone who voted that they don't have loose steering, please post a video of them wiggling the steering wheel back and forth. I would expect the Jeep to swerve left and right, but I have yet to see a single video of a JL demonstrating this. Mine is loose and it is exactly like the OP's video.
 
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Jeeper Fever

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The power steering is highly leveraged, and this video does not show what is needed to be shown.

I can wiggle my steering, at any speed, and get nearly no effect, but it is there.

If I pull my steering wheel even slighly off center, *on flat, if rough, pavement* the Jeep will track in that direction, gradually. To track straight I must perfectly center the wheel, which is whispering feather sensitive, and then the Jeep will track true.

The slightest bank, not bump, not rough pavement, a bank, will send the Jeep in that direction. This, of course, is what banked roads do, and is why banking exists as a design feature in race tracks. The Jeep is quite sensitive to this, much more so than the Honda Civic Si, and will veer off track following the bank at the slightest inclination.

Bear in mind that the Jeep electro-hydrolic steering has an input-output delay, as shown in the following post:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...has-play-and-drifts.3691/page-202#post-586314

The delay is noticable, about 200-300 ms in my estimation, and will effect how you drive your Jeep. You must begin to unwind a turn before you are done, and start a moment before you want to begin. This is not hard to adapt to, but can be readily observed when compared to a rack and pinion steering set up.

Mine isn't that bad, but it does wander at times. When I go from the Jeep to my 2018 F-150 it's like a night and day difference. It's as if I have to really concentrate to drive the Jeep, and the F-150 almost drives itself.
Yea, the F150 has independant front suspension, more like a Honda, than an old fashioned truck. Funky steering on live axels is why they went with IFS, it drives much nicer.

Mine was. Dealer did a software update and I run 32-34 psi. Tight and responsive.
Yep, run 28-30 psi myself, drives right.

Can someone who voted that they don't have loose steering, please post a video of them wiggling the steering wheel back and forth. I would expect the Jeep to swerve left and right, but I have yet to see a single video of a JL demonstrating this. Mine is loose and it is exactly like the OP's video.
The Jeep is not going to respond instantly, nor will that much movement of wheel produce a swerve. The Jeep does swerve well, but you need to move the wheel more, and not back and forth. Like I wrote above, wiggling the wheel does nearly nothing, but even a tad off center, and the Jeep will track in that direction.

Hope this helps, good luck!
 
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IPvFletch

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The slightest bank, not bump, not rough pavement, a bank, will send the Jeep in that direction.
So far, I've found the firmer aftermarket steering stabilizer (I got the Falcon 2.2 quick adjust) even on SOFT, makes a HUGE difference in this regard. This no longer happens! Even heavy winds don't push me around like I expect them to anymore. When I took the factory SS out, I realized just how soft it is. It might as well not even be on there...
 

Jeeper Fever

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So far, I've found the firmer aftermarket steering stabilizer (I got the Falcon 2.2 quick adjust) even on SOFT, makes a HUGE difference in this regard. This no longer happens! Even heavy winds don't push me around like I expect them to anymore. When I took the factory SS out, I realized just how soft it is. It might as well not even be on there...
Hmm, thanks!

Good to know, I may just upgrade my steering, even though it currently works, as after some rough offroading, it may not. The bushings, which are known to be soft, will get beat up off road, and some Jeep owners have reported problems after much more driving than I have done.

The steering stabilizer will be on my shopping list.
 

RubiRob

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At the end of the day it is a solid front axle vehicle, so I personally don't think its ever going to be perfect just because it is the nature of the beast. The only question is what is acceptable vs what the driver thinks is acceptable. Those are the two questions that are many times not in line with eachother and hard to even define.

I have a Nexus 2.2, full steersmarts setup (track bar, drag link and tie rod) and everything in the front end is perfectly in spec but I can still wiggle a tiny bit and get the same results. Maybe not as bad, but again, solid axle.
 

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IPvFletch

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At the end of the day it is a solid front axle vehicle, so I personally don't think its ever going to be perfect just because it is the nature of the beast. The only question is what is acceptable vs what the driver thinks is acceptable. Those are the two questions that are many times not in line with eachother and hard to even define.

I have a Nexus 2.2, full steersmarts setup (track bar, drag link and tie rod) and everything in the front end is perfectly in spec but I can still wiggle a tiny bit and get the same results. Maybe not as bad, but again, solid axle.
Well yeah the wiggle is all the hydro steering setup, nothing to do with the drag link or tie rod, stabilizer, etc... You can wiggle the steering wheel and see the pitman arm not even moving any. That is the issue, and the only likely root cause here is the steering box itself.
 

californiajeeping

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Question for everyone: On a perfectly straight long road, if you hold the steering wheel perfectly straight, does your JL stay in the lane?
 

IPvFletch

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Question for everyone: On a perfectly straight long road, if you hold the steering wheel perfectly straight, does your JL stay in the lane?
No, you have to contstantly fight with it. The problem is when it's in the dead zone, it's not pushing the wheels left or right... so if you want to correct your direction, you have to move the wheel about 1.5" one way out of the dead spot, until you feel the resistance, then push.. Also I've noticed the dead spot is only usually on one side.. so sometimes you are against resistance for one way but not the other.
 

drvn

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Question for everyone: On a perfectly straight long road, if you hold the steering wheel perfectly straight, does your JL stay in the lane?
No. It will cross into the next lane within 15 seconds. No significant side wind. No significant crowning.
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