PropDr
Active Member
- First Name
- Arno
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2026
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 30
- Location
- Eugene, Oregon
- Vehicle(s)
- JL Rubicon 2D. Raptor, Fat Bob, El Diablo, SLK 55 AMG 030 Compressor
- Thread starter
- #1
Earlier this year I got a 2020 JL 2 door Rubicon with 76K miles on it.
Did a few modes, put on 35s, changed all the fluids, found a number of issues (as you can expect on a used Jeep)
A couple of weeks ago my BiL (brother in law) and I decided to do the Noonday Trail (Oregon) going up (not down the, easy way)
I decided to better be going over all the nuts and bolts to make sure everything was tight; steering had given me some concern...
Checked the 4 bolts on the steering box, the aft lower bolt span with little resistance and would not tighten up, removed the bolt, it had pulled the threads out of the steering box. (Cast Steel Box) Got a longer bolt and put a nut on it.
The run up the Noonday Trail was great (could have made it in halve the time walking, but that was not the point)
But by the end of the day my steering felt loose again.
Got a brace for the front track bar; to install it I had to remove all four bolts from the steering box, found that the remaining three bolts had also stripped the thread out of the box but felt tight due to cold welding (galling)
Assumption on my part: This Jeep came with the aluminum box and was replace under recall; whoever performed the work over torqued the bolts; feeling the bolts yielding, but the box was still tight to the frame, he let it go...? (In the Navy, we would call that 'Gundecking)
Removed the box and taped the front two holes for 9/16-18 and the rear once for 1/2-20 (the tolerances between the box and frame would not allow using 9/16 bolts for all holes and in the rear, I can use longer bolt and put nuts on it, if needed)
Now my steering feels tight!
Food for thought:
The holes in the box have a counter bore, about 10mm (guess) in, to allow for ease of alignment during installation.
The bolts have an alignment spigot of about 7mm again for ease of installation.
Problem is that now we have only about 8mm for actual thread engagement.
A 12mm bolt should have, in like material, a 12mm engagement; in a casting I would like to see 50% more.
On the two 1/2" bolts I have now a 16mm engagement, on the 9/16" bolts about 25mm.
I know that my steering box will stay put!
Did a few modes, put on 35s, changed all the fluids, found a number of issues (as you can expect on a used Jeep)
A couple of weeks ago my BiL (brother in law) and I decided to do the Noonday Trail (Oregon) going up (not down the, easy way)
I decided to better be going over all the nuts and bolts to make sure everything was tight; steering had given me some concern...
Checked the 4 bolts on the steering box, the aft lower bolt span with little resistance and would not tighten up, removed the bolt, it had pulled the threads out of the steering box. (Cast Steel Box) Got a longer bolt and put a nut on it.
The run up the Noonday Trail was great (could have made it in halve the time walking, but that was not the point)
But by the end of the day my steering felt loose again.
Got a brace for the front track bar; to install it I had to remove all four bolts from the steering box, found that the remaining three bolts had also stripped the thread out of the box but felt tight due to cold welding (galling)
Assumption on my part: This Jeep came with the aluminum box and was replace under recall; whoever performed the work over torqued the bolts; feeling the bolts yielding, but the box was still tight to the frame, he let it go...? (In the Navy, we would call that 'Gundecking)
Removed the box and taped the front two holes for 9/16-18 and the rear once for 1/2-20 (the tolerances between the box and frame would not allow using 9/16 bolts for all holes and in the rear, I can use longer bolt and put nuts on it, if needed)
Now my steering feels tight!
Food for thought:
The holes in the box have a counter bore, about 10mm (guess) in, to allow for ease of alignment during installation.
The bolts have an alignment spigot of about 7mm again for ease of installation.
Problem is that now we have only about 8mm for actual thread engagement.
A 12mm bolt should have, in like material, a 12mm engagement; in a casting I would like to see 50% more.
On the two 1/2" bolts I have now a 16mm engagement, on the 9/16" bolts about 25mm.
I know that my steering box will stay put!
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