Steering Wander

[rickinAZ]

My advice is this: download a free angle finder for you phone, read the attached link to familiarize yourself with measuring caster, and then see what you've got. So far you've invested nothing but 30 minutes of research. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jl-rubicon-caster-measure.25691/page-2 Particularly look at post #24.

If it's less than 5°, and it will be, you'll benefit from adding the lower control arms that come with the Mopar 2" lift. You can buy them ala carte for well less than $100. You'll be surprised on how an extra .25" of LCA length improved your tracking/steering. It is a known cure for the wandering. Do some searching on the forum and you'll be overrun with threads on this solution. If you are not comfortable installing them yourself, call around and you'll be able to get them installed for a hour of labor charge.

I actually used this angle finder. I found it easier to use than the free digital apps. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T807?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_8&th=1

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[Upnarms]

Others may have mentioned it but i didn't read every post yet. Since you have a 25, it's not going to be the steering box. I will say what they did to the JL steering was horrendous from the previous models (jk, tj, etc). The hydro electric pump and box are atrocious. JL owners have great forearm workouts on freeways.

Aside from replacing all your steering components, one way it will tighten up significantly is by putting in a quality stabilizer and i highly recommend a through shaft one like the falcon or fox. When i did this, my steering was so much better in the area of play, wander. You get your money worth. Now if you were going to upsize tires from stock or really want to never deal with future steering issues, go for a heavy duty track bar, drag link, tie rod, etc. I didn't want to screw around so i did the apex setup (kit120) but that's probably big time overkill if you stay stock.

My old JK and TJ you could let go and it would go straight. For all the nice improvements in the JL, the steering was not one of them.

 

[G13]

I have 2020 Unlimited Rubicon, all stock with original aluminium steering box. It wandered some, so I switched Lower Control Arms to the ones for Mopar lift kit. $60 I think it was, and it fixed the problem, so I haven’t done the Steel Box TSB.

 

[Mack.]

Hello, I just bought a 2025 Jeep Wrangler Willys, this is my 1st Jeep purchase. I notice it has wander in the steering. Is this normal? If so how much wandering is normal? I can be driving on a straight road and still have to constantly correct the steering wheel as it will wonder to the left and right to the point it looks like I am drunk. It will not stay straight after taking hands off the wheel. Also noticed the steering wheel is off center.

If not normal, is there a fix or something I should tell the dealer to check?

The wondering is from over steering. The Jeeps have very quick steering so they are VERY responsave. You will learn to love its sporys car handeling in time. My 2025 2 door is even more responcive with it's shorter wheel base. This is for excellent for 4 wheeling. At high speeds it can spill you if you jerk the wheel to quick. Give it a little time I am sure it will grow on you. Congrats enjoy!

 

[Ratbert]

The wondering is from over steering. The Jeeps have very quick steering so they are VERY responsave. You will learn to love its sporys car handeling in time.

I initially thought you were joking. Apparently not???

 

[travis304]

Former mech., worked at a certain very large Jeep parts website, drove a lot of stock and modified Wranglers.

There are a lot of things that contribute to wandering on a Wrangler.

The factory track bar, steering stabilizer, ball joints, bushings, etc., are relatively weak/basic. Mine wandered a lot. HD front track bar helped a lot. So did beefier stabilizer. Replaced crappy OE ball joints w/ Teraflex HD joints. Longer front control arms to increase caster. All these things help.

Something often overlooked, though, is scrub radius.

Some factory wheels have a lower positive offset and less backspacing which can create something called scrub radius. Lots of aftermarket wheels have zero or negative offset, which is even worse.

This can cause torque steer (wandering), especially when hitting obstacles or potholes. High positive offset wheels move steering geometry inward and reduce scrub radius. A neutral/zero radius is ideal.

Zero radius works best for solid front axles. It offers a good balance of stability when accelerating and braking. Also makes the wheels want to generally track straight instead of wandering, especially when hitting obstacles/debris/potholes etc. High positive offset aftermarket wheels (+40mm) made a noticeable improvement to my straightline tracking and wandering, by reducing scrub radius, even after installing all of the above.

This example is a wheel with neutral/negative offset and a positive scrub radius = worse handling on road.

 

[jadmt]

 

[NVULLC11]

Check to see if your caster is too low. 6° is the sweet spot. Easily checked at home. Longer LCAs transformed my steering.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/big-driving-improvement-after-lca-swap.54439/

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jl-rubicon-caster-measure.25691/

Can caster be modified on its own or do I need adjustable LCAs to do that? I did order the MOPAR longer LCAs

 

[jadmt]

Can caster be modified on its own or do I need adjustable LCAs to do that? I did order the MOPAR longer LCAs

you need either geo brackets, adjustable control arms or longer lca....they make lower control arm bolts that adjust caster but never see them used for good reason...

 

[rickinAZ]

Can caster be modified on its own or do I need adjustable LCAs to do that? I did order the MOPAR longer LCAs

The caster is adjusted by the length of the Lower Control Arms (LCAs). In most cases, the 24.25" MOPAR LCAs will work, but if you have a lift greater than 2", you’ll likely need longer ones. For reference, my lift was around 2.5-3.0". The Rubicon comes from the factory 1" higher than other models, and I had a 2" Teraflex spacer kit. The Diesel also sits slightly higher. The cumulative effect of all three of these factors were addressed by using adjustable LCAs set to 24.375". Even a small change in LCA length makes a noticeable difference.

The push for MOPAR LCAs started because Jeep installs the same 24" LCAs on all JL models, regardless of trim. Since the Rubicon sits 1" higher, the caster ends up too low, which can cause wandering.

I also believe the Willys sits slightly higher than the other JL trims, though not quite as high as the Rubicon.

Those LCA threads that I sent you have a wealth of information on this LCA length issue. You've received responses about beefing up this and bracing that, but my research says that the wandering is not caused by lack of robustness; it's a geometry issue caused by a one-size-fits-all approach in factory LCAs.

Before you spend a lot of money on rebuilding your steering with stronger parts, try the longer MOPAR LCAs.

And...please, report back afterwards.

 

[NVULLC11]

The caster is adjusted by the length of the Lower Control Arms (LCAs). In most cases, the 24.25" MOPAR LCAs will work, but if you have a lift greater than 2", you’ll likely need longer ones. For reference, my lift was around 2.5-3.0". The Rubicon comes from the factory 1" higher than other models, and I had a 2" Teraflex spacer kit. The Diesel also sits slightly higher. The cumulative effect of all three of these factors were addressed by using adjustable LCAs set to 24.375". Even a small change in LCA length makes a noticeable difference.

The push for MOPAR LCAs started because Jeep installs the same 24" LCAs on all JL models, regardless of trim. Since the Rubicon sits 1" higher, the caster ends up too low, which can cause wandering.

I also believe the Willys sits slightly higher than the other JL trims, though not quite as high as the Rubicon.

Those LCA threads that I sent you have a wealth of information on this LCA length issue. You've received responses about beefing up this and bracing that, but my research says that the wandering is not caused by lack of robustness; it's a geometry issue caused by a one-size-fits-all approach in factory LCAs.

Before you spend a lot of money on rebuilding your steering with stronger parts, try the longer MOPAR LCAs.

And...please, report back afterwards.

think you very much. Will report back after install and test drive.

 

[jc1003]

My wife's at the time new 2022 Sahara had the same wandering on the highway. All new Steer smarts front end, Dynatrac ball joints, and longer LCA's fixed it. Drives like a dream now. I also replaced shocks with Bilstein 5100's.

 

[Ratbert]

My wife's at the time new 2022 Sahara had the same wandering on the highway. All new Steer smarts front end, Dynatrac ball joints, and longer LCA's fixed it. Drives like a dream now. I also replaced shocks with Bilstein 5100's.

You had to spend thousands to get it to drive like it should have from the factory? That's frightening.

 

[jc1003]

You had to spend thousands to get it to drive like it should have from the factory? That's frightening.

I'm sure you spent thousands getting your Wrangler to look like that. I just put the money into other places than you did.

 

[Ratbert]

I'm sure you spent thousands getting your Wrangler to look like that. I just put the money into other places than you did.

Absolutely, but I didn't spend thousands to get it to the point that it matches how it came from the factory for most other Wranglers. Ideally the dealership would have dealt with those issues.

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