Steering wheel play..how much is "normal"

[Holymoly1963]

My 2 door JL has about 1 inch of play before the vehicle will turn. My dealer had the car for 3 days and said it is normal. Apparently they adjusted nothing. It wanders noticeably on the interstate.

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[OldGuyNewJeep]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/posts/304310/

 

[JIMBOX]

DROP YOUR TIRE AIR-PRESSURE TO 32PSI--
That will cure MOST of the play, if there's steering box slop--it won't help too much-

It straightened out mine to one hand steering now-the tires were all in excess of 45psi and my dealer never checked it-

Good luck

W.E.

JIMBO

 

[Shooting or Jeeping]

It’s not a Ferrari. It will have some play. This is intentional when you consider its breed is for off-roading. But the other posts are right- lower the tire pressure. That tightens the drive a bit.

(Mine got the nickname War Pig because of it. The guy who was climbing with me said “the thing drives like a pig, but damn theyre cool”. It stuck.

 

[digitalbliss]

It’s not a Ferrari. It will have some play. This is intentional when you consider its breed is for off-roading. But the other posts are right- lower the tire pressure. That tightens the drive a bit.

(Mine got the nickname War Pig because of it. The guy who was climbing with me said “the thing drives like a pig, but damn theyre cool”. It stuck.

One of my favorite Black Sabbath songs. I really like the Cake cover too.

 

[PaPasJP]

I have about 2" and had it in the dealership twice and they looked at everything, checked torques, and drove it. Compared to other Jeeps on the lot, it is normal.

This dealership and I have a great relationship and I trust them but other cars don't have any play.

Just a thought.

I won't be taking it back unless it gets worse.

 

[cabnfvr]

It’s not a Ferrari. It will have some play. ....

The steering complains are legit. For those with no issues it seems like it's just a Jeep thing but it's more than that. It's not a solid axle thing either. With the CJ7s you just held the steering loosely and let her wiggle. This is different. Ours requires very minor but frequent corrections. Others seems to have far worse play requiring even more frequent corrections. Ironically if you let go of the steering wheel it tracks straight. When driving on a straight road the symptom is exactly that of toe out when it should have toe in, wandering and drifting with corrections becoming over corrections. I'm going to make a test rig and check ours just to eliminate that from the equation. (Or resolve it if that is indeed the issue.)

 

[twisty]

The steering complains are legit. For those with no issues it seems like it's just a Jeep thing but it's more than that. It's not a solid axle thing either. With the CJ7s you just held the steering loosely and let her wiggle. This is different. Ours requires very minor but frequent corrections. Others seems to have far worse play requiring even more frequent corrections. Ironically if you let go of the steering wheel it tracks straight. When driving on a straight road the symptom is exactly that of toe out when it should have toe in, wandering and drifting with corrections becoming over corrections. I'm going to make a test rig and check ours just to eliminate that from the equation. (Or resolve it if that is indeed the issue.)

I drove one ruby and the other sport. The ruby was fine the sport had frequent inputs needed. It liked to wander.

 

[TravisRogers]

Ours requires very minor but frequent corrections. Others seems to have far worse play requiring even more frequent corrections. Ironically if you let go of the steering wheel it tracks straight. When driving on a straight road the symptom is exactly that of toe out when it should have toe in, wandering and drifting with corrections becoming over corrections.

This is actually an excellent explanation of the problem. An hour on the highway is exhausting in this thing.

We picked ours up with 40 psi in each tire and an obscene amount of toe-out misalignment. Proper alignment and tire pressure helped a tiny little bit. We've sort of chalked it up to being a Jeep thing for now. If it gets worse we'll address it.

 

[Holymoly1963]

This is actually an excellent explanation of the problem. An hour on the highway is exhausting in this thing.

We picked ours up with 40 psi in each tire and an obscene amount of toe-out misalignment. Proper alignment and tire pressure helped a tiny little bit. We've sort of chalked it up to being a Jeep thing for now. If it gets worse we'll address it.

When you're driving calmly down the highway, see how much you can turn the wheel without the car changing direction. On mine, I can move the wheel back and forth quite a noticeable amount before the Wrangler will change course....that's play baby and it ain't good.

 

[Saejin]

Been tracking multiple threads on this issue and think we need to look at two different things. I can see where some measure play by how much they can move the wheel before the vehicle changes direction and then call this the dead zone. Well, alignment and road and tires can compound this issue.

What needs to be measured is how much can you move the wheel before you feel resistance which is the power steering kicking in to assist. Also another measure is to lift the front end and the see when the wheels react to steering input.

I agree there is some play in the wheel due to how the steering box is designed to work. That’s why there is an adjustment screw on top so the factory can take as much play out as possible.

I also think there are alignment issues so if you this problem make sure the dealer accurately checks your alignment.

 

[The Acme Company]

I have almost 6k miles on my JLUR.

Lowering the tire pressure from 45 to 37 was an immediate improvement.

Letting the tires wear in a little does wonders.

The numbness in the steering or dead spot is the electric assist steering vs the old belt driven hydraulic power steering pump.

You will have to make steering corrections while driving on the road, just like you did in Jk’s, TJ’s, YJ’s and CJ’s.

As it is shaped like a brick, a moderate cross wind will force steering corrections as well.

The chances of a new steering box being out of adjustment is almost nil. Modern material and machining techniques have improved tolerances 10 fold.

For what it’s worth, my JLUR is a significant improvement over my JKUR’s. The BFG mud grips chased every rut in the road and required far more steering input to stay straight. I had 4 as daily drivers 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Give yours a chance to break in and I think you will be quite pleased with the results.

 

[cabnfvr]

I have almost 6k miles on my JLUR.... Give yours a chance to break in and I think you will be quite pleased with the results.

Agreed! We passed 6k on the way down to NC yesterday and it was close to being fine. Interestingly, if you hold the wheel lightly at 12 o'clock it feels perfect. I think 4-8 or 10-2 positions with arms rested on door or console are forcing inputs back into the steering when all it wants to do is react to a road imperfection. I still think a software improvement is possible since we're all electro-hydraulic now. Until then holding the wheel with a light touch is working well.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Have your dealer adjust your steering box. Here is an example video on a JK, same type of adjustment. They adjusted mine and it fixed the problem. Took them 5 minutes when they finally drove mine into the service bay.

 

[PatrickKiser]

It's kind of like riding a horse or in my case, flying an airplane. You just have to relax and 'go with it', not fighting the vehicle, always trying to correct it. The Jeep will be ok. Guys that understand what I'm talking about get it.

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