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What actually _is_ normal steering?

Jnez2006

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I had a similar experience as you driving a few hours home from the dealer when I purchased mine a year ago. I think the majority of my steering issues come from a dead spot in the steering, which leads to overcompensating, which leads to driver-induced swerving. After a year of driving it, my muscle memory jerks the wheel to take up the "slack" before applying normal steering pressure. So, I don't really have any problems steering now.... Until I drive another vehicle and then I'm all over the road.

BTW, my wife won't drive my Jeep at all.. I'm still undecided if that's such a bad thing.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I have a new 2021 sport s. Drove off the lot and had a terrifying experience where I felt like I had no control over the wheel and was swerving all over the place. I was coming from only ever having driven BMW’s and chalked it up to “a Jeep thing” and just a lack of experience with non-sports cars. Weeks went by and the steering was driving me mad. I was online on all the forums and was trying to figure out if my steering was the same bad JL steering that other drivers were experiencing. What I realized after much experimentation was that the vehicle drives perfectly fine, it is just that the dead zone in the wheel allows for more freedom in hand movement. The swerving and generally bad steering was all just the Jeep responding to my subtle inputs. If I one hand it then it’s smooth sailing. If I’m at 10 and 2 and try to muscle it then I am all over the place. How poorly the Jeep drive directly correlates to how poorly I drive.
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emptyminded42

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My 2018 had steering wander and what felt like really overboosted/light feel. I assumed this was just how SFA trucks drove or just a "Jeep thing" vs. how my other passenger cars drove - tight and responsive.

I got my steering gear replaced yesterday and after ~50 miles of in-town and back roads between 35 and 50 mph it's night and day better. It now has steering like my other vehicles. So in my opinion, there should be absolutely minimal difference between the steering feel and feedback in a properly set-up JLU and a normal CUV like my wife's Forester.

If it's light, has a deadzone in the middle, or wanders around requiring constant correction - something is wrong.

Don't accept SFA as a reason for shitty steering. If you have a 2020 or earlier get your steering gear replaced. There's no excuse for garbage steering.
 

Aceman

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Rdmitch summed it up perfectly. A portion of the JL's are just plain horrible to drive, way outside the purview of what's acceptable for a Jeep.

The fact that that there's a TSB that replaces the aluminum steering box with a cast iron one tells you everything you need to know. Not to mention the fact that dealers are having trouble obtaining the new steering boxes because there are so many Jeep owners, worldwide, requesting them. Jeep drags their heels with everything until they hit a tipping point where buybacks begin to cost them more money than actually fixing the existing problem. The TSB is an acknowledgement of a problem and their attempt to rectify it after stonewalling customers for 3 years.

Only after Jeep agreed to buyback my JL did my dealer admit that he wouldn't have driven my Jeep on the highway. Too dangerous, he said. This same dealer told me it "drives as designed" during multiple visits to fix the steering problem. The dealers tow a corporate line or face consequences.
 

daveprice7

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I think you hit the nail on the head. I have a new 2021 sport s. Drove off the lot and had a terrifying experience where I felt like I had no control over the wheel and was swerving all over the place. I was coming from only ever having driven BMW’s and chalked it up to “a Jeep thing” and just a lack of experience with non-sports cars. Weeks went by and the steering was driving me mad. I was online on all the forums and was trying to figure out if my steering was the same bad JL steering that other drivers were experiencing. What I realized after much experimentation was that the vehicle drives perfectly fine, it is just that the dead zone in the wheel allows for more freedom in hand movement. The swerving and generally bad steering was all just the Jeep responding to my subtle inputs. If I one hand it then it’s smooth sailing. If I’m at 10 and 2 and try to muscle it then I am all over the place. How poorly the Jeep drive directly correlates to how poorly I drive.
Just to follow up.. I had my steering box replaced under the infamous steering TSB for 2018-2020 model years ("upgrading" it to the 2021 steering box that you likely have in yours) and it eliminated the dead spot in the center of the steering range for me. My wife ended up getting a 2020 and her's has had no issues at all. I can drive either of them with one hand or white-knuckled 10 & 2 and I'm not all over the road.

I've read some folks who got the 2021 steering box to replace their 18-20 box and their dead spot didn't get any better, so it's possible that even though yours is newer and I don't believe is covered by the steering box TSB that mine was, you may have ended up with a clunker if you're having dead spot issues. On mine, it was an actual dead spot (I could shake the wheel driving straight and the vehicle would not flinch), though in some cases it's just a lack of steering feel/feedback where the steering is just so light in the center that it makes it difficult to gauge how much input is needed to correct for wind/road crown, etc. You can probably get used to the light steering, if you have a range of input on your steering wheel that actually move the wheels on the road, I'd get that looked at.
 

Rdmitch

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after my box was replaced, it went from meh steering to enjoyable. Still drives like a jeep bumpy and loud, but at least it stays in the lane. Keep in mind it will never be a BMW but steering will be much improved.
Get the upgrade if you have a issue, if your pleased with your current steering enjoy the ride and consider yourself fortunate.
 

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Cuyose

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I have a 2020 Rubicon and while it wasn't as precise as my Mazda CX-5, after 10K miles it seems just like any other vehicle I have owned, I never think about steering. Its just as easy to drive where I point it as any other, unless there are huge crosswinds, but that's physics, not steering geometry or anything. I would say if you are having issues keeping it in a lane whereas you never had that issue before in a previous vehicle, your steering is not right.
 

californiajeeping

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What was the wife driving previously?

My wife has been driving my JLUR lately as her SUV is in getting hail damage sorted. She says the Jeep drives like shit as the steering is darty. I have all the Synergy stuff, lift kit, yada, yada. Only thing left is a new PSC steering kit.

But I don't mind the Jeep and drive it long distances without fatigue doing so.

So a lot of "what is normal" depends on what you've been driving for the past 6+ months regularly that has conditioned you to how something should drive.

A solid axle vehicles will steer different. It is the nature of the way the steering works versus a modern rack and pinion setup. Does that make it bad? Nope - just different.

Some people have more trouble dealing with the "just different" part than others. A Jeep comes with some very real compromises that can make it not an ideal daily driver for many people -- but they end up still buying them because they think they are "cool" or whatever. Then they are not happy, come on here, bitch and moan about the steering or ride quality, and we are where we are.
Wife fix. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...g-stabilizer-new-for-jeeps.84839/post-1850953
 

offcamber

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I was in the same camp as the OP. New Sahara and never owned a Jeep. Just came out of a Ford F150 4x4. Same experience with mine, and every other one I test drove that day.

i had the opportunity not long ago to compare my experience with my brother who sold his a few years back. His reply? Get used to it. The steering is just not as tight as the rack & pinion stuff on the road today. I dont think the OP is talking about shimmies and obviously malfunctioning steering, but the normal loose, dead spot steering, like what those of us old enough to remember what car steering felt like in the 70s, just a certain amount of play in the wheel.

Im not trying to be flip when i mention to just get used to it. Nor am I knocking Jeep. I just came off a 5000mi roadtrip in my JLU Sahara and Im now madly in love with it. You will not make it drive like a foreign sportscar, nor will it steer like a current model Honda. It makes my F150 feel like it steers like a roadster in comparison. But, I think, its designed with a certain amount of play in the wheel for when youre off roading and going slow over rocky rough terrain and so the wheel doesnt tear itself out of your hands.

So, get used to it. Overtime you’ll subconsciously coarse correct, keeping active on the wheel as you guide your Jeep down the center of the lane. It will eventually become less white knuckle, and more subconscious guidance. I don't regret mine and Im never going back.
I'd suggest not settling that as normal. I have a 2018 JLUR that I've had for 3 years. Since day one it has driven as well as my wife's Grand Cherokee. I lifted it with a Mopar lift about 3 months after getting it and put it on 37's with Mopar Beadlocks. It still drives as well. i've driven it to Florida from Dallas not long after I lifted it and last summer I drove it out to Vegas, up thorugh Utah and back through Colorado. I've done the same drive in my wife's ecodiesel Grand Cherokee and it was just as well mannered as it. I can easily drive it with one hand lazily on the wheel. I can take my hands off the wheel and it holds the lane pretty well for 1/4 mile or so (unless there is significant wind). I've had service loaner Jeeps when it was in for maintenance (I have about 50K miles on it) that were in no way the same so I know that some Jeeps have some vague steering. Anyone I know that complains I tell them to take theirs back and make them fix it. It should NOT wander all over the road just because it's a jeep.
 

OBD

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I've owned and driven multiple wranglers over the years and still have a 2001 TJ mostly for off-road. Have been on fence about purchasing a new JLU and have not only test driven a few but have rented a couple. I can say, almost every JLU has had wondering, more so than any wrangler or other solid axle jeep I have driven. It's concerning to me and no - it's not how jeeps steer. My TJ had no wondering when new and even now with 20 years under it's belt, lifts, large tires and a lot of armor the steering isn't much worse. They've got something dialed in wrong and for whatever reason don't wan to admit and fix.
Wife really wants the JLU, but giving up her '14 Grand Cherokee may be tough.
My perception exactly. The 2021 is my 3rd Wrangler 2 door, and by far the worst driving vehicle ...from the factory... I have ever owned. I hate to see this post as I planned to replace my tires and wheels with what are on his.I fully expect to see some sort of class action on the JL steering.
 

offcamber

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My perception exactly. The 2021 is my 3rd Wrangler 2 door, and by far the worst driving vehicle ...from the factory... I have ever owned. I hate to see this post as I planned to replace my tires and wheels with what are on his.I fully expect to see some sort of class action on the JL steering.
Take it back to the dealer. Don't accept the BS, "it's a jeep, thats how they are BS". It isn't. Mine drives perfectly, even on 37" tires on beadlocks.
 
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DwnSth

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My perception exactly. The 2021 is my 3rd Wrangler 2 door, and by far the worst driving vehicle ...from the factory... I have ever owned. I hate to see this post as I planned to replace my tires and wheels with what are on his.I fully expect to see some sort of class action on the JL steering.
Very old post. We ended up getting a 2021 JLURD in October of 20. This had the new steering box from the factory. Turns out many Jeeps on the lot had tire pressures in the 40's which make for a horrible ride. The jeep drove excellent after airing down between 32 and 34. Now we're on 37's with a 2" lift, still drives very good. Not perfect and not like a Grand Cherokee, but definitly better than TJ's and JK's. I can't speak for all JL's but ours is good.
 

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Very old post. We ended up getting a 2021 JLURD in October of 20. This had the new steering box from the factory. Turns out many Jeeps on the lot had tire pressures in the 40's which make for a horrible ride. The jeep drove excellent after airing down between 32 and 34. Now we're on 37's with a 2" lift, still drives very good. Not perfect and not like a Grand Cherokee, but definitly better than TJ's and JK's. I can't speak for all JL's but ours is good.
32 psi in my 37" KO2s and I'm skating on grease. 25-28 psi and it's a pleasure. No lift so factory steering angles.
 
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Exact Center

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I have a 2021 JLUR 392 XR 35's 4" factory lift. pressure is 40 and I never change it. It seems good. I do have the 130lb Exact Center so that hides the wind, slush, rain, 3-4" of snow. All are invisible. Snow is fun. Nothing moves you. I will not let my wife drive because the throttle response could get away from her. Push a bit too hard and it is Drag strip launch and that will scare her
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