Why did you buy a Jeep with bad steering?

[DanPop]

You guys that doubt the problems we are having or the reason why kill me. It's documented that thousands of 4 dr Wranglers got out with steering calibrated with 2 dr specs. It's all related to settings for the electric motor steering pump.
And for the guys saying it's not a sports car and that's how Wrangler thing.... Is it normal for any vehicle with 500 miles on to be able to turn the wheel 1 inch left or right and the tires don't turn?

So anyway my story of stupidity lead from test driving a manual trans, it was spooky. My salesman convinced me it was the BFGoodrich tires. After deciding I wanted an automatic that model had the Michelins, so I didn't test drive the one I bought. BIG MISTAKE.

After 2 trips to dealer and being told nothings wrong, I involved FCA, dealer will be doing TSB Tuesday. After that I may go Lemon Law.

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[viper88]

It's a solid front axle, so it'll never steer like an Audi or BMW. You do have to make slight corrections to keep it straight, but you get used to it. The steering is actually pretty tight when you're making full turns. It's only slightly loose on center.

There are definitely good ones and bad ones. I drove 2 JLs with the steering issue people are talking about. One was dangerous. I drove another JL a few days ago and it steered perfectly. I think you got lucky and got a good one.

I don't own a JL yet but I test drove about a dozen. I owned 2 other solid front axle Wranglers, a 1997 TJ and a 2015 JK. I think it's more then how a solid front axle drives. I do agree with you about Wrangler steering box never feeling like a Audi or BMW with rack in pinion.

 

[TravisRogers]

I thought it might have been perception also until I test drove different JLs myself. I drove about a dozen different JLs. I daily drive a sports car with excellent steering and most of the JLs I test drove were fine. A couple were not fine, it was very obvious. I have owned several cars with electro-hydraulic steering also. I think there are definitely some JLs out in the wild with steering issues.

Great points. I do think a lack in consistent quality on delivery plays a role. I drove about five JLs before ordering mine and I noted that each one felt completely different. Two of them (including mine) were so out of alignment that you could actually see it. Another had a caster issue where the wheel wouldn't return to center without physically steering it back to center (almost wrecked that one). And one felt fine though it required much more effort to steer than the others.

Then there are environmental factors (temperature, wind, road conditions, speed, etc.) that also play a role in how the things drive. I didn't notice the drift until about a week of driving. And even now it feels like it's worse sometimes than others. The other day I was driving home and thought, "Wow, it's driving so nicely." Then the pavement changed and it went back to being drunk.

One thing that helps is driving through a sketchy area. I work in Baltimore, so I'm often so focused on sheer survival that I don't have time to think about the drifty steering. Or anything else Jeep related. Don't like the welds? How about you focus on getting us out of here because there's a squeegee boy taking a leak on your rear quarter panel. I'm not saying it's right for everyone but it helps.

 

[grady2hig]

My steering is fine.

 

[Wanderingwheelz]

I test drove multiple JLs, every single one had the horrible steering. But, I knew that it was an electronic steering motor powering the pump and I made a bet that a software flash would cure it...and it did. So, I am happy I went ahead and brought one home.

Unfortunately, dealers/people/FCA started jacking around with the steering boxes before they gave the software fixes time to make it around the nation so now we've got hardware issues too and it has compounded the problem.

I wonder how any times this guy has been struck by lightening?

That’s incredible that you drove a bunch of new JLs that all exhibited the same steering flaw.

 

[SouthernDawg]

My JLUR does not drive like a high end sedan. However, it does not have 1 inch of play in the steering wheel. I have other options to drive, but I prefer to drive my JLUR every single day.

 

[RubenZ]

Are you kidding me? 1” of play is nothing.

 

[Bearman95]

Mine does not have a steering issue. As a matter of fact, I find the steering to be much improved over my previous JKs. The steering feels like a regular SUV now.

I agree about the steering. I have owned a new CJ five, a new TJ, and two new JK’s .The steering on my JL Rubicon is much better than either one of those previously mentioned.

 

[bmac]

A healthy lowering of expectations before going into Jeep ownership makes for a positive ownership experience.

I honestly think the steering issue has a lot to do with perception and what you drove before you bought the JL. .

Shouldn't expectations be higher when you pay such a premium to buy a Wrangler?

If you read through any of the steering threads you will see it is not perception in the vast majority of cases. I have test driven 4. 2 were good, 1 was not good, and 1 was terrible.

 

[cmsdms]

Sorry, I swear I'm not being a jerk who is rubbing salt in wounds. I have a 2 door Rubicon on order and I am curious to why those who are having play in the steering problems bought the thing. Did the issues creep up after purchase? Were they not noticed during purchase due to the excitement level of a new Jeep? As I said, I have one on order and I'm both excited and already mentally prepared that it will have play in the wheel and I will have to walk away.

I rejected mine when in came in the other day. Had so much play it was dangerous

 

[WXman]

I wonder how any times this guy has been struck by lightening?

That’s incredible that you drove a bunch of new JLs that all exhibited the same steering flaw.

Not incredible at all. If they are making a mistake at the factory, then huge numbers of JLs could (and did) easily get the same error.

 

[VNT]

Mine is fine, but reality is with the electronic assist, replaces the conventional belt driven pump, they can dial in any firmness/feedback they want, in my SRT through the performance pages, I can tighten up the feel/firmness by putting in sport or track modes. Ditto the shock valving with the Bilsteins and Trans performance, suprised they didnt do something similiar to the steering, throttle and shift points to give customers options and toys to play with in the off road pages.

I would also guess alignment and tire pressure can impact the feel, too high of pressure can make these wander all over the place, test drove 2 and they had them at 41 PSI, told my friend in sales WTH you doing, if you want to sell these to someone coming from a car, correct the tire pressure so they will steer better, bet you have lost sales because of this.

 

[Wanderingwheelz]

Mine is fine, but reality is with the electronic assist, replaces the conventional belt driven pump, they can dial in any firmness/feedback they want, in my SRT through the performance pages, I can tighten up the feel/firmness by putting in sport or track modes. Ditto the shock valving with the Bilsteins and Trans performance, suprised they didnt do something similiar to the steering, throttle and shift points to give customers options and toys to play with in the off road pages.

I would also guess alignment and tire pressure can impact the feel, too high of pressure can make these wander all over the place, test drove 2 and they had them at 41 PSI, told my friend in sales WTH you doing, if you want to sell these to someone coming from a car, correct the tire pressure so they will steer better, bet you have lost sales because of this.

Exactly. My wife was a ‘no’ vote on a JL after the first test drive. The thing was all over the place. When she and I switched I could easily see what she experienced.

Thankfully we didn’t give up after just the one mess of a Jeep. The one we own drives very, very nicely.

 

[old8tora]

That is reassuring.

Better test drive your purchase at highway speeds and double check .

 

[jeremyjeep]

FYI: Most don't have the JL steering problem, but many who do own a JL with steering issues are previous owners of Wranglers (example here) and already have low steering expectations. Many have also found other JLs by test driving other JLs on the lot, met up with other JL owners from the JL forum, etc. to confirm and have a reference of how it should steer.

They expect a BMW to drive a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale, and they expect their Wrangler to drive at a 5, but not for it to drive at a negative 5 on the 1 to 10 scale. Sometimes tire pressure, loose ball joints, the TSB can completely resolve some of the issues, other times it brings it from a negative 5 to a negative 3. Better, but still has issues. Many had the steering flash TSB applied before any changes to the steering box and the TSB didn't fix it.

Reach out to anyone on this forum who has the steering problem in your area and they will be glad to meet with you and let you test drive it to see for yourself. You will then understand.

Steering survey thread: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/wrangler-steering-issues-survey.12343/
Survey results: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...xM0ZQzjhMVaXo8TICWUZN3xrsSpGo3g/viewanalytics
Example of someone who owned previous Wranglers and has a JL with steering issues (read original post at the top): https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...use-of-the-crap-steering-good-bye-jeep.14924/
JL Steering article from TFL Car: https://www.tflcar.com/2018/09/2018-jeep-wrangler-jl-steering-problem/

Survey results so far:

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