Why did you buy a Jeep with bad steering?

[VNT]

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.

so what was wrong, tire pressure too high?

Sponsored

 

[azamani]

Yes, steering is important. My main driver is an '83 pickup so I understand non-sports car steering and bad handling. I must have not been clear in my initial question. People are complaining of serious play in the wheel. I am curious to why they paid their money and drove off the lot with a vehicle they felt was defective. I drove multiple JL's, one had play in the steering and the others did not. Cheers back.

I don't think most people like to admit it was the excitement and emotions at the time of purchase, but it's also very easy to just not notice any flaws during a test drive and then realize later. My salesperson and I were talking during the test drive... I still tried to focus on the performance of the Jeep itself but I can easily understand someone being distracted with all the new features and get caught up in the moment. People like to think they make purchases intellectually, but it's usually emotionally triggered.

Heck, I'll use mine for 10% of it's capabilities, it's just the uniqueness and coolness factor that got me (although I did do plenty of research and also like the basic, functional use of Jeeps vs modern vehicles). Not a single shred of regret though, love mine every day I'm in it.

 

[Wanderingwheelz]

so what was wrong, tire pressure too high?

I didn’t have the Jeep looked at in any way, so I don’t know what it was. My presumption is that it was the tire pressure, yes.

 

[MALL R8D]

Mine doesn't have steering issues--at least not enough to stand out to me. I did air down my tires to slightly less than the blimp pressure they arrived with, and that helped the slight wiggle my husband mentioned. (He drives a sports car though, so his perspective of the steering is different than my own.)

 

[ShaunTheJeep]

Honestly "Bad Steering" wasn't an option when I purchased mine! If it was I might have considered it. I guess it would depend on the upcharge or discount. Is this a feature? Jeep historians could make the claim that if it doesn't drive poorly then it's not a true Jeep... Or I could see evil villains opting for this since a car that drives well and gets good mileage would draw ire from fellow villains. Or maybe simply to save the world? By requesting the one with bad steering, you could become a martyr for the Jeep community, leaving the thousands of good ones for others to enjoy. Even exercise -- I hear bad steering can be better than Zumba for the arms. Overall I could see lots of good reasons to buy a Jeep with bad steering, but alas I went regular on mine so it drives great!

 

[TJ&JL]

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.

You don't really notice it at first until you take it out on the interstate trying to drive in a straight line.If you just drive it around the dealership without going onto the interstate you probably won't notice it. When I bought my Jeep there where no posts about steering and advanced warning of the problem. I wasn't expecting 2 inches of steering play in a new vehicle. To all the people who think it's a solid axle thing, it's not. Every vehicle I own has a solid front axle. Before your jeep get's here test drive others and when you find a bad one you will know what to look for.

 

[18RubiJLU]

‘Bad steering’ option was not available when I custom ordered mine and as expected FCA didn’t include it either!

 

[BillG]

‘Bad steering’ option was not available when I custom ordered mine and as expected FCA didn’t include it either!

It was part of the crappy weld package. Maybe you just missed it.

 

[18RubiJLU]

It was part of the crappy weld package. Maybe you just missed it.

How does crappy weld impact the steering??

 

[BillG]

How does crappy weld impact the steering??

It doesn’t.... I was just lumping the two biggest complaints on the forum into one option package. You must not have ordered the sarcasm detector either

 

[18RubiJLU]

It doesn’t.... I was just lumping the two biggest complaints on the forum into one option package. You must not have ordered the sarcasm detector either

Gotcha

But seriously lemons in a bunch happens all the time everywhere, why would that impact your decision to buy a JL...forums tend to highlight issues more than what they are % wise.

 

[ps2baseball]

I have great welds.

 

[Halfdoor]

If you're going to spend several years and thousands of miles in your Jeep, you should take the time to thoroughly check it out before you buy. I drove 5 or 6 and found things I didn't like with them. The one I bought had 6 miles on it when I got in it. My test drive was 115 miles long. All good, bought it. 7500 miles later, still all good.

 

[MALL R8D]

It doesn’t.... I was just lumping the two biggest complaints on the forum into one option package. You must not have ordered the sarcasm detector either

I made this shirt today.

 

[BillG]

I made this shirt today.

Yep....spirit animal!

Sponsored