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steering problems

ezmoney333

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Kentucky
Hey all! I have a 96 XJ I have had for a while, when I first bought it, I was driving it home and noticed it was pulling to the right. It would not center itself after a turn. I found a bad TRE, and replaced it. Still the same thing. I have checked everything I know to check for slack and cant find any at all. Is there anything I could be missing?
 
Hey all! I have a 96 XJ I have had for a while, when I first bought it, I was driving it home and noticed it was pulling to the right. It would not center itself after a turn. I found a bad TRE, and replaced it. Still the same thing. I have checked everything I know to check for slack and cant find any at all. Is there anything I could be missing?

Before the alignment make sure nothing else is loose like the trac bar or ball joints/wheel bearings, etc.

Lift vehicle, grab tires on top and bottom and check for play.
Have someone turn wheel left and right while looking at trac bar top and bottom, etc...

Do you have a lift?
If so maybe the pinion angle (caster?) isn't set correctly.
Let us know!
 
Before the alignment make sure nothing else is loose like the trac bar or ball joints/wheel bearings, etc.

Lift vehicle, grab tires on top and bottom and check for play.
Have someone turn wheel left and right while looking at trac bar top and bottom, etc...

Do you have a lift?
If so maybe the pinion angle (caster?) isn't set correctly.
Let us know!


It has a lift now but it was acting this way before the lift too. I have checked all the ball joints and wheel bearings. Thanks for any help.
 
So today I went back to check some more for loose parts. I found an UCA with some wiggle to it. I also had my wife to turn the steering wheel while I looked underneath and the front axle appeared to move laterally. Forgive me but is this normal? I checked my toe and adjusted it accordingly. The wandering seems to be better, but still can't get the steering to recenter after a turn. Also, is it normal for a ps pump to whine with the smallest turn of the steering wheel? Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
The track bar is supposed to prevent the axle from moving laterally. You can get play at the TRE on the frame mount, or at the bolt on the axle bracket (usually the hole gets widened and allows the bolt to wiggle around inside). Get under the car with your wife turning the wheels again, and check both ends of the track bar very closely...sometimes it is easier to feel than to see the play.

And no, the PS pump should not whine. Usually that is caused by air in the PS fluid. The procedure to bleed is to remove the cap on the PS reservoir, and with the engine running turn the wheels back and forth slowly. You want to go as far each direction as you can without hitting the stops. Do this for several minutes, then let it idle with the cap off for a few minutes to let the air work out (you'll see it bubbling up in the reservoir). Replace the cap and see if it whines when you steer. You may have to repeat the procedure several times. If after bleeding it multiple times it shows no sign of improvement, there is probably a problem with the PS hardware (either the pump or the gearbox)...which would also help explain why the steering doesn't return to center.

The other thing that affects steering return-to-center is caster. Lifting the Jeep reduces caster and can cause these problems. Do you know what your current caster measurement is?
 
According to my caster measurement it is off bad. I will try to bleed the air out of my PS system to see if that helps the whining. BTW the return to center problem was before and after the lift, maybe the caster was off before the lift???
 
I have bled the PS system, still have a whine, maybe the pump is bad??? It is not real hard to steer, just whines real bad. Gets louder with higher RPM's. Could this cause my wheels not to return to center?
 
I have bled the PS system, still have a whine, maybe the pump is bad??? It is not real hard to steer, just whines real bad. Gets louder with higher RPM's. Could this cause my wheels not to return to center?


Doubtful.... Sounds like it could be caster to me...
 
I drove the jeep again today around the block. I went one direction so all the corners were right hand turns, no return to center. Turned around so all corners were left handed, return to center was better dependant on speed really. BTW, I adjusted caster as close as I could get it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
Just for the sake of doing it, I measured crossways from the front wheels to rear wheels. One measurement was longer than the other, like it is not square. Is this something to worry with, or nothing to even take into account.
 
Hmmmm.... That could be any number of things...

Could be thrust angle is off. Perhaps an alignment pin in the rear axle is bent or missing. Though this is not very common.

Could be a dragging brake on one side.

Could be a bent control arm.

I still recommend an alignment. I just got mine done for < $100 and they check everything for wear/damage before they put it on the jig. And I have 90 days to take it back for free if I tinker with it.
 
Today I checked some on the XJ. What I found was a LCA that moved sideways on the axle end. I can have someone move the steering wheel while watching the track bar, it moves up and down at the body end. I can grab the trackbar by hand and try to wiggle it and get no movement. BTW checked my caster as per http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAlignment.htm and got 87*.
 
I have up and down movement at the frame end of my TB. I have a new one on the way, what is the best way to change these? I also have new LCA bushings on the way. Hopefully this cures my problem.
 
Got my Track bar put in, still have leteral movement in my axle. I think the hole on the axle end mount is wollowed, gonna try to get a bigger bolt and fix this. Onto the LCA bushing, the new bushing shouldn't slide in should it? Does this mean my control arm itself is bad? Thanks for any help.
 
So yesterday I had a friend look at my front axle moving, he said jeeps are supposed to do that. I dont see how they are supposed to do that with the axle going one way and the body going the other.
 
I drove the jeep again today around the block. I went one direction so all the corners were right hand turns, no return to center. Turned around so all corners were left handed, return to center was better dependant on speed really. BTW, I adjusted caster as close as I could get it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
There is no return to center feature in the power steering gear. It is all caused by the caster. I rebuild a ton of steering gears for folks.
 
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