loose steering

this has probably been solved a million times but hows about that loose steering. i sneezed wile doing 60 on the freeway and changed 2 lanes

dont sneeze and ull be just fine

First place I'd look is at the steering shaft. Have someone move the steering wheel back and forth (say between 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock)while you watch the shaft. Somewhere around the area of the MC there is a coupling in the steering shaft that has a plastic shim inside the coupling that gets worn out. If that shim is bad the steering wheel side of the shaft will move whereas the steering box side won't. If the shim is bad you have to replace the whole shaft.

ill try that some time.
when i first got it my other car has really stiff steering( sports car) and i was driving up to NH i asked my friend is it really windy out i can barely stay in the lane. he laughed there was no wind.

90xj06 said:

ill try that some time.
when i first got it my other car has really stiff steering( sports car) and i was driving up to NH i asked my friend is it really windy out i can barely stay in the lane. he laughed there was no wind.

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I have the same situation. When I switch between my car and Jeep there is a HUGE difference.

As mentioned, have a friend turn the wheel back and fourth just enough that you see movement at the wheels. Check ALL Joints for play including the trackbar. Also make sure your steering box itself isn't loose at the frame. Check your Balljoints and hub bearings as well.

Another stmptom of the a worng shaft is while driving down a stright road the steering wheel will "float" back and forth like between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock

its not that loose. if you just touch the wheel while its parked and running you can see the wheels mover slightly. so there is no play in the wheel and box. but it is just too easy to turn. just needs to be stiffened up. if you get what im trying to say.

You may need an alignment.
Is it stock or lifted?
If lifted the castor could easily be off.

its stock but the passengers spring is broke so there is a a 1in lowering on the passengers side. but i might put a 3in lift on all around

90xj06 said:

its not that loose. if you just touch the wheel while its parked and running you can see the wheels mover slightly. so there is no play in the wheel and box. but it is just too easy to turn. just needs to be stiffened up. if you get what im trying to say.

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The steering box in the XJ is a GM Saginaw unit. These boxes will loosen over time or they may have never been adjusted correctly to begin with or someone may have attempted to adjust the box and did it wrong. There are two adjustments that can be done to compensate for normal wear and to correct for improper adjustment and these are; the worm preload and the overcenter adjustment. Both of these adjustments must be done, together, with the box out of the vehicle. The preload adjustment will remove any slack or "dead spots" in the steering; the overcenter adjustment will modify the on-center feel. The procedure itself is not all that hard to do and when done correctly can make a major improvement in how your XJ steers. Doing it wrong will cause the box to wear and create a funky steering feel and improper function. I've done this adjustment to my '98 GMC P/U (which had a lot of slop in the steering), my '00 XJ and '85 S10; the results in all cases were very satisfying (and the job is a PITA to do but worth to effort IMHO). The procedure is listed in some manuals (my Chiltons S10 manual has it) and I think it is covered in the Chrysler factory service manual.

Good luck,

mike00XJ

well that sounds more than i want to do but thanks for the answer and the fact that it is fixable. thank you.

You didn't say what year and what amount and type of lift you have. The most common cause of touchy steering is not a bad pump but a lack of caster due to a lift. With an XJ, it is a fine line between enough caster to dampen the steering to make it want to go in a straight line, and getting the pinion angles to where you don't eat drive shafts.