Steering Slack/Slop

I recently went from a 3.5" lift with 31" tires to a 6" long arm lift with 33" tires. I put on new axles that I aquired that had already been geared 4.56. When I put the new lift on, I immediatly noticed a difference in steering. There is some play in the steering wheel that was not there before. About a quarter of a turn either way before there actually is a steering response.

Before the new lift, the steering was excellent with no play at all on the 3.5" lift. I did not add any new steering components except a drop pitman arm and a new trackbar. The axle I put under there was not new. I can see it already needs the passenger side seal replaced as it is leaking. Could the axle be my problem? If so, what part?

I don't think it is the steering shaft could be the problem as this did not happen gradually, but immediately upon the new lift installation. If you need pictures to help diagnose this issue, I will post them up when the morning comes as it is dark outside right now. Thanks.
:repair:

I would check your ball joints. I that is usually the first thing I try and tackle when I get an old axle, I like to replace them since they are usually overlooked and will cause som slop if the are gone, even to the amount that you are mentioning.

Check your new trackbar for play, also your pittman arm. Put the fron end on jackstands and have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth while you're under there looking at things. You should be able to isolate the source of the slop, then it's a matter of addressing it.


Post back when you find out what it is, we'll throw peanuts from the gallery then.

Pics would definately help.Do your first tests with the wheels on the groung,it will provide resistance forcing other things to want to move before the wheels start to turn!

What should I be looking for with the pitman arm? What about it could be a problem? Also, with the track bar, should I just be looking to see that it is tightened correctly?

I will play with it tomorrow and post back what I find. Thanks again guys.

You are looking for any movement in joints where one side of the joint does not move exactly with the other side. Have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth, just to the point of tightening up the slack- no need to start the jeep. Example: a tie rod end, as the steering wheel goes back and forth you notice that the tie rod end and the piece it fits into on the steering knuckle start moving at slightly different times. The tie rod moves and nothing happens with the knuckle for a fraction of a second: that is slack in the joint being used up before the knuckle is dragged along. With slack in the joint, you get loose steering. Do this at all joints: tie rod ends, drag link -to-pitman arm, and both ends of the track bar. Then inspect the control arm bushings (not likely the problem in my experience). Then jack up the front axle and put it on jackstands and have someone pry up on the wheel while you watch the ball joints: any movement at all, and they need replacing. On my 1990 with 260,000 km (164,000 miles) I have replaced the ball joints, tie rod ends and drag link twice, track bar twice, and control arm bushings once (I used polyurethane replacements - not happy with the increased harshness there).

Thanks 4XBob!! I will be checking all that out tomorrow. If I find any wierd movement, which I am sure I will, I will post it back here.

Happy 4th everyone! atriot:

Mikey said:

I recently went from a 3.5" lift with 31" tires to a 6" long arm lift with 33" tires. I put on new axles that I aquired that had already been geared 4.56. When I put the new lift on, I immediatly noticed a difference in steering. There is some play in the steering wheel that was not there before. About a quarter of a turn either way before there actually is a steering response.

Before the new lift, the steering was excellent with no play at all on the 3.5" lift. I did not add any new steering components except a drop pitman arm and a new trackbar. The axle I put under there was not new. I can see it already needs the passenger side seal replaced as it is leaking. Could the axle be my problem? If so, what part?

I don't think it is the steering shaft could be the problem as this did not happen gradually, but immediately upon the new lift installation. If you need pictures to help diagnose this issue, I will post them up when the morning comes as it is dark outside right now. Thanks.
:repair:

Click to expand...

Well yea if it was immediate it could be the axle, but also i could be the immediate change from 3.5" to 6". Most recommend 4-5" on stock arms and stock STEERING COMPONETS. You got long arms but did not adress the inverted Y setup. You need a cross over type steering system, like Rugged Ridge. They make a cheap one for like $165 with new drag and tie rod and its slightly stronger than stock.

emr1101 said:

Well yea if it was immediate it could be the axle, but also i could be the immediate change from 3.5" to 6". Most recommend 4-5" on stock arms and stock STEERING COMPONETS. You got long arms but did not adress the inverted Y setup. You need a cross over type steering system, like Rugged Ridge. They make a cheap one for like $165 with new drag and tie rod and its slightly stronger than stock.

Click to expand...

Oh please,the RR set-up is not going to work with that much lift(been there,done that).

He did prefix it with Cheap. Check all the joints, TRE's, ball joints, etc. Converting to WJ, or JCR style setup is also desired from the steering standpoint. Send some pics.

I just talked to a buddy last night that put ZJ steering components on his TJ. He said it was a direct bolt on and was way beefier than his stock stuff. I may look into that as he paid about $150 for all of it brand new from NAPA.

But of course I will check it all out to see what the problem is first before I go overboard and start replacing everything.

markw said:

He did prefix it with Cheap. Check all the joints, TRE's, ball joints, etc. Converting to WJ, or JCR style setup is also desired from the steering standpoint. Send some pics.

Click to expand...

Cheaper because RR uses stock style TRE so you do not have to ream the knuckles, JCR uses larger 1ton. That is the only difference and should not deter one from a quality steering upgrade!

RCP Phx said:

Oh please,the RR set-up is not going to work with that much lift(been there,done that).

Click to expand...

:bs: :dunno: been there, ok. Done something wrong more likely. The RR set-up will work just fine with 6" of lift.

what you have there is very common to people with 6 inchs of lift, it is called the 6+ dead zone around here.

One of the only way to deal with it we have round is the rr setup.

Whatever steering setup he has, there's some slop in it. No point in upgrading anything until he finds out where the slop is.

fubar XJ said:

Whatever steering setup he has, there's some slop in it. No point in upgrading anything until he finds out where the slop is.

Click to expand...

Agreed on the slop BUT a steering upgrade is a very GOOD point at 6+ inches reguardless of slop.

True, since you're running 33"-35" tires at that point, and that's a lot of leverage on the skinny stock stuff. But if his slop is completely unrelated to his steering links, (ball joints, loose steering box or pittman arm/shaft slop) then he's just spent money that didn't correct his problem.

It's a process, but it certainly isn't a bad idea to upgrade the drag link / tie rod as part of the overall fix.

ColoradoRaptor said:

:bs: :dunno: been there, ok. Done something wrong more likely. The RR set-up will work just fine with 6" of lift.

Click to expand...

Might want to read this thread about RR steering.
Thats strange, you didnt speak up then??
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=929355

RCP Phx said:

Might want to read this thread about RR steering.
Thats strange, you didnt speak up then??
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=929355

Click to expand...

It seems ok, but you are tied to them for replacement parts. The JCR and Parts Mike setups use Chebbie TRE's and straight threaded DOM, so if you bend a TRE you can source a replacement locally. Now with that said, I've had the whole weight of the front of the jeep on the JCR rod, and it bent a little bit. I flipped it back at camp, hit jacked it up with a bottle jack and it's fairly straight again. The bend was oh so minor, where the stock system would've crumpled. This was on the Saturday run at KOH with Cal spotting me, that was february, I haven't had issues with it since and I've done quite a few more runs.

Well....... I am sorry that this thread has turned into an argument over whose weiner is bigger. :laugh: LOL!

I was able to get under the XJ today while someone was turning the wheel back and forth. The tie rods and drag link looked as though they where operating fine. Did not see any slack at any of those points. I kept looking as the steering kept turning back and forth and duh..... I looked past the steering linkage that I was so focused on to see that the track bar was loose where it attached to the axle. It was shifting a little as the steering moved back and forth. I put a lock washer behind the nut, tightened it down, and drove it around. Steering felt much tighter!

It sucks being stupid. :banghead: