Loose steering

seabass1858 · Feb 12, 2010

i have a problem with my jeep wondering. i would go down the road and i can turn the steering wheel left and right to go streight, that beeing said the allignment is perfict, the ball joints are good, the wheel bearings are good, tie rod endings, trac bar, and stablizer is good. what could it be? all the hard suspension parts are perfict or new.

Brad M. · Feb 12, 2010

What year jeep and how many miles? If all other components are good I would suspect steering box or steering shaft. My XJ has 131k miles on it and the box is getting sloppy. Feels like I'm steering it with a limp noodle.

seabass1858 · Feb 12, 2010

year1995 185k miles. so would a steering box adjustment be good or replacement? i replaced everything else

Brad M. · Feb 12, 2010

With 185k miles, replace it. If you really want an improvement go with a YJ box. Or if you've coin to drop, go with PSC:

http://www.pscmotorsports.com/jeep-steering-gears-tj-xj-yj-zj-steering-gears-c-137_54_58.html

Another thing you might look into is your power steering pump. It may or may not be contributing to the problem, but if you upgrade the box it's a good time to upgrade the pump too. Here's a good thread on that:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=946090

Hope this helps.

SanDiegoOverland · Feb 12, 2010

have someone turn the wheel back and forth rapidly and while they're doing so, take a flashlight and look at the upper connection/slip joint where the upper and lower steering shaft meet near the firewall.

I'll bet $10.00 thats where your slop is.

there is a rubber bushing in there that wears out and starts to allow movement. It's supposedly not replaceable, but a new shaft can be
had for about $100.00 from a place like www.morris4x4center.com

I've been told the ears of both shafts create a safety mechanism that
does not allow steering failure if the bushing wears out, but as with
mine, yours (if this is the problem) needs to be addressed ASAP

soopergoober · Feb 12, 2010

SanDiegoOverland said:
have someone turn the wheel back and forth rapidly and while they're doing so, take a flashlight and look at the upper connection/slip joint where the upper and lower steering shaft meet near the firewall.

I'll bet $10.00 thats where your slop is.

there is a rubber bushing in there that wears out and starts to allow movement. It's supposedly not replaceable, but a new shaft can be
had for about $100.00 from a place like www.morris4x4center.com

I've been told the ears of both shafts create a safety mechanism that
does not allow steering failure if the bushing wears out, but as with
mine, yours (if this is the problem) needs to be addressed ASAP

^X2 I've had this problem on my chevy 1500. Check the shaft.

Matthew Currie · Feb 12, 2010

After checking the shaft, if you still haven't found all the play, have your friend wiggle the wheel while you observe the pitman (output) shaft of the steering box, and watch for side play. This is also very common at the age you're at, and you can't adjust it out. It's new bearings or new box.

Loose steering

seabass1858

NAXJA Forum User

Brad M.

NAXJA Forum User

seabass1858

NAXJA Forum User

Brad M.

NAXJA Forum User

SanDiegoOverland

NAXJA Forum User

soopergoober

NAXJA Forum User

Matthew Currie

NAXJA Member #760

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