Steering Problems

I guess you don’t learn anything until it breaks and then you’re forced to. Looks like steering is next in line for me. I’m driving a completely stock 89 XJ. For months I have been having a problem where my steering would bind occasionally as I am trying to turn. I could either struggle to pull through with two hands or slightly jerk the wheel in the opposite direction and then it would break loose and I could continue to pull through my turn. After gathering a lot of data points, I convinced myself that it was temperature dependent. Pulling out of parking lots was no problem but pulling in after a long drive it acted up again. Because I had a new steering pump in there, I concluded that I should replace my gear box. Got a refurbished one at NAPA, installed it after reading as much as I could about how to do so, only to find out that things got worse. The steering is super tight all the time now. I don’t think it’s the column because with the pitman arm off, it spins freely. With the front end lifted, I can turn the wheels with minimal effort (nothing to compare to) and I don’t see anything binding. I have no play in the vertical or horizontal motion of the tires when lifted. I applied grease to all of the zerk fittings. I’m out of ideas. Maybe a steering knuckle, bad bearing, something wrong with my gear box? Any advice at all would be much appreciated. Thanks guys.
< 1k miles on a new… track bar, drag link end, steering stabilizer, power steering pump.

I would check the axle u-joints.

Have you jacked up the front end and had an assistant cycled the steering from stop to stop while you inspect the steering linkage??

Axle u-joints? Hmmm. I'll have to look into that.

Frank, no I haven't had anyone turn the wheel for me. The best I have done is jack up the front end and turn the linkage myself trying to look for anything binding with engine off. There doesn't seem to be a problem until I drop it back down. It seems like there might be a bind that only occurs when the full weight of the jeep is over the front end. I just can't seem to find it. I'll try and grab someone to turn the steering wheel for me why I'm underneath.

U-joints are easy enough to check and might be the problem.

If they appear to be okay, I suggest opening up the diff and inspecting the side/spider gears in the carrier.

Wow, never would have checked the diff. Will do. As for the U-joints, can a visual inspection suffice? To my untrained eyes, they look ok to me.

Get the weight off the wheels and grab the joints. Any movement indicates it's time for a new one.

The front u-joints may be dry and starting to seize,a visual/feel test wont show anything for that!

It's darn near impossible for a front axle u-joint to seize up. There's a lot of weight/mass forcing them to move. If they are dry and have been so for any length of time there will most definitely be enough wear on the needle bearings and trunion to feel by giving the axle yoke a good wiggle.

Ideally the way to confirm the condition of the joints is to remove them from the axle and remove the caps. If you've gone that far, make sure you've got 2 new ones ready to go in.

I've definitely learned my lesson about trying to save a few bucks. I'll replace the u-joints and see if that does it. If not, I figured it would probably need to be done soon enough (that's been my mentality with everything on this Jeep, before I go throwing a lift on her). As for the diff, I wish I knew what I was looking for as I just replaced the fluid in both two weeks ago. Dang!
By any chance, because I just swapped in the new steering gear box, would it need to be adjusted or should it have come from NAPA ready to go? Since I know very little about the adjustments, I'd hate to throw it out of the questions. It might not be a solution given that the problem existed before and after the swap but worth asking.

It's possible to get a bad part right out of the box, but i don't think that's your problem....but I've been wrong before.

Take a look at the side and spider gears, look for broken/missing teeth.

So I wanted to sleep on this before I went and bought parts or too my diff cover off. I will dig into this on Saturday but I am still confused. If there was a problem with the diff, would I be experiencing problems with my steering binding the way it is? My ignorance on the subject doesn't give me a lot ground to stand on but I figured a broken spider gear wouldn't bind the steering. I'd love to hear an explanation. Just another opportunity to learn. Thanks.

I too do not see the corolation between bad U-joints and binding steering. The power steering system should be able to over come that.

I would instead look at the power steering pump, the serpentine belt and the steering gear itself. You could start by disconnecting the drag link from the pitman arm and check that the steering gear is not worn to the point that it is binding on itself. Also, check that the rods are not bent and are contacting areas they should not. Isolate the steering piece by piece while you look for the reason it is binding and require it to be turned in the opposite direction in order to overcome the binding.

Unless there is something really screwed up with your steering linkages, I think the problem would lie in the hydraulic system somewhere. It almost sounds like the internal valving or preload in the box is screwed up. There is a screw on the box that adjusts preload, and if set too high you would get very tight steering. That would probably make the steering a little tight even with the drag link disco'd. Or, the valve that meters high pressure PS fluid into the box as you turn the wheel might not be functioning correctly, so effectively you have no power steering.

If it is a recently purchased box, I would exchange it. Sadly, it is not uncommon for remanufactured boxes to be bad. And I would not feel safe driving with a power steering system behaving that way.

techno1154 said:

I too do not see the corolation between bad U-joints and binding steering. The power steering system should be able to over come that.

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Might want to check out this recent thread!
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1063053

My buddy had to put in 4 remanned steering boxes on his TJ before one of them worked the way it should have, so don't totally buy into the whole "it's new so it can't be the problem." TJ boxes are the same as our XJ's

FWIW, he was having the same problems you were.

If it were the u-joints that were making the steering actually bind, I would imagine he would at least here the classic "click-click-click" of it when he was driving! I figure if they were making the steering actually bind, they would have snapped already and ripped the ball joints out. Although, it is entirely subjective to what his interpretation of "binding" is, so who knows.

RCP Phx said:

Might want to check out this recent thread!
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1063053

Click to expand...

Great post. I'm going to check u-joints right away.

bdahlg said:

If it were the u-joints that were making the steering actually bind, I would imagine he would at least here the classic "click-click-click" of it when he was driving!

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Not necessarily. I had a *very* work U-joint, approximately 15 degrees of play in it along two different trunions, and it made ZERO noise unless I was at full lock steering in reverse down a hill. Damnedest thing... I kept expecting to hear some noise from it once I knew it was bad but nope, silent killer unless in the conditions above.

U-joints can act funny. Just replace them when there is any play. If you have a rusty XJ, might be worth buying a new shaft rather than spend the time rebuilding yours. As a cheaper alternative to the XJ u-joint style shaft, you can buy a ZJ shaft on Rockauto.com for cheap(er)

update?