Steering question

I have a mildly lifted '89 XJ with all stock steering components. I recently replaced my steering stabilizer, but the steering is still WAY too light for me. I drive on some twisty highways, and I don't like that I get virtually no feedback at all from the front wheels in the steering wheel. Is there any way to tighten up the steering a bit to increase steering effort? It would make this thing a whole lot more comfortable to drive.

Thanks for any help.

Have someone sit in the jeep and rock the steering wheel back and forth a bit and you get down in front of the jeep and watch for play in all of your tie rod ends, steering box, track bar mounts and ball joints. Also look at the shaft running from the steering column at the firewall to the steering gear box. One of the above components is probably worn or it could be a combination of several causing the slop.

Oh, also look for cracks in the frame around the steering box and check the three bolts that secure the box to the frame for tightness.

Last thing is to be sure you're aligned properly. (Check your alignment before you throw parts at it. When I first bought my Cherokee I thought it drove okay until I got it aligned. It drove like a brand new car.)

I'll do that, thanks. I had aligned less than 250 miles ago, so that's probably not it.

Akumachan said:

I'll do that, thanks. I had aligned less than 250 miles ago, so that's probably not it.

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In your case then its going to be worn out parts. How many miles on your xj, do you wheel, and what lift/tires are you running?

I'm running 3-4" lift, made up of junkyard springs with new rough country shocks, LCAs and trackbar. Tires are 31x10.5" Delta Sierradial A/Ts with less than 250 miles on them.

I wheel it a bit, mostly either sand dunes are a fairly rough forest service trail leading to some family property. I had my mechanic put it up on his lift a few months ago and check all the front end linkage. He said there was a bit of slop at the steering box, but everything else seemed fine.

I've had death wobble before, and that's not my current issue. My current issue is that there is no "feeling" at all in the steering. When I'm turning on the mountain roads, I can't tell if anything is happening until the jeep starts turning. I don't know if that makes sense, but in a car set up for twisty roads you can just sense the corner through the steering wheel, and the jeep feels numb. I just wanted the steering feel to be a bit heavier and tighten up the wheel a bit. I can turn the wheel probably 5-10 degrees before the front wheels turn at all.

Perhaps do a Durango box and a wj power steering pump?