Dead Spot In Steering, Dangerous At High Speed

OK, 96 XJ Up_Country

158,000 miles

Last Summer, out of nowhere the steering went crazy. Was first diagnosed as a bad steering box. Put in a NAPA stock replacement box.

Turns out, the problem was the KOR track bar. Put in a Rugged Ridge track bar and bracket: http://www.ruggedridge.com/hd-adj-front-track-bar-18205-05.html

Also put in a Moog HD steering damper with a lifetime warranty: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Catalog&utm_source=Header&pt=02894&ppt=C0203

Problem solved.

Was going to sell the Jeep, waiting for some money to come in. Tires had 59,000 miles on them. I'd hoped to sell the Jeep without having to put tires on it, but they were nearly bald, dry-rotted, and one of them was starting to separate. I put a set of Yokahama Geolander AT GO15s on it in 255/60-16.

https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/geolandar-a-t-g015

They said they couldn't align it because the ball joints and a tie rod end were bad.

Sigh .... guess I'll be keeping her for awhile.

So we replaced all 4 ball joints, and both tie rod ends. The control arm bushings looked a little sketchy, so we replaced the control arms with Moog Problem Solvers.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4203615&cc=1180314&jsn=25

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4202976&cc=1180314&jsn=26

Replaced the sway bar end links, too.

The power steering pump had been giving me problems, too. In really cold weather, It was really jerky, and sometimes didn't work at all for the first 1/10th of a mile, or so. We replaced it with a stocker from NAPA.

When I was driving it to be aligned, it felt all darty and janky, but I thought that was because of the alignment being out. No such luck. It's been aligned, but it drives like a completely different vehicle. There's a noticeable dead spot in the wheel that appears to me to be worse at some times than others.

That's not all, though. I bought this Jeep new in 1996, and I've always loved the way it drove; almost like a sports coupe. Solid, tight steering, even at 90-95 mph. Now, it feels mushy and sloppy. The faster you go, the worse it gets. I took it up to 85 today, and nearly lost control.

I thought the dead spot in the wheel might be tie rod end roll, but we got up under it this evening and turned the wheel back and forth; couldn't see anything that looked wrong.

Does anyone have any ideas?

check the track bar again. and make sure that non of the parts are starting to fail. also check the steering shaft the u-joint at the box end might have play in it.

might be worth checking the mounting points of the steering gear. thin metal up there gets flimsy with age. you're not running huge tires that would make it worse, just something to check.

Air in the box/pump?


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Did you replace the pump or the box or both. Most remans are junk. Could just be you've had a few bad ones. Also would bleed the system to make sure no air is in there.

do a dry steering test.

have someone in the drivers seat, engine off, key on, hard pavement.

shake the steering wheel back and forth while you lay on the ground and see what is loose.

trackbar, Control arms, balljoints, wheel bearings, tie rod ends.
also make sure that the input shaft on the steering gearbox is not turning without the pitman arm turning. that would be a dead spot in the box.

what steering do you have ? you only replaced 2 of the 4 TREs? how are the trackbar joints at each end? caster? control arm bushings ?how is the rear end? sloppy rear end could cause some rear steer, adding to it all.
how are your front shocks?
post pics of setup asap.

Check torque on the pitman arm nut. 180 ft-lbs is spec. "Eff Me" tight also works, or seven "ugga duggas" on the impact gun.

seanof30306@yahoo. said:

OK, 96 XJ Up_Country
There's a noticeable dead spot in the wheel that appears to me to be worse at some times than others.

Click to expand...

Excessive steering wheel play? Like there are 3" in the center back and forth where nothing happens? A loose pitman arm nut could cause that like yossarian says.

Darty and jerky could be an overtight steering box which means its a bum one from NAPA.

A steering box that is too loose could also cause excessive steering wheel play and problems, again a bum one from NAPA.

If the other components check out good, I would give a hard look at the box itself. As others have mentioned, remans can be junk. They can leave balls out, not adjust them correctly, or just sandblast them and repaint them and ship them out the door with whatever problems they had in the first place.

is the steering shaft coupler tight at the box?