Is this amount of dead zone in the steering normal?

[Chestnut]

Man that's nothing I had a ford ranger that was easily a half turn of play.

I tihnk it's funny people find this unsafe. When i only drove that ranger I'd jump in a sportier car and always thought how darty they were was unsafe feeling.

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[XraytecH]

Thanks for the video. I don't have the problem he shows while parked or even at city speeds. It only happens when I'm at highway speeds.

So it’s not the steering box since it’s a 2021.

Aside from wheels, tires and lift is everything stock?

 

[vaticanvoodoo]

So it’s not the steering box since it’s a 2021.

Aside from wheels, tires and lift is everything stock?

Yes Indeed. I haven't done much of anything to it.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

Man that's nothing I had a ford ranger that was easily a half turn of play.

I tihnk it's funny people find this unsafe. When i only drove that ranger I'd jump in a sportier car and always thought how darty they were was unsafe feeling.

Exactly. I do not want my lifted solid axle truck with bigger than factory tires to be anything close to darty.

 

[j.o.y.ride]

Yes Indeed. I haven't done much of anything to it.

You can try tightening the adjustment in the video. But note there's tradeoffs to everything. Tighter here may induce more wear there, etc.

 

[Wildlifeguy]

This is not a jeep thing. This is a steering setup thing. Every vehicle I've driven with a solid front axle has this steering feel. This is a recirculating ball system with a lot of moving parts and long linkages in tie rod and drag link. The benefit is being more rugged. If someone is used to a tight rack and pinion system, this will feel very loose. Larger tires will exacerbate the wandering feel. Even though it is electric assist, it is the same mechanical linkages. It is going to be more of an active driving experience and that just comes with this type of steering setup. With that, it should not feel unsafe. A properly setup modified jeep should feel just as safe and controllable as one stock. It may be worth it to drop by a dealership that actually has some new ones and drive a couple to either ease your mind or to help you convince the dealership that yours has an issue. I would advise against touching the box adjustment. I've heard of it being useful for old worn boxes, but putting too much bind cause it to wear quickly and create other issues.

 

[SelfmodJT]

Drive a YJ and see if you still want to complain ?

First vehicle i purchased at 19 and drove it from the dealer in PA directly to Boston. Needless to say i was shocked when i drove the gladiator because i havent drove another jeep since. Def no complaints here.

 

[Mac]

Pro Comp 69 with Nitto Terra Grappler G2 - Against stock they only added about 14 lbs per wheel.

What is the offset on the wheels?

 

[obrianmcc]

I just installed the Steersmarts Sector Shaft Brace and a Fox Stabilizer .... notable improvement.

 

[am1978]

2021 Diesel with 35s.

This amount of dead zone in the steering at highways speeds is a little unnerving, especially when passing larger trucks. I took it to the local dealer and had them install the 2 inch mopar lift and asked them to look at this as well, and they told me the only way they would diagnose it is if I put the original wheels on. I told them it was doing this even with the stock wheels, but they refused to look at it.

If I air down the tires some, it does help, but still feels unsafe.

My question is, does anyone else deal with this and is this "normal"? If you have dealt with it, what did you do to fix it or convince the dealer to fix it?

Too fast…turn to one side and see if you drift. Don’t do the back and forth negating the drift to each side.

 

[FloridaJT6MT]

Thanks for the video. I don't have the problem he shows while parked or even at city speeds. It only happens when I'm at highway speeds.

No problem! I wonder though, since it’s only at higher speeds, if an upgrade to the stabilizer wouldn’t do the trick.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

While I agree with the suggestion that it's not free-play, you aren't giving it time to respond - with MY truck and MY tires and my tire INFLATION, if I did that my wife would ask me to stop shaking the truck. But how fast the vehicle responds is based on a lot of factors aside from "play" or "slop" in linkage and steering parts. Mine responds pretty quickly - stock wheels, tires aren't much different than stock side (wider, but diameter nearly the same) and so on.
There is no play in mine. When sitting, if I move the steering wheel I can hear the tires squeak on the garage floor and I can actually lean out and see movement.
I am on the SECOND replacement steering gear. Took it in last year for the TSB - they replaced the steering gear and it was "better" for a while - then got worse and in the end, this spring it was worse than the original. They replaced it again and it's been fine since. No play, no slop, you can feel resistance when you move the steering wheel and if it starts to "favor" the right side due to our road crown here, as quick as I pull the wheel back to center, it's going straight ahead again.

I've never checked to see what the scrub radius on these is like. Stronger or more positive would help keep them tending toward going straight and take more effort to deviate from straight. I don't know where these start as far as the SAI and intersection point, etc.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That's not exactly all "free play" in the wheel. You may think the truck isn't moving, but the wheels are.

The back and forth you may not feel the truck "steering." But just hold the wheel in one direction, not slop it back and forth.

Does anyone have the scrub radius numbers? The lower the scrub radius, the less "feel" the driver can have.

I could shake my Golf like that without movement, but not the A4 because of DBW steering.

Does your A4 tell you to keep your hands on the wheel? My wife's new Grand Cherokee has tossed that message at her a couple of times. I love it and laugh because she's so easily "distracted" by wanting to look at things on the side as she's driving, she hates it because she doesn't believe she's not paying attention. So I have learned to not react when it does that to her and just nod.

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

I don't think you want super tight steering on a vehicle like this.

 

[MPMB]

Does your A4 tell you to keep your hands on the wheel? My wife's new Grand Cherokee has tossed that message at her a couple of times. I love it and laugh because she's so easily "distracted" by wanting to look at things on the side as she's driving, she hates it because she doesn't believe she's not paying attention. So I have learned to not react when it does that to her and just nod.

No, it's a 2012, so it doesn't have anything fancy. Just an expensive Jetta.

I don't ever really want "lane assist" because I drive a racing line sometimes.

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