This is more of a "car I missed out on" story.
Aunt had a black on black 1969 Firebird that she bought new. I asked her many, many times if she ever wanted to sell it to please call me first. She sold it to somebody else for an absolute song because she thought I wouldn't want to go out to...
I did it in a stock JTR. It should be doable in a stock Willys, but be aware that there are some very tight, very off-camber switchbacks. Slow and easy and you should be fine.
I asked my dealer to check it when I took it in for a jeep wave oil change. When I picked it up they told me that the tech validated the complaint and they ordered the parts. No idea what that validation process was, if anything.
I thought mine was "not terrible." Is that really what you want in a steering system? Not terrible?
For me the improvement was dramatic, and it made me realize that my factory steering was, in fact, terrible.
I would think they won't want to keep a bay tied up with an engineless truck for too long. Once they get the old one out, they'll be moving to get the new one in.
Check torque on every nut and bolt throughout the steering system. Before the TSB, numerous people found loose components that were causing crappy steering.
A couple of weeks ago there were some refurbished Tazer minis available at a decent discount. Definitely check to see if there are any still available.
Oh, man, this hurts. The wife has been talking about buying a JLUR. I showed her a Chief Blue Rubicon that I built on Jeep.com, and she was ready to order.
Aaaaaaannnd...ordering is closed for Chief Blue. She was bummed.
That really looks good.