21' Diesel Gladiator Steering Dead Spot/Wandering Problem after Clayton Offroad Lift

[Rusty PW]

The

I’m sure maybe tire psi may help some. But the dead space in this steering there’s no way. I’m handing this thread info over to the shop guys working on it. Most of it’s well over my head. When we get it dialed in (hopefully) I’ll be able to get a legit diagnosis posted on here and get back on the trail. Thanks for everyone’s tips.

Jeep has been out of commission since October 23’ waiting on parts for a new fuel system from Jeep.

I have a '22 JTRD. Have a 4" Franken lift on it. Core control arms and front track bar. Clayton rear track bar, and front and rear springs. Teraflex front geo brackets, and rear track bar mount. 37's on 17x8.5 with 0 offset. Still using the oem stabilizer, drag link, and tie rod.

Lowing the air pressure on mine made a difference in handling. Have 28 front and 26 rear. Above 32, it starts to wonders.

Your dead spot. It's either play somewhere in the steering linkage, or steering box.

Make sure your track bars are adjusted properly. Process of elimination.

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[Clayton Off Road]

Hey all. Looking for some help here.

Just had my 2021 Rubicon Diesel Gladiator lifted by Total Offroad & More in Cleveland Ohio with;

-Clayton Offroad 2.5' Premium Diesel kit and HD springs, Falcon adjustable Shocks and steering stabilizer
-37" Nitto Ridge Grapplers (37X12.50R17/8 124Q)
-Method Race Wheels 703 (17X9 5X127 -12MM)

After, I noticed 2-3" of slop or play in the steering when trying to hold center. Basically the steering wheel is unresponsive for those 2-3" causing a constant correction back and forth to keep the vehicle straight. Super unstable. I called Clayton Offroad, the only thing they offered was that is wasn't an issue with their kit and to maybe check the steering box to ensure it was not the aluminum version. I confirmed the steering box is not aluminum and is the updated version.

Took the jeep back to Total Offroad. They adjusted the castor after I suggested such from reading up on forums to 4.5 which helped a little but the vehicle is still unstable at highway speeds of 60-70mph. I am having to over correct and at times feel as if I could flip the jeep if I don't pay critical attention to the steering. A constant back and forth to keep it steady. There's no way I can take the jeep on a 4 hour trip somewhere to Offroad. How can I fix this.

Hey there!

4.5 for your caster angle is still going to be too low, and in most cases with the JL and JT we highly recommend between 5.5 and 6 degrees of caster in order to achieve the least amount of wandering possible! This recommendation has worked really well for us and our customers over the past 6 or so years with these vehicles, but if you continue to have an issue after trying that just give us a call, we're always happy to help solve issues!

 

[Ragnarock_jeep]

Hey all. Looking for some help here.

Just had my 2021 Rubicon Diesel Gladiator lifted by Total Offroad & More in Cleveland Ohio with;

-Clayton Offroad 2.5' Premium Diesel kit and HD springs, Falcon adjustable Shocks and steering stabilizer
-37" Nitto Ridge Grapplers (37X12.50R17/8 124Q)
-Method Race Wheels 703 (17X9 5X127 -12MM)

After, I noticed 2-3" of slop or play in the steering when trying to hold center. Basically the steering wheel is unresponsive for those 2-3" causing a constant correction back and forth to keep the vehicle straight. Super unstable. I called Clayton Offroad, the only thing they offered was that is wasn't an issue with their kit and to maybe check the steering box to ensure it was not the aluminum version. I confirmed the steering box is not aluminum and is the updated version.

Took the jeep back to Total Offroad. They adjusted the castor after I suggested such from reading up on forums to 4.5 which helped a little but the vehicle is still unstable at highway speeds of 60-70mph. I am having to over correct and at times feel as if I could flip the jeep if I don't pay critical attention to the steering. A constant back and forth to keep it steady. There's no way I can take the jeep on a 4 hour trip somewhere to Offroad. How can I fix this.

unrelated, what roof rack is that?

 

[MarkusAurelius]

unrelated, what roof rack is that?

Up Top Overland. They make a nice fairing cutout for Baja design lights too. Pleased with it so far. Looks like they are running 20% off right now too but their website isn’t showing an offering for the gladiator. Could be a glitch unless they discontinued it.

 

[Ragnarock_jeep]

Up Top Overland. They make a nice fairing cutout for Baja design lights too. Pleased with it so far. Looks like they are running 20% off right now too but their website isn’t showing an offering for the gladiator. Could be a glitch unless they discontinued it.

Just spoke to them. No longer offered. poop. Thanks for the response

 

[RoamingGladiator]

-PSI 37 all around
-Stabilizer is set on the tightest setting (Firm)
-Bolts have all been marked and checked for tightness on 2 seperate occasions.
-Castor was at 6 before they adjusted to 4.5 which was worse.

37 PSI cold is way too high for 37s in my opinion... you should do a chalk test, or most people recommend starting around 30 and go from there.

EDIT: Didnt realize its been discussed to death already in this thread, should probably read the whole thing first LOL. Best of luck OP.

 

[Camaroboi13]

The steering box was loose on mine, causing wandering problems. Took it to the dealer and they tightened it up and fixed the issue. You might have had issues before, they were just masked by smaller tires and no lift.

 

[MarkusAurelius]

UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED
They removed the Falcon Adjustable steering stabilizer and replaced it with a basic $80 Teraflex one and the Jeep drives like factory. The Falcon may be defective. When pushing the rod down it feels gritty instead of smooth. Had it at 70mph on the highway with a couple fingers. Cool calm easy drive. Very happy and ready for Michigan trips. This was with 38-40psi so the tire pressure didn’t have anything to do with it in this case.

Caster was always at 6. I’m not sure where they got the 4.5 number from. I think the guy at the counter was mixed up when he told me that.
I did just drop the pressure today from 39-35psi in the tires and didn’t notice anything other than feeling less bumps per usual. (I can’t see lowering my rear tires below 35psi for on road use. I can already see the start of a sag in the tires with all the extra weight of my overlanding gear in the back. The clayton HD springs really helped that.

Thanks everyone for the help. Will be contacting Falcon next to see if they can check the stabilizer out.

 

[Lunentucker]

I'd run those tires at 33 cold.

 

[ltdodge]

stupid question, do you measure the castor angle with the truck loaded on all 4 wheels or in the air on a lift? would it make any difference when it's in the air and the springs are not compressed?

 

[MarkusAurelius]

Hey there!

4.5 for your caster angle is still going to be too low, and in most cases with the JL and JT we highly recommend between 5.5 and 6 degrees of caster in order to achieve the least amount of wandering possible! This recommendation has worked really well for us and our customers over the past 6 or so years with these vehicles, but if you continue to have an issue after trying that just give us a call, we're always happy to help solve issues!

Hey Clayton thanks for the response. Installers determined the problem to be the Falcon adjustable steering stabilizer. They stated it was defective and noted a "gritty" feeling when it was manually extended and retracted. They installed a cheap Teraflex instead and the jeep rides on road like a Cadillac on my Michigan trip. Are you guys able to provide a refund for the steering stabilizer or is this something I'll need to address with Falcon?

 

[MarkusAurelius]

I'd run those tires at 33 cold.

After a week long offroad/onroad trip to michigan, I too agree that 33psi with the 37" Nitto Ridge Grapplers with my Falcon Shocks on setting 1 provided me the perfect ride. So completely impressed with the Diesel engines ability to not care about how big those tires are on the highway and to just power through with all the extra weight on my truck.

 

[Lunentucker]

Hey Clayton thanks for the response. Installers determined the problem to be the Falcon adjustable steering stabilizer. They stated it was defective and noted a "gritty" feeling when it was manually extended and retracted. They installed a cheap Teraflex instead and the jeep rides on road like a Cadillac on my Michigan trip. Are you guys able to provide a refund for the steering stabilizer or is this something I'll need to address with Falcon?

A properly setup Jeep will drive like that with no steering stabilizer. The stabilizer should only mitigate bump steer. It's a horizontal shock absorber.

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