Bad steering box 68418449AE

[Scrubb84]

For those who know they have a bad steering box from the factory/manufacturer.
JeepCares & FCAcares say Jeep is aware of the issue but I have my doubts.

New info: I have heard (3rd party) that 20 out of 20 of our steering boxes direct from Mopar are in fact bad. There is major valving and adjustment issues with these boxes. The factory adjustment was not correct and the ball sizing in the worm gear needs to be upsized to get the proper fitment for NO freeplay or deadzone.
This explains the binding some have when its cold and super sloppy when its warm. Also explains why out of the 3 boxes Ive had installed under warranty, they are all bad.
We all know that many of them are just fine, but IMO, just give it time before those guys are on here reading this thread.

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[Rayzzz]

I have a bad steering box in mine and hope they do something about it soon. I'm tired of people asking me how I like the Gladiator and having to say it has a junk steering box and crazy amounts of play in it making it no fun to drive. I'd like to put a signs on it front and back saying stay away from this vehicle it's dangerous and can't stay in a straight line. You think that it steering correctly would be important to Jeep for customer satisfaction and safety.

My Jeep likes my money

 

[Scrubb84]

I’m trying to do something to help, but I keep going in circles (not literally) and getting the ol’ run-around. I just don’t know who/how to contact someone in the FCA who actually cares and can do something about it.
They tell me I have to wait for the new box. IMO there isn’t even a new/revised box in the works as of now.
When I asked a Jeep dealership owner how is this not considered a safety issue, his reply was mind boggling to me...”well, it eventually does catch and starts to turn the wheels so it’s not considered a safety issue according to the FCA”. Really? Your joking, right? “Nope”.

I thought I had a good simple solution: Check the boxes before installing and shipping, send the bad ones back. It looks like this will take an act of congress to happen. Why can’t you have someone do the ‘over center check’ before making more problems. That would save them money in the long run, I would think.

 

[MrJeep]

Just chiming in that I'm with you guys in my frustration.
Had it in to the dealer once, they gave me the song and dance, an alignment did make it slightly better but there is no getting away from the fact that there is a 2"+ dead zone in the center of the steering that can only be the box in my 15 Jeep ownership experience. I think the track bar issue and bad stabilizers in the JL's has obscured the bad steering issue in the boxes. In other words the S show that is FCA quality is making a small mess a bigger one...
Have to take it back in and keep fighting. It shouldn't be like this.

 

[NC_Overland]

Just for clarification, how much slop do you guys have? I’m asking because on my Overland with stock tires, I’m good around town, but I’m constantly correcting about an inch back and forth left and right to keep it to track straight. So like and inch or so of slop on the hwy. You guys consider that on the normal side or are you guys experiencing worse? I get that it’s a SFA and not to expect it to drive like IFS, so that’s why I asking...

 

[Scrubb84]

Just for clarification, how much slop do you guys have? I’m asking because on my Overland with stock tires, I’m good around town, but I’m constantly correcting about an inch back and forth left and right to keep it to track straight. So like and inch or so of slop on the hwy. You guys consider that on the normal side or are you guys experiencing worse? I get that it’s a SFA and not to expect it to drive like IFS, so that’s why I asking...

I could move the steering wheel from 10-2 + with no movement at the pitman arm what so ever.

 

[NC_Overland]

I could move the steering wheel from 10-2 + with no movement at the pitman arm what so ever.

That’s not good. I wouldn’t be happy at all. I hope there’s something to tighten mine up a little bit, it I couldn’t deal with that on a brand new vehicle I just paid $50k for. I had plenty of that on old $5k 200k mile trucks when growing up.

I hope they figure it out for you.

 

[Brfertig [HACKED ACCOUNT]]

I have 100 miles on my jeep and noticed its a bit darty. I have to correct right off the lot. I sat in it last night and found that it has about an inch of play with the engine off. It feels a bit loose. Sad to see its still persistent in the Jeep Gladiator. Mine was built in September 2019 picked up this week.

 

[Scrubb84]

I have 100 miles on my jeep and noticed its a bit darty. I have to correct right off the lot. I sat in it last night and found that it has about an inch of play with the engine off. It feels a bit loose. Sad to see its still persistent in the Jeep Gladiator. Mine was built in September 2019 picked up this week.

That sux. Build date doesnt matter. They are still using the “known” bad inventory of random shitty boxes.

 

[BK75]

I'm surprised FCA Jeep hasn't stepped up and addressed reported steering issues. Poor quality feedback pasted along to potential customers kills sales. This truck gets a ton of attention where ever we go, but sadly the feedback is: " I love it, but.. (Insert steering comments here) ".

 

[ZTMAN]

I was aware of the described loose steering well before I purchased my JTR , mainly becasue of this forum. (Thanks again). I made sure to take a long test drive of any JT I was interested in. Only drove two and the dav of the test drives just happened to be very windy. No issues with either Jeep, so I guess it is hit or miss.
OP, pick out another JT on the dealer's lot and have them give you a good price based on your misfortune.

 

[NC_Overland]

Welp, my serv dept adjusted my sloppy steering box. Its almost worse now. Its too tight now (binding) and wont return to center, and still has a dead-zone. They said they tried even the slightest turn and were left with two options. Its either 3” + of slop or the way it is now, no in-between. FML
A+ for effort I guess

You probably already known this, but keep bringing it back. Report it as a safety issue. Keep records of every visit. Based on personal experience, it can come in handy and a great "CYA".

I had an issue with my 2017 Canyon (3.6l/8 speed auto). I loved the truck, but I had the first year of the eight speed auto and they didn't know what the hell they were doing to fix the issues it was having. Well, I took it in 2-3 times previously, the first time with only a few thousand miles on it, to report the issues and try to get it fixed and they just reprogrammed it and it didn't fix the issues. Fast forward to 37k miles, out of bumper to bumper warranty but still under powertrain warranty. GM finally figured out how to fix it. It required a new fluid, which was covered under the 3/36 but the programming supposedly wasn't. I documented all of my dealership visits with the same issue while well under warranty and they covered it. Luckily, the dealership I purchased from had a cool service manager and he battled with GM to get it covered and had me in a loaner car the whole time. I was cool about it since he was trying to help, but I told him I wasn't picking it up till it was fixed and I'm not paying for anything. He got it all covered and GM finally had a proper fix that worked. Hopefully, FCA is better with their warranty claims than GM and its less of an issue.

 

[SgtMajTomahawk]

Dealing with the 2in slop in the wheel myself on my new (350 miles) JT. On the test drive we never really got out of traffic enough to hit 50 or over so it wasn't horrible to me and I liked the truck. I knew about JL owners having loose steering, but though maybe I got lucky......NOPE. I look like a drunk sailor on his way back to base doing anything over 50mph. I have at least 2inches of play in the wheel before any input to the wheels. Feels like my Daddy's old 1976 C10 pickup with 200k miles on it.lol Already made one visit to the dealer and got the old tried and true, "Tech drove it said wheel was a little off so he made an adjustment, but it feels normal to us" so translated that means, "We know there's a problem because we get probably 10 of these a week, but we have no way to fix it because it's a poor engineering choice by Jeep and all we can do is throw snake oil your way hoping nobody dies from this until Jeep can figure out a recall to replace these steering boxes"

They knew it was an issue on the JL, but still kept with it on the JT? That blows my mind. At any rate it's a matter of time before somebody dies because of this and sadly that's what it's going to take for them to address it. We have $200 aftermarket brackets out there that I guess help fix this issue, but I have 350 miles on mine and shouldn't have to shell out $200 for an engineering goof?

 

[Scrubb84]

Dealing with the 2in slop in the wheel myself on my new (350 miles) JT. On the test drive we never really got out of traffic enough to hit 50 or over so it wasn't horrible to me and I liked the truck. I knew about JL owners having loose steering, but though maybe I got lucky......NOPE. I look like a drunk sailor on his way back to base doing anything over 50mph. I have at least 2inches of play in the wheel before any input to the wheels. Feels like my Daddy's old 1976 C10 pickup with 200k miles on it.lol Already made one visit to the dealer and got the old tried and true, "Tech drove it said wheel was a little off so he made an adjustment, but it feels normal to us" so translated that means, "We know there's a problem because we get probably 10 of these a week, but we have no way to fix it because it's a poor engineering choice by Jeep and all we can do is throw snake oil your way hoping nobody dies from this until Jeep can figure out a recall to replace these steering boxes"

They knew it was an issue on the JL, but still kept with it on the JT? That blows my mind. At any rate it's a matter of time before somebody dies because of this and sadly that's what it's going to take for them to address it. We have $200 aftermarket brackets out there that I guess help fix this issue, but I have 350 miles on mine and shouldn't have to shell out $200 for an engineering goof?

That brace has nothing to do with fixing the garbage steering box play. It will help the majority of people who think that they are driving an M3 tho!

 

[Factoid]

In my opinion, if you can’t get the steering box replaced and you know that is the issue, the best patch is an adjustable, bidirectional steering stabilizer like a Falcon or Fox. At least that way when you point the jeep in a direction it stays in that direction until you readjust. Not the proper fix, but a vast improvement.

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