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Bad steering box 68418449AE

furrymurray

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Got my 4th box installed today. Zero dead zone. Its amazing to drive now. For all those who say “its a Jeep thing” or its not your steering box...middle fingers for all you
So no more floating around on the highway? My JT is at the dealer now for my steering.
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Scrubb84

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Correct. Driving on the exact same stretch of road...
Before: steering wheel was at the 9 to 10 o'clock position to stay straight on the road.
After: almost 12 o’clock with very little corrections needed and all the bump steer is gone too.
 

furrymurray

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Correct. Driving on the exact same stretch of road...
Before: steering wheel was at the 9 to 10 o'clock position to stay straight on the road.
After: almost 12 o’clock with very little corrections needed and all the bump steer is gone too.
I have horrible bump steer as well. I hope they figure it out because this is aggravating. I told them about the steering box being the culprit but dealers these days are hard headed. Thank you for your post and letting us know about your experience.
 

furrymurray

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@Scrubb84 I just got a call from dealer saying they are going to change my steering box. I hope it is one of the good boxes and I don't have to change out three more times. Thank you again for your original post. Also, I say for those that think this steering situation is a hoax, kiss my ass!
 

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Scrubb84

Scrubb84

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@Scrubb84 I just got a call from dealer saying they are going to change my steering box. I hope it is one of the good boxes and I don't have to change out three more times. Thank you again for your original post. Also, I say for those that think this steering situation is a hoax, kiss my ass!
Im glad to hear it!
all they need to do is bench check it before swapping it out. You have to tell them to do so. That way you dont get fkd like I did. The techs I had to work with think that turning the input shaft on a box out of the vehicle will hurt it. That is not true. They are just ignorant on the subject.
Good luck!
 

Geekjeep

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my steering is in the middle. not the best not the worst. For 200 Im installing the synergy bracket this weekend. I know some say it helps some says it doesnt but if i get a 10% improvement for 200 Im happy. If i knew all the new boxes were good I would just save the time and spend $500 and buy and install the new box.....
 

furrymurray

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my steering is in the middle. not the best not the worst. For 200 Im installing the synergy bracket this weekend. I know some say it helps some says it doesnt but if i get a 10% improvement for 200 Im happy. If i knew all the new boxes were good I would just save the time and spend $500 and buy and install the new box.....
Good luck with the Synergy bracket install. I have heard and watched videos saying that it works. I bought one and was gonna install but wanted the dealer to take care of first. We should not have to buy $200 parts to correct something that should not be messed up in the first place. I do plan to install after my steering is fixed from dealer. I believe synergy did a great job making this part. If the dealer gave me the run around I probably would have just installed that and a Fox stabilizer and called it good. I absolutely love this Jeep and would consider it my favorite out of all the Jeeps I have owned. Although the 86' CJ7 does have a soft spot in my heart. I hope you are able to get your steering right my friend without a lot of hassle.
 

NC_Overland

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I have an appointment for mine to be looked at on Monday. Its not as bad as some have reported, but its not as good as it should be. Its actually pretty sketch when its windy, even on moderately windy days. I'm tired of having to move the wheel back and forth so much to stay straight. Did the steering stabilizer help? Yes. However, it seems to be getting worse as the temperature rises. I've even taken some air back out of the tires to compensate. I'm running 34 psi instead of 38 psi, which initially helped some.

I sure hope I don't get the "Its a Jeep thing" response. I told them when I set up the appt that this is my 4th SFA Jeep and non have been like this. I mentioned the steering in my Jeep quality survey and they called me the other day. They will open up a case on it if my service appt doesn't go well.

My Jeep is stock, minus the Fox Steering stabilizer.
 

flyingmunk

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Curious what dealer you are working with. Westgate? Debating taking mine in. Not terrible, but not perfect.
 

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LoJac963

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Mine is similar to NC, stock minus the Fox steering stab. I definitely have play in mine but I do not think as severe as some. I need to look at it closer. In AZ is seems to be windy every day which is a major factor but I feel like I am all over the road. I'm curious how it gets when the temps go past 110.

There is no aftermarket boxes available yet? I would imagine that would be a more expensive fix but at least it would be fixed.
 

NC_Overland

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Curious what dealer you are working with. Westgate? Debating taking mine in. Not terrible, but not perfect.
I was just going to take it to where I bought it. Leith Chrysler Jeep on Capital. My past terrible Jeep dealer experiences were back when I lived in Atlanta on my JKU Rubicon. I had a bad experience with a few dealerships there. I haven't had my Gladiator in for service yet.
 

Phred

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Just to give some feedback on the Synergy bracket install...

My steering was mushy...had to drive with two hands. Couldn’t take your eyes off the road. Truck would wander With slightest change in road.

After Install, I can easily drive with one hand, no wandering. I have the Mopar 2” lift And it now drives like what I’d expect.

Im happy with the bracket, disappointed with Jeep.

Install was a bit tricky. The instructions were great. The latest rev to them was just in April. It mentioned having to grind down a few high welds...which I had to. I also had to do some other tweaks. One hour per instructions was four for me. But it’s done right.

Synergy track bar coming in a few days.
 

bangolia

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I was just going to take it to where I bought it. Leith Chrysler Jeep on Capital. My past terrible Jeep dealer experiences were back when I lived in Atlanta on my JKU Rubicon. I had a bad experience with a few dealerships there. I haven't had my Gladiator in for service yet.
Report back how they are to work with. I had some pretty bad experiences with capital CJD in garner. I won’t be going back there. The unfortunate part is they are 2 min from my office. But their service department it shit.
 

Factoid

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I installed the synergy bracket and track bar on my JTR with Mopar lift, 37/13.50-20 running 33psi and a Falcon adjustable stabilizer a few weeks ago. Prior to the install, but with the lift and wheels/tires my wife drove it on the highway and without any prompting from me complained that it drifted at highway speeds of 75-80. Keep in mind, she drives a small MB AMG crossover normally, so not a great judge. To me, it drove like a solid Axle, no better, no worse.

She drove it yesterday and said it was a lot smoother and responsive. While it won’t fix dead spots in the steering which I don’t have, it definitely eliminates drifting and wandering. The steering also feels smoother to me, but I may be imagining things.

Couple thoughts on the install. I didn’t have to grind any welds or anything else. I did have some minor issues aligning the sector shaft brace bearing. The four steering box bolts thread into threaded bosses on the steering box, so no nuts to fool with. I didn’t remove the driver side wheel or jack the vehicle up. With the lift and new wheel offset, no issues accessing or torquing fasteners. When you install the brace, thread all four bolts back into the steering box as that helps align it. You can then tighten or loosen these bolts on one side or the other to align the two bolts that lock the track bar brace and more importantly, the bolts that thread into the sector shaft brace bearing. For me, one of the bolts on the brace bearing was off by 1/8”, but I was able to get it perfectly aligned by tightening the steering box bolts. Once all bolts are installed, follow the instruction order and bolt them all to torque. By far the hardest part was removing the oem pitman arm nut. My Dewalt battery power impact with a full charge barely budged the nut. Couple that with my 42mm socket is 3/4” drive so it uses a 1/2” drive adapter. I finally slipped a 3’ piece of roll bar pipe over my 1/2” ratchet and muscled it off. Finally, I installed the Synergy track bar at the same time and centered my front wheels (they were off about 3/4” from the lift). That cocked the steering wheel by about 20 degrees, but the drag link was very easy to adjust to center it.

Best of luck with the install! Please report back on your results.
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