Excessive wandering 3.73 vs 4.10 gears?

[lrtexasman]

Thanks to everyone who responded. There have been 40 votes so far, and still no yes vote for wander issues with standard axle 3.73 and only 15% reporting issue with wide/4.10 set up. I did not expect any sort of correlation as the Wrangler has issues with base and wide axles, but this is interesting. Curious if we can get a large enough sample size to ponder. With only 15% reporting issues it definitely wouldn't be something I'd worry about if the test drive went fine, or if getting the wider axles (which I am and why I am doing the poll, lol).

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[Gobi Wan K]

It rides like a solid front axle...

I have to think this is imagined by those coming in from other platforms.

Nope . I have a Ram Power Wagon. Solid front axle and not what I would call precision steering. I have test driven a Sport which drove great and a Rubicon which definitely had what is best described by @Tire Guy It isn't wander. It is a very sloppy steering system that feels like it is wandering but it is really just over correction. I do believe that lowering tire pressure would reduce the feel of this but I think it is a mechanical problem

 

[RG48820]

If it is wandering, check your tire inflation. My Rubicon with the 4.10 seems more stabil at highway speeds since I reduced the pi from the 43 it had new off the lot down to 37 as it shows on the door sticker. Less bumpy ride on our wonderful Michigan roads too.

 

[Tire Guy]

If it is wandering, check your tire inflation. My Rubicon with the 4.10 seems more stabil at highway speeds since I reduced the pi from the 43 it had new off the lot down to 37 as it shows on the door sticker. Less bumpy ride on our wonderful Michigan roads too.

Went to 37 right out of the dealer. Now running at 34. Major difference from the high pressure the factory had. It was damn scary. Now it is as described.

 

[tysongladiator]

Stock overland, 18x9 Black American Racing wheels, 295/75-18 Mastercraft courser MXT Tires, Tire pressure: Cold 39 psi / Hot: 36 psi. No wandering issues with low tire pressure. There was a little at first, but the dealer had tire pressure all the way up to about 48 psi. But, even then that was minimal. Now, I have a 2" Mopar lift and still no wandering issues!

So, that would be a no for me too.

 

[AdamH]

Not trying to be a d!ck but why in the world do you think gear ratio has ANYTHING to do with this?

You do understand how gears work right?

 

[Thunder GO]

This is my 7th road able Jeep, so Jeep steering is the norm to me. I celebrated the day the Gladiator came out, couldn't wait to get one. Love it! But, the steering is way to loose in Metro traffic. Stock tires, stock everything so far. Off road is off road, but I have found that in everyday, no wind, open road, driving you don't notice it as much, but add just a little wind or heavy traffic and you continuously have to over steer. When it starts to drift you have to turn way past normal to catch it, then way back the other direction to arrest what you did. Feels like you have to keep bumping opposite stops to stay strait. Tried tire pressure, wheel alignment and even had other Jeep owners drive it. It's going back to Jeep for inspection, not safe! I know there are owners on both sides of this, so evidently not all Jeep Gladiators were created equal.

 

[ATLalien]

Test drive a sport s (not sure If it was max tow or not). But it wandered pretty badly. Then drove the overland, felt much better. I’m sure the trim level was not related but one was better than the other.

 

[smlobx]

Stock overland, 18x9 Black American Racing wheels, 295/75-18 Mastercraft courser MXT Tires, Tire pressure: Cold 39 psi / Hot: 36 psi. No wandering issues with low tire pressure. There was a little at first, but the dealer had tire pressure all the way up to about 48 psi. But, even then that was minimal. Now, I have a 2" Mopar lift and still no wandering issues!

So, that would be a no for me too.

Are you sure you don’t have your pressures reversed?

 

[Gladiator Joe]

I’d be very curious to hear from anyone who has talked to a dealer about it. For me the unsteadiness seems to have gone away as I got used to having solid axles.

(I have Rubicon, which comes with 4.10, wide axles, Falcon A/Ts and I’m about 34 psi cold)

 

[lrtexasman]

Not trying to be a d!ck but why in the world do you think gear ratio has ANYTHING to do with this?

You do understand how gears work right?

I do understand how gears work, and as I mentioned EARLIER, you would see that I posed the question that way because the 3.73 and 4.10 gears are on different axle widths. Based off some of the comments on the forum it is apparent not everyone knows which axle width they have. IMO, the simplest way to differentiate between the two axles was to use the gears rather than axle width. I didn't use "Max Tow" because the Rubicon has wider axles standard. So, according to the unscientific poll there have been 51 responses so far and no one with the standard axle and 3.73 gears has reported having an issue, while about 18% of those with the wider axle and 4.10 gears have reported an issue.

 

[spazzyfry123]

I’d be very curious to hear from anyone who has talked to a dealer about it. For me the unsteadiness seems to have gone away as I got used to having solid axles.

(I have Rubicon, which comes with 4.10, wide axles, Falcon A/Ts and I’m about 34 psi cold)

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/loose-steering-dealers-response.22179/

 

[tysongladiator]

Are you sure you don’t have your pressures reversed?

You're correct! Haha! meant to say 36 psi cold and 39 psi hot!

Thanks for the correction! Haha

 

[4esop]

My stock Overland with 3.73 does this "wandering" thing a little bit. I have the rear Trac-Lok differential option. My general feeling is the issue is with my reaction to feeling a bump and how I would react driving any other vehicle. I notice it most when I glance away for a moment and I'm driving by "feeling" the road through my hands on the wheel. Almost every time I do this I end up creeping out of my lane or at least very close to it. Thing is, I think I can get used to not overreacting when I feel a bounce. It sort of reminds me of skiing where you need to learn to absorb the bumps and keep pointed down hill. When I first started driving it I was spazzing out when I felt the bumps. Now I have adapted after about 600 mi and I don't notice the issue as much. Maybe it's just me but turning off traction control (which is really partial off apparently) seems to tone this issue down a bit. I don't turn it off for very long but I need to do more investigation. Still trying to figure out if it's my brain or an actual issue...

 

[Gatorized]

I have test driven both a manual sport and a manual overland and I did not notice any wander in either.

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