My Expensive Lesson. Loose Steering Issue Resolved

[JTenn]

So in the interest of a more informed forum membership, I'm going to share my $400 lesson in ideocracy. Over the last few months I've mentioned slightly loose or drifty feeling steering response after a kind of hard sideways impact on a trail. Hard enough to knock my steering wheel on a 45 degree angle. I adjusted the wheel back straight but the looseness has been evident ever since. I adjusted the steering gearbox play, removed every steering component except the track bar (remember that last part) and checked all the ball joints and connections. Everything checked out solid. So I finally came to the conclusion I tweaked something inside the gearbox hard enough that I should just get a new one, which I did. This cost $400 after taxes, shipping, and before core charge. The core charge is $70 but shipping is $55 so ill eat the $15 and keep the old one for a possible hydro upgrade in the future. So this weekend was the time for the swap/installation. I get the truck on jack stands, remove the driver wheel and inner fender, pull out the washer fluid bottle and am now ready to remove the Pitman arm. Now back to the earlier mentioned track bar. As you may know, the track bar obstructs easy access to the pitman arm nut (which is a 42mm nut btw). I removed the frame end of the track bar and decided to just remove the entire bar. I get to the axle end and find the bolt is completely loose! Well here is my DUH moment. I went ahead and removed the track bar to check the bushing. The bushing is worn some due to being loose for so long and has a little lateral movement so a new one is on the way from Core 4x4. I reinstalled the bar and torqued everything back down and problem solved. The truck is back to its former tight steering glory. The moral of the story is it doesn't matter how good of a mechanic you are, sometimes the simplest things can get over looked. If you have steering that just feels a little "off", do what all the smart people on here tell you and check the torque on ALL components before buying new parts. I will torque check everything at every oil change from now on. I decided to just keep the new gearbox since it's already paid for and I'm not paying $55 more to send it back. With parts shortages you never know what availabilities will be in the future. I hope my $400 lesson helps someone here some day.

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[Lunentucker]

On the upside, the stuff you learn the hard way sticks in there pretty good.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...torque-values-all-of-them-in-one-place.67915/

 

[JTenn]

On the upside, the stuff you learn the hard way sticks in there pretty good.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...torque-values-all-of-them-in-one-place.67915/

You got that right!! I should be a genius by now!! Lol

 

[Rusty PW]

 

[Hootbro]

Been there and anybody that has not, has not been wrenching for long.

 

[GreatGladiator]

Welcome to the club… I just had a similar experience. Thinking I had transmission issues/vibrations. multiple dealer trips, hours troubleshooting, and warranty replacement exhaust… turns out to be a loose exhaust clamp. I’ll wait a few months before I show my face around my local dealer again.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Don't sweat it brother, we all have something new to learn!!! At least you know now!

 

[JTenn]

Don't sweat it brother, we all have something new to learn!!! At least you know now!

Very true words. I've been turning wrenches my whole life and make a living doing it. Not in the automotive field but rather industrial. But a machine is a machine. I learn new things every day and I'm glad I still do. I just don't like the ones that cost me alot of money to do so. But I've paid my fair share of stupid tax and just hope others will pay forward thier stupid tax in the form of useful information as I've tried to do here.

 

[JTenn]

Welcome to the club… I just had a similar experience. Thinking I had transmission issues/vibrations. multiple dealer trips, hours troubleshooting, and warranty replacement exhaust… turns out to be a loose exhaust clamp. I’ll wait a few months before I show my face around my local dealer again.

I'm a lifetime member of the club, lol. You would think the dealer would have identified a loose clamp when the exhaust was replaced under warranty. But it's those simple discoveries that are satisfying. Well before it costs alot of money anyway. After it costs money it then becomes stupid tax.

 

[Rusty PW]

Experience is the greatest teacher. You learn from your mistakes.....................hopefully.

 

[GreatGladiator]

You would think they would have caught it but they were the ones suggesting to replace the exhaust so I agreed. Oh well lesson learned.

 

[RK Racing]

So in the interest of a more informed forum membership, I'm going to share my $400 lesson in ideocracy. Over the last few months I've mentioned slightly loose or drifty feeling steering response after a kind of hard sideways impact on a trail. Hard enough to knock my steering wheel on a 45 degree angle. I adjusted the wheel back straight but the looseness has been evident ever since. I adjusted the steering gearbox play, removed every steering component except the track bar (remember that last part) and checked all the ball joints and connections. Everything checked out solid. So I finally came to the conclusion I tweaked something inside the gearbox hard enough that I should just get a new one, which I did. This cost $400 after taxes, shipping, and before core charge. The core charge is $70 but shipping is $55 so ill eat the $15 and keep the old one for a possible hydro upgrade in the future. So this weekend was the time for the swap/installation. I get the truck on jack stands, remove the driver wheel and inner fender, pull out the washer fluid bottle and am now ready to remove the Pitman arm. Now back to the earlier mentioned track bar. As you may know, the track bar obstructs easy access to the pitman arm nut (which is a 42mm nut btw). I removed the frame end of the track bar and decided to just remove the entire bar. I get to the axle end and find the bolt is completely loose! Well here is my DUH moment. I went ahead and removed the track bar to check the bushing. The bushing is worn some due to being loose for so long and has a little lateral movement so a new one is on the way from Core 4x4. I reinstalled the bar and torqued everything back down and problem solved. The truck is back to its former tight steering glory. The moral of the story is it doesn't matter how good of a mechanic you are, sometimes the simplest things can get over looked. If you have steering that just feels a little "off", do what all the smart people on here tell you and check the torque on ALL components before buying new parts. I will torque check everything at every oil change from now on. I decided to just keep the new gearbox since it's already paid for and I'm not paying $55 more to send it back. With parts shortages you never know what availabilities will be in the future. I hope my $400 lesson helps someone here some day.

Thank you for your post.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

My uncle is a shop foreman for a Chevy dealership. He’s been a mechanic since the 1970s. He frequently is the guy they escalate to when no one can figure stuff out. He told me a story of a corvette ZR1 coming in with a rattle (I don’t remember the year). It got passed around the shop to increasingly experienced mechanics. They took all sorts of things apart on the car trying to sort out this rattle basically stripping it down over more than a week in the shop. Finally someone comes to him because no one can figure it out. He takes his time and takes the car for a short drive, comes back and tosses the bottle of TicTacs that was in the center console to the technician.

 

[tysongladiator]

Yep. Sounds right. I've put so many videos on my YouTube channel concerning checking parts for proper torque and torque procedures.

I've made videos on checking the pitman arm nut and torque, track bar, steering box bolts, pretty much all of that.

Try to help folks save some headaches and money.

Glad you found yours before it cost you even more money.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

The Gladiator has so far been good, which says a lot about how much beefier it is, but track bars were a nightmare on TJs. Given the nature of solid axle suspension the track bar not only in critical but it’s under intense pressure. It’s like the key stone keeping the whole axle under the truck and establishing a zero point for steering components. It’s the 5th and only true lateral control arm.

Even on the Gladiator, always check the track bar first. Axle end bolts like to come loose first. Also check the locking collar on adjustable track bars, especially after an alignment where some distracted tech might forget to tighten them down. If that’s loose, it will rip the threads out of the end of the bar or sleeve. They can also rust out (aftermarket control arms with adjustable collars can/will).

The other sources of problems on my particular truck so far:

• hand tight cab body mount bolts with little to no Locktite. I removed mine with an inductive heater, anti-seized and replaced. Loose ones manifest as a pop when coming to a stop when backing up, then a pop going forward later, like at a stop light or stopping at the bottom of a driveway if pulling out forward.
• E-brake cables. These sit in a mount in the center of the underside of the truck that seems like it was designed to induce rattling. I removed the bracket and cold-forged it to allow space for foam wrapping the cable housings.

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