Steering issues

[Chinz67]

Hello everyone.... I'm new here. I'm a proud owner of a 2020 Hydro Blue Gladiator Sport S. I absolutely love it. But I have a problem,
I took it on a long highway ride to Boston the other day. The steering was all over the place. I white knuckled it all the way there.
It was drifting all over and difficult to keep it straight without constantly correcting it.
I already have purchased accessories for it including the Mopar lift, Fox steering stabilizer, adjustable track bar, and more.
It fortunately hasn't been installed yet.
What should I do? Now I'm leaving shortly to go to Cape Cod. I'm nervous as hell. Help!

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[RJW10877]

Check the pressure in your tires. They ship them from the factory overinflated by 5+ psi. They should be down to 37psi or lower. That should help.

 

[BigRed97]

This is a very common issue. Do a quick search and youll see countless threads on it.

The Trac bar and stabilizer may help you out but the biggest (noticable) improvement will come from the synergy steering box &Trac bar brace. I got the best price from off-road elements in Abington. They had it to me in two days(I'm on the north shore) and it took me about 20-30 minutes to install

For a good over view of the bracket check out this video

 

[NC_Overland]

Or you could not spend your time, energy, and money on an aftermarket part that won't fully address the issue and have the steering box replaced under warranty like myself and many others have done. its a night and day difference. Mine was super sketch on the hwy. Took it to the dealership, the shop foreman drove it on the hwy and noted that it was "very loose" and ordered a new steering box. The only thing that sucked was I had to drive a Jeep Cherokee for a week.

 

[BigRed97]

Or you could not spend your time, energy, and money on an aftermarket part that won't fully address the issue and have the steering box replaced under warranty like myself and many others have done. its a night and day difference. Mine was super sketch on the hwy. Took it to the dealership, the shop foreman drove it on the hwy and noted that it was "very loose" and ordered a new steering box. The only thing that sucked was I had to drive a Jeep Cherokee for a week.

Steering box replacement will probably correct the big dead spot issue that slot of people have in their steering.
My issue and, from the sound of it, the OPs are not that. My lash was set correctly, I checked it. (20 yrs as a tech, I know how). My issue was the box flexing the frame rail where it's mounted, I had over 5/8" deflection on the inside of the frame at a stand still. With the bracket it was less than 1/16" .

So say what you will about aftermarket parts ....for me it worked.

 

[NC_Overland]

Steering box replacement will probably correct the big dead spot issue that slot of people have in their steering.
My issue and, from the sound of it, the OPs are not that. My lash was set correctly, I checked it. (20 yrs as a tech, I know how). My issue was the box flexing the frame rail where it's mounted, I had over 5/8" deflection on the inside of the frame at a stand still. With the bracket it was less than 1/16" .

So say what you will about aftermarket parts ....for me it worked.

I get what you are saying, but his description of highway driving is exactly how mine was and the replacement steering box was a night and day difference. Mine was fine around town, super sketch on the hwy. I couldn't keep it in my lane.

 

[BigRed97]

I get what you are saying, but his description of highway driving is exactly how mine was and the replacement steering box was a night and day difference. Mine was fine around town, super sketch on the hwy. I couldn't keep it in my lane.

Basically the same with mine but with out the inches of dead space before it reacted, the steering would react to any input to the steering wheel.
Mine was "darty" from 20mph up. Any minor correction at the wheel was an over correction at the tires, same true for road force input

 

[BigRed97]

OP, do you have a dead spot before the steering reacts?

Youre welcome to drive mine to compare, if you're ever in my corner of the state

 

[DreamedofaJeepSomeday]

What should I do?

Read this thread:

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...system-i-am-finally-happy-with-my-jeep.31671/

 

[Chinz67]

Thanks to all of you. Much appreciated!

 

[jwalt]

My 2019 JLU steering wasnt exactly loose in comparison to my TJ. But I ran a lift and 37"tires on it. It was an early 2019 and ended up having a steering recall issued on it. I took it in and they replaced the steering stabilizer and realigned it. This did improve the steering. Given other issues people were having with the steering flex, I added the Synergy sector shaft brace. This made a huge improvement in the steering feel over the Jeep recall.

 

[JeepCares]

Thanks to all of you. Much appreciated!

Hi there, have you had a chance to address this with your dealer yet? Feel free to send our team a private message, and we would be happy to offer our additional assistance during your service.

Kathryn
JeepCares

 

[Chinz67]

Hi there, have you had a chance to address this with your dealer yet? Feel free to send our team a private message, and we would be happy to offer our additional assistance during your service.

Kathryn
JeepCares

Hi Kathryn... Thank you so much. I'll be in touch. Have an appt Monday to get my Mopar lift installed. I seen many other posts
regarding the same issue. A new steering box would be nice. This my first NEW Jeep purchase.

 

[JJmoto]

I had zero luck with @JeepCares on my steering issue. The dealer said it was normal and @JeepCares simply concurred.
My dealer didn’t even test drive it on the freeway.
Just sharing my experience...

 

[Rayzzz]

I installed the Synergy sector shaft brace and the Fox adjustable stabilizer and it did help. I also retorqued all the front end parts and found some a little under factory specs but really made no improvement. While the car is not running turn the steering wheel back and forth while someone is checking to see when then the steering box moves. Mine went from 10 to 2 o'clock without any movement in pitman arm. I also checked it with the vehicle running and was the same but do with caution. Dealership was no help but to piss#@! me off. 30 minute steering box adjustment and rolling good

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