Your steering is not loose. Rant warning.

[Scrubb84]

Sector shaft play is a potential issue. I'd hesitate to jump to that on a new vehicle until all other aspects had been thuroughly vetted.

My serv dept gave me every excuse u did until they drove it. U must work at a dealership/serv dept! 100%

Sponsored

 

[ShadowsPapa]

seems to me that these items don't apply to almost all folks here who have a dramatic steering issue on their new, stock JT.

EXACTLY. We aren't talking 37" tires. And under-inflating to resolve an issue is telling people, oh, never mind. People can choose to follow logic, fact, science, manufacturers recommendations (TIRE, not vehicle) or not. Their choice. I will continue to fix what others screw up - that's how I first got started in the business.

 

[BruteForce]

26PSI on 37's, no issue..

 

[Oscar Indy]

26PSI on 37's, no issue..

Same here. If it gets over 30 on the dash I experience some " loose" sterring.
26 keeps it at about 29 when it warms up.

 

[Oscar Indy]

My serv dept gave me every excuse u did until they drove it. U must work at a dealership/serv dept! 100%

Where you at? Bet I can fix it.

 

[Scrubb84]

Where you at? Bet I can fix it.

The toe measures good. Took a while but its freezing out.

 

[MarineHawk]

Stock 33s @ 40 PSI--no steering issues.

Cooper STTs 35s @ 33 PSI--no steering issues.

Cooper STTs 35s @ 42 PSI--no steering issues.

It’s the pressure (as we measure in pounds per square inch (PSI)) that matters. As you increase the volume of a tire and keep the air mass constant, you drop the force lifting the load on the tire.

If you double the size of a tire while keeping the air mass the same, you drop the force the tire can sustain by half. That’s why on normal cars, with iddy-bitty tires, you have roughly the same recommended tire pressure that you have with larger tires.

If you had the same amount or air that you have in little Toyota Corolla tires in big Jeep/truck tires, it would not work even if the Jeep weighed no more than a Corolla. It’s the pressure that matters.
​

 

[Gobi Wan K]

I need to get something off my chest so
I'm gonna rant here a little bit. I've helped hundreds of people fix this issue of flighty steering over several generations of Jeeps. So be warned. <Rant on >

I spent way to much time trying to explain a simple concept to a guy today.

Guy is claiming he's gonna sue Jeep because his Jeep on 37s wanders to much. After LOTS of back and forth and some choice insults it turns out he's doing exactly what I told him he was doing and wouldn't accept he was wrong.

He was running 35 psi in a 37x13.5r17. the factory tire pressure on the door is 36. Well no shit it drives like crap. You are riding on rails. The concept is simple it's not the pressure you need to support the weight it's the volume of air.

Simple way of putting it you need the same amount of air on a 33 as you do on a 37. Logically if you put the same amount of air in the two sizes of tire the bigger one is going to be a lower psi. So by putting the same pressure in a 37 you have dramatically over inflated the 37.

He tried to tell me that I was wrong and that air pressure is a bandaid fix and that my tires won't last 10k being " under inflated."

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make an idiot understand simple logic. Good luck with that lawsuit buddy. Maybe stick to bro trucks.

What really chaps my ass is this guy has thousands of subscribers on YouTube and is either a moron or trying to cash in on sensationalism making a big deal out of his own mistakes. My money is on both.

So if you are reading this thinking your steering is a bit loose on over sized tires try deflating them a bit. I am sitting at 26 psi cold to keep me under 30 hot. At 30 it starts to wander. This is on 37x12.5 r17

So, I drove a Rubicon on my dealers lot a couple months before I got mine. I immediately noticed something up with the steering. It was a short test drive but it seemed to be a dead spot in the middle. 2 months later I pick up my Rubicon. Warm tires showing 42/43 on the dash. Drove like a dream. Yes, we can talk about tire pressure all day but there are JTs running around out there with a mechanical problem with the steering. My suspicion is that if the pressure is kept up they will quietly issue a TSB for a bad batch of steering gears that made it out of the factory. There is no way you could drive the one I did and mine and not immediately notice a difference. I have built many Jeeps and driven trucks all my life so I have a little background with this.

 

[jrf]

First, blanket statements telling everyone they are wrong without details is not community friendly. It's been pretty clear on here that some have problems and some don't. Kudos to the guys that don't that understand while their vehicle is ok it doesn't mean others don't have a problem.

Now as for tire pressure. At least on mine that's the first thing I checked. I ran at multiple pressures just to see the difference. This is on a Rubicon with the 33s. Went down to 26 at the lowest. Made little to no different in steering problem. Ended up at 32psi cold. First time I took it to the dealer... The dealer actually blamed low tire pressure!!! Said I had them too low and they filled them back up to 37. I'm telling you... The problem SOME are having is not tire pressure.

Otherwise I agree, 37s in general are going to require less pressure than 33s. I'm running about 27psi in my TJ with 37s. They wear very even and I have no issues.

 

[WXman]

I need to get something off my chest so
I'm gonna rant here a little bit. I've helped hundreds of people fix this issue of flighty steering over several generations of Jeeps. So be warned. <Rant on >

I spent way to much time trying to explain a simple concept to a guy today.

Guy is claiming he's gonna sue Jeep because his Jeep on 37s wanders to much. After LOTS of back and forth and some choice insults it turns out he's doing exactly what I told him he was doing and wouldn't accept he was wrong.

He was running 35 psi in a 37x13.5r17. the factory tire pressure on the door is 36. Well no shit it drives like crap. You are riding on rails. The concept is simple it's not the pressure you need to support the weight it's the volume of air.

Simple way of putting it you need the same amount of air on a 33 as you do on a 37. Logically if you put the same amount of air in the two sizes of tire the bigger one is going to be a lower psi. So by putting the same pressure in a 37 you have dramatically over inflated the 37.

He tried to tell me that I was wrong and that air pressure is a bandaid fix and that my tires won't last 10k being " under inflated."

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make an idiot understand simple logic. Good luck with that lawsuit buddy. Maybe stick to bro trucks.

What really chaps my ass is this guy has thousands of subscribers on YouTube and is either a moron or trying to cash in on sensationalism making a big deal out of his own mistakes. My money is on both.

So if you are reading this thinking your steering is a bit loose on over sized tires try deflating them a bit. I am sitting at 26 psi cold to keep me under 30 hot. At 30 it starts to wander. This is on 37x12.5 r17

I will agree 100% that larger tires need various pressures. LT vs. P rated tires also require various pressures due to construction. That's simple science.

I won't agree that tire pressure has a damned thing to do with the wander problem, and I know this because I ran my pressures up and down from 28 to 50 PSI on my JLU just to prove to people that it made zero difference. A mechanical issue is a mechanical issue. My JLU had a problem, and it took a dealer service visit to solve it. Tire pressure will affect a lot of things, but a vehicle with electronic steering that has the wrong calibrations loaded isn't one of them.

 

[Puda32]

Care to take a bet on what that family members tire pressure is set at? I got money says 42+- 3psi. Because that is what the factory sets them at for shipping so they don't get flat spots. Their dealer should have lowered the psi during check in. I have actually posted the PDI sheet in another thread. And there are tons of posts showing that the dealer didn't do a proper pdi. Call the family and ask them.

33 on factory tires. I will admit that your comment about 42+ from the dealer was the only thing worth reading in this entire post. I don't possess the wisdom to diagnose other people's Jeeps over the internet but I think I'll keep an eye on the investigation and how it turns out. I also ordered the Synergy sector shaft brace so I can update the thread later this week after I see if it helps. I could post the video of the 3/4" of movement on my steering box but that would probably be too much actual proof and not enough emotion to hold any weight.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a29144073/nhtsa-jeep-wrangler-steering-shimmy-complaints/

 

[Rollcast]

After reading a truckload of steering related threads, I don't think there is just one problem. Tire pressure may be the issue for some, but there can be other issues. If I had poor steering on a dead stock truck, I would do the following in order:

1. Go to dealer to log a complaint about terrible steering and have them check everything over and tell me it's a jeep thing. This way, it's in the system in case there's a recall or TSB somewhere down the line.
2. Adjust tire pressure to figure out best handling pressure and do a chalk test to get the tires to a happy place. It won't hurt anything, and it might help. At the least, it will help maximize tire life. Test drive.
3. Torque everything steering and suspension related to factory specs. It's clear that many jeeps come with components that are not properly torqued to jeep's own specs. Honestly, I don't trust dealers to actually do this. I expect that most of them just assume everything is torqued right from the factory and they don't/won't check for themselves. I would just get out my torque wrench, crawl under the jeep and spend 20-30 minutes getting torquey. Test drive. Go back to step 2 and re-verify chalk test if needed.
4. Break out a tape measure and make absolutely sure there is at least some toe in and adjust up to 1/8" toe in, if needed, to improve handling. Yeah, the dealer may have said it is "in spec," but those morons also said "it's a jeep thing." Just because it is in spec doesn't mean it is good. It should be easily adjusted to something that is still in spec and more driveable. Test drive. Go back to step 2 and re-verify chalk test if needed.
5. If it is still funky after all of that, start looking at other things like caster, steering box play, adding a synergy brace, etc. This is sort of last resort stuff after personally taking care of the simple stuff above.

These are things that I would do, and I would feel better off by personally verifying these settings. I really don't trust dealers and you shouldn't either. Remember, these are the same people telling everyone, "It's normal. It's a jeep thing. It's a straight front axle thing...blah, blah, blah"

 

[bgenlvtex]

As the volume of the tire increases, the necessary pressure to support the same load decreases.

Neither of the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[Tatthang]

I'm new to the jeep thing and big tires. But my 2 cent is that when we driven our truck home from the dealer, my wife did say it wanders. Been almost 3 weeks and I finally got the psi down to 37 psi, it was 42psi. And let me tell you, I can let go of my hands driving at 60mph. I would never do that during the past 3 weeks. But for the science of it, I have no idea. I just know now I'm driving straight with my hands off the steering wheels.

 

[Oscar Indy]

I'm new to the jeep thing and big tires. But my 2 cent is that when we driven our truck home from the dealer, my wife did say it wanders. Been almost 3 weeks and I finally got the psi down to 37 psi, it was 42psi. And let me tell you, I can let go of my hands driving at 60mph. I would never do that during the past 3 weeks. But for the science of it, I have no idea. I just know now I'm driving straight with my hands off the steering wheels.

Your dealer didn't do a proper PDI. They should have lowered that for you.

Sponsored