Scary Driveability

[lil black liberty]

When the wind blows even a little bit I have problems controlling my Jeep.. This was even before I added my lift.. It seems the steering box is loose if that's even possible.. What should I check?

 

[JJsKJ]

Steering rack bushings, tie rod ends. No "box" so not the same kind of slop you would find in a steering box. Also look at the connection from the rack to the steering shaft too.

 

[bryguy5]

hows your tires? had a toyota once had crap tires on it new ones made a world of differance. but be sure to check tie rods and connections as well.

 

[sleeve]

Indeed - it sounds like your steering gear is not up to *****.

The KJ is not unstable unless you are driving as if you were in a sports car.

 

[kj924]

I will say to check your ball joints first, then hit the rack and pinion...maybe there's a tie rod end with to much play. Check the swaybar links, under normal load if possible, to see if there is anything wrong.

 

[Andynator]

Try taking the air pressure in your tires down below 40 psi.

 

[flair1111]

Try taking the air pressure in your tires down below 40 psi.

+1

 

[kb0nly]

Try taking the air pressure in your tires down below 40 psi.

+2

Tire pressures make a big difference on steering. When i got the new tires put on my KJ last month it rode pretty hard at first and the steering felt loose. I checked and they had 45lbs in the new tires, max of like 60lbs i think on these tires. After discussing it here i dropped them slowly, did the chalk test to see what the pavement contact was like, and finally settled on 40lbs for my everyday tire pressure. If i tow something i bump up the rears 5-10lbs for the load and drop them back down for everyday.

Dropping that 5 lbs made a huge difference in handling and road feel, it doesn't feel as stiff on the bumps anymore and the steering feels tighter, mainly due to greater contact between the tires and the road. It didn't affect gas mileage much either.

 

[Luke]

+3

After I bought mine the "dealer" gave me a "complimentary service"... brakes, alignment, oil change etc. Driving home I thought they sold me a completely different Jeep than the one I test drove. Checked the tire pressure, 46 lbs COLD! in a crappy stock Wrangler ST.
After adjusting the pressure and re-doing all of their "complimentary service" the Jeep I fell in love with was back

 

[lil black liberty]

I don't have a tire pressure problem these are Firestone Destination A/T's 245/70/16's.. and they were put at the right psi by the tire shop who put it on as far as I know.. I'll check but I had other tires on there and I still had this problem.. I had this problem start about the same time they put a brand new monroe suspension kit on my KJ.. Also don't hate on the Monroe name I really don't care I just had to have it done because all my struts and shocks were badly damaged when I buried her up to the back axle 2 years ago..

 

[lil black liberty]

I haven't even messed with the LBJ's and they could be bad considering my poor baby was buried up to the back axle in Clay-Mud... btw she is a 2WD

 

[kb0nly]

I don't see anything wrong with Monroe, i had them on our minivan and i always thought that thing rode really nice after putting them on.

I second checking all the ball joints.

Also did you have an alignment done when the suspension work was done?? You might also want to check your power steering fluid and make sure its not getting frothy and even empty it and refill with fresh fluid.

Check and recheck everything to be safe!

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Check the LBJs. Don't know if the tech writeup is on here, but basically, you jack up the front wheel by the LCA, and use a 2x4 or some other long instrument of persuasion to pry up on the bottom of the tire, and watch the balljoint for any movement. There should be none.

Also, upper balljoints can cause the same symptoms, so while you have it jacked up, push in on the upper portion of the tire, and feel for any play.

 

[lil black liberty]

Crap...Well I guess it's time to have her serviced professionally then I can't do that and go to school too ain't got time.. I was thinking about doing some JBA UCA anyways, now who makes a good LCA? Also yeah I got an alignment done right after I got new tires, bad habit?..

 

[lil black liberty]

Well see I park on our grass and to get on you have to go in the drive way and up into the yard then to get down you have to go off the curb.. So could this be part of the problem?? and Mopar huh... hmmm.... and I hate to say this but RRO I was told to stay waaaay away from.. but I dont know if they are making a good product I might test it out but I really dont wanna have problems you know?

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Crap...Well I guess it's time to have her serviced professionally then I can't do that and go to school too ain't got time.. I was thinking about doing some JBA UCA anyways, now who makes a good LCA? Also yeah I got an alignment done right after I got new tires, bad habit?..

They should have checked the balljoints and tie rod ends before they aligned it.

But, some places have a bad habit of thinking "oh, they ain't gonna buy anything, align it anyway"....

Seen that happen way too many times...

 

[lil black liberty]

Eh I the place I get my alignment done I'm about to change anyway.. when doing an Oil change they don't check the ****** fluid, differential fluid, washer fluid none of that stuff they dont even check the air filter or my tires.. It's a really big pain because the place I went before did all that for $45..

 

[kb0nly]

Make sure you get a tire pressure gauge, not one of the cheap stick type ones, spend a few bucks more and get a dial gauge type, and just check the tires just in case also. You said the place put the tires on and checked them but you didn't. So i would still check them so you know what your riding on!! Consider it an unknown until you check yourself.

A neighbor of mine got two new tires put on the front of their truck, the shop put the max rated air pressure into the tires, just read the sidewall and put in 61 lbs of air. He got home and mentioned it was steering a lot different then it used to, felt kinda unsafe with a crosswind. Checked his tires and he about dumped a load in his shorts. We dropped them down to 40 lbs and he was surprised at the difference.

So i'm just saying, check them yourself. I don't trust anyone anymore.

 

[lil black liberty]

I got a digital gauge I'll check em tomorrow..

 

[kb0nly]

When the wind blows even a little bit I have problems controlling my Jeep.. This was even before I added my lift.. It seems the steering box is loose if that's even possible.. What should I check?

After reading it all again.. You mentioned its more noticeable with wind, and that it started when the shocks where changed right?

A few things come to mind. First of all an SUV like this really is a big wind block and a crosswind can really suck because of the high profile of the body. But also your old shocks if they were shot like you say then chances are it was sagging bad. I had an S10 like that years back, and after i changed the shocks out i thought i did something wrong because it drove like crap. After some adjustments on the shocks, tire pressure changes, etc, then it felt almost the same but still not the same. Understandable though after driving around for almost a year on shocks that were totally shot, just didn't have the money to replace them.

Know any other KJ owners locally?? Have them drive yours around a bit and see what they think, i know it sounds like stupid suggestion, but they might think what your experiencing is normal based on their experience driving theirs on a daily basis..