Greetings, all. This is my first post to this site. I have a very nice, rust-free 1999 XJ Classic 4x4. It is as original, but need a new power steering gear box. I have upgraded the hubs and the rest of the front suspension, but still have the death wobble. There is too much play in the original box (152K miles) as it wanders. Any advice to who has a good box that will give me the original tightness for under $300?

Have you checked the tie rod ends, ball joints, etc?

They are all new and tight. New stabilizer, as well. The box definitely has play.

I didn't end up replacing my steering box (different problem), but I went through the motions.

I live in a small town, and my local Advance Auto had a friend working there that was very knowledgeable on steering, suspension, custom setups. So I went in and asked him what they had for the XJ, and told him I was worried about getting crap parts with play present out-of-the-box. He told me I was right to worry, because many places are moving steering boxes like that. He admitted even Advance has some good lines and bad ones, depending on what kind. But he said the XJ boxes were usually pretty good. He stressed the importance of bench testing it in the store before going home and going through all the trouble of installing. The key thing we tested for was play, and he said be particularly picky about it on the bench, because a tiny amount of play on the bench, will feel like a lot more when actually installed. So we took it out of the box and compared the movements of the input and output, and at least on the one we checked it was nice and tight.

He then asked me a little bit more about the problems I was having, and recommended some cheap/easy things to check first, which I did, and it resolved my problem without having to change steering boxes. So I didn't end up buying it.

I only share, because he wasn't a typical auto parts employee, but an owner of the largest (by far) and most customized monster truck in this region of the state (2 ton axles, homemade suspension, etc.). He really knows his stuff.

It was definitely under $300 (I can't remember the exact), and I believe it is a rebuild on the original Saginaw casting. (I'm not an expert in this area).

Good luck, and I think its wise that you are realizing the steering box can contribute a lot to death wobble. It seems a lot of posts try to avoid that component while changing out everything else.

Umm care to post what you did to fix the vehicle...lol

I had a problem that is almost completely opposite of most people with older XJs. My steering was too tight, and getting tighter. I had troubleshot the entire system from the steering wheel down to the suspension. I had isolated the steering box as being the source of the tightness. The symptoms were hard steering, lack of return to center.

When I first bought the Jeep, and changed/flushed every fluid in the vehicle, I had researched which power steering fluid I should use for the XJ based on the original mfg specifications. I found a seller on amazon who had the original Mopar fluid (correct part number) listed, but when it arrived, it was not the part number that the product had shown. It was the newer MPS+4 (Mopar Power Steering +4, which is basically ATF+4). At the time I was a bit nervous about this, and the fluid was quite different than what I pulled from the power steering reservoir. So I decided to use an off-the-shelf general fluid that claimed to meet the original Mopar spec.

Fast forward several months, and the steering was just getting harder and worse. It was after a lot of troubleshooting and isolating it down to the steering box, that I visited my friend at Advance with the goal in mind of swapping the power steering box.

Before selling the box to me, he asked me to describe the problem, so I told him the history (that I just typed above). He told me that before doing the box, that I should go back to the ATF like fluid and give it a try. 1.) because I had nothing to lose, and 2.) because nearly everyone runs an ATF like fluid in the saginaw boxes like that which are on XJs.

So I went home and flushed out the generic fluid, and put in the MPS+4. And of course, the problem resolved almost immediately.

Thank you, all, for the info. Interesting stuff, especially about the fluid change. I went by Advance Auto and they had two different boxes; one each rebuilt ($140) and new ($180). I opted to check the new but found it to have too much play. Maybe I should have also checked the rebuilt but wound up walking away from both. I will keep searching. I really don't want to spend $450 for OEM quality, but may be forced to do so. I drive a stock Classic XJ 4x4 on the street with no offroading. I should add that is has brand new tires, hubs ball joints, stabilizer, etc.

i had a broken ear on a box. got one at a junkyard for $75, works like new.