DazedNConfused

My '96 XJ is harder to steer than my '87 XJ was. The '87 had 33s and the '96 has 30s. The power steering pump and steering gear look the same far as I can see... Shouldn't it be easier to turn the wheel in the newer one with smaller tires???

JPXJMOAB

may sound like a dumb question but have you checked fluid levels? Does it whine at all?

DazedNConfused

Yea the fluid is fine, its clean, no hard spots or whines. Just not as easy to turn the wheel as the old one was.

Nottingham15

I have no experience of older XJs but my 2000's steering is pretty heavy too. It's better in 2WD when the front wheels are just rolling rather than driving. Having stripped it all down at the weekend and found everything to be surprisingly clean, all bolts nice and tight and all joints free running, I concluded that the heaviness and slight inconsistency of the steering in 4WD was probably down to the universal joints being fairly primitive technology compared to the CV joints in the front driven European cars I've driven all my life.

Fred/N0AZZ

Your just not finding something the steering should be vg if everything is in good shape, have it checked out buy a shop if your unsure.