Hey all - My 93 2wd cherokee country is my 17 year-old's ride. I am a little concerned with the steering, as it feels a little "wonky" (sorry , I really do not know how to describe it) This is mostly at low speed/parking turns, and braking to a stop. Any chance it is the steering damper? How do I tell? What are the tell-tale signs that a damper needs to be replaced?

Thanks,

-tim

 

The dampener is only there to really pick up little vibs that would cause minor death wobble. In a steering system that is set up perfect, there is no real need for the dampener (have a few buddies running without dampeners with no issues). A tell tale sign that the dampener goes bad is usually when it starts to leak.

From what it sounds like (if I understand your description), it sounds like a tie rod, ball joint or wheel hub going bad. What you can do is lift up one tire on the front and grab at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions and see if there is movement when you pull back and forth, again for the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. If there's movement, see where it's coming from. If not, then the hubs and ball joints are usually good. The other thing to do is get someone to violently shake the steering wheel back and forth (with the tires on the ground) and see if there is any play in the tie rod ends (four ends total) and you can also check the track bar ends this way (two ends total for that). There will be play in the horizontal direction if they are bad or vertical direction if the bolt is loose.

 

Check the tires for a seperation (AKA shifted belt), you'll get wonky steering issues if one of the tires is bad.

 

Lots of moving parts that affect steering. Have your son rock the steering wheel back and forth as you look underneath and see if there is slop in any connections.

 

All done!