Why would my WJ be doing this?

While on the power accelerating it is straight and smooth. Once at about 40 - 55 mph after letting off the gas cruising, the steering wheel noticeably shakes itself left and right back and forth about an inch in each direction. If I accelerate it smooths out again. If I apply the brakes and hold them slightly to keep all of the weight biased towards the front end, it smooths out. At higher speeds it is completely not there. When the steering wheel is doing this, I can feel instability with how it drives going down the road. It is not a smooth drive.

Any ideas? This started after spending 20,000 miles driving on the Great Southern Plains, strictly driving those miles on dirt, clay, rock, sand, and grass terrain probably 90% of the time. I did these 20,000 miles recently over approximately 3 1/2 months time-frame. I think I may have upset some hardware components?

 

Someone I know just told me where he thinks I should start looking first.. He says it is in either the suspension, or the steering components. If that helps?

 

I'll be able to at least do a visual inspection. What do you think.. which parts and where to inspect?

 

An inspection of the steering components and front suspension is your first step.

 

Thanks. I will look into that, and post the results if I find the culprit(s), or not?

 

I looked at the tires yesterday evening. They have a little bit of decent tread left to them. Maybe looks like about 35% left or little more. No cupping. They were recently rotated, but the problem was really present prior to rotating the tires. I didn't really notice as much until recently because practically every road I was traversing up until now has been soo crummy. Half of them did not even resemble much of a road really at all.. I knew things were not operating properly for a little while now.. Or, at least I could tell there was something beginning to worsen, becoming less optimal over these last couple of thousand miles leading up to now.

I checked and filled all four of my tires, to the usual normal tire psi I have always run too. No change. It still does this having the erratic drive-ability how I mentioned in the above opening post.

 

Ahah!

What is the reason? This is not right! I have suspects.

 

And? Thrown wheel weight or mud in the back of the wheel? Sabotage?

 

It's not normal. There are these parts and something happened!

 

I need to know because I have the same problem at 55 and smooth after that.

 

I am gonna reverse it... These things aren't right that way!

 

The parts need reversed. If I reverse the parts it might be why? The reason.

 

Now I know you're messing with me.....I'll be back later.

 

I am going to try and fix it tomorrow. I don't want to jump the gun, but I think I found the reason.. A reversal

 

Okay, I am going to begin a more in-depth investigation into the steering wheel wobble anomaly I am experiencing.

I have to get a helper though, or maybe I will be able to point a camera at the different components tied into the steering. I need to be able to see whats happening with all the components when I move my steering wheel back and forth..

Since worn or bad gears in the steering gearbox may be a cause for the steering wheel to wobble, I am focusing my attention to the gearbox. I do not think this is the reason, but it must be verified. I measured for play already. By marking the steering wheel and measuring the distance it rotates before I see the front wheels begin to actually move. It is tight. There is less than an inch of play when I rotate my steering wheel both left and right. It engages with the front wheels moving them almost in sync with the steering wheel movements... By way of this test, the gears internal of the steering gearbox appear to be okay.

I am going to continue and inspect the rest of this box closely. I need to check for play at the steering box pinion shaft to see that it is not loose. First, I will push and pull it to see if the splined joint is loose in the steering shaft. A loose splined joint can be fixed by tightening the pinch bolt on the steering column. Then, I will disconnect the joint, and try to move the pinion shaft in and out and sideways. There should be no movement in either direction. If there is any movement at all.. it would need to be repaired.

The next thing to do at the steering box is to check the drop-arm and sector shaft. I will try to move the drop arm in the sector shaft up and down. There should be no movement up and down when pushing and pulling on the drop arm, to which it is connected. The shaft should not move.

If the drop arm moves on its sector shaft, either up or down or radially, it may just be that the locking bolt needs tightening. If so, I could try tightening the locking bolt, and test again for movement. However, if the sector shaft itself moves at all.. it will need to be repaired.