West Texan

I have a 97 Jeep Gran Cherokee that I purchased recently. It has a ProComp lift kit. The steering is an issue. I have had the front end aligned and the steering wheel functions properly as far as my untrained eye goes. The problem is that the steering of the vehicle is very soft. Meaning that on a windy day with the wind pushing left or right I have to turn the wheel five or six inches to compensate. The front steering system has a shock absorber attached that I assume works with the steering. Does that need replaced? It has an ES ProComp 2000. Please advise if you have any suggestions.

Bustedback

I would take it to an alignment shop and have the caster angle checked out and look for any worn steering linkage parts. Pick a shop that has been around for a long time with old timers working there, places like Sears or Les Schwab have kids fresh out of school working for them and will only do the bare minimum if you're lucky.

freegdr

agreed ^^^^^^^^

JCKustoms

Sounds like you have worn out tie rods, or it has the Rugged Ridge heavy duty steering setup (or one similar).

Do you have a pic of the steering you could share?

JCKustoms

I have also had a few people come in my shop with the same problem and had a broken steering box mount...???
Check that too.

West Texan

Pictures of the front suspension and vehicle.

JCKustoms

It appears you have the stock steering linkage, so refer back to Bustedbacks post and go from there.

Bustedback

It looks like the track bar bracket on the axle may be moving a little, the rusty powdery stuff on the bracket is a hint to what is going on there.

West Texan

Thanks guys I really appreciate it. I will let you know how it goes. T

mithuth

My lifted TJ had very similar driving characteristics after being lifted. Turns out my buddy who was helping with the lift thought i torqued all the track bar bolts, and since he was down there, I thought he did it...

After about a month of "chase the steering", much like you described, I noticed some rusty powder around the drop track bar bracket. Once it was torqued to spec and welded to the frame, I haven't had an issue since.

Have someone sit in the driver's seat while you look at the steering. Have them move the wheel slowly back and forth while you watch for parts moving or not moving when they should. then repeat this with them wiggling the wheel faster, again watching for irregular movement or lack there of.

I had some issues with my XJ at stock height, and just found that the collar holding the TRE to the pitman arm had worked itself loose and was allowing the threads on the TRE to clunk around. This made for a very scary ride until I figured it out and fixed it.