Steering Wheel Slop and Tracking Wanders!
 

The steering on the my XJ has been crap since I bought it in July. Lots of slop in the steering wheel, it wanders all over the place. Wasn't a big deal, but now I want to start road tripping in the thing and after a 4 hour trip this weekend, the steering/wandering is:
A) a PITA
B) exhausting and
C) flat out dangerous

Finally got underneath and checked it out while my son turned the wheel this morning. All the bushings are solid, the track bar and drag link bar are parallel, the drop pitman arm is working correctly.

What I found is that if you play the slop in the steering wheel, the steering shaft rotates but the wheels don't budge. Once you get through the wheel slop, everything works fine.

I found these two videos on youtube that perfectly show my problem:



After trolling the threads, i found two possible solutions, either it is a steering box problem (if so, could tightening the box fix it, or I am I looking at replacing it?) or a shaft problem (though I'm not sure about this one, as the steering wheel seems to be sending the output all the way down the shaft, but there seems to be a problem with the steering shaft inputting to the box).

Would love advice/opinions -

fyi - 2001 XJ, 190K miles, lifted 6", rolling 35's, custom over-sized tie rod, drop pitman arm.

You're on the right track. I found tightening the steering boxes doesn't really do much and it's an indication that the box is on its way out. Be careful with those remanufactured steering boxes from auto stores too, I've had several that were just as loose as the one I tried replacing.

Pay close attention to the little u joints on the steering shaft while someone moves the steering wheel back and forth. Doesn't take much play there to cause big dead spots at the steering wheel.

Look at the rag joint. Or at 6" of lift if it's not done right things can get squirrelly.

Have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you noggin poke.

check the frame where the steering box bolts up. notorious for cracking.

Contributing factors;
Short arms at 6" of lift is going to wander due to the extreme upward angle of control arms.
Stock steering at 6" of lift will cause steering issues on its own.
Caster lower than 5 degrees can cause wandering.

Thanks for the input everyone. I pulled the aux fan last night and adjusted the adjustment screw. It took just over half a turn, but now when I start to turn the wheel, the tires start to wiggle. Took it out for a quick spin and it is like a whole new beast. I don't feel ANY tightness in the box, and no popping or anything, either.

Steve, all good points -
I am running short arms, but with drop brackets, so that brings the LCA's back to just about level, so I had already discounted that.
I had the steering box out a couple months ago when I installed a new bumper, no cracks in the frame or the spacer so I knew that wasn't the issue.
I just adjusted my caster two weeks ago, figuring that was the problem initially (brought it from 0 to about 6) but it actually made it worse! (I'm sure having proper caster is now helping to make the problem go away, though!)

Thanks again, everyone!

^I see..
The toe-in changes when caster changes, adjust it last.

I have done the steering box adjustment also, but all the steering box experts/rebuilders warn against it.

Thanks, Steve! I didn't even think about the toe-in changing as a result of the caster adjustment but it totally makes sense. I will check/adjust that as the final piece.

I have also heard mixed reviews about adjusting with the screw, but I'm taking the thing to Baja in two weeks and didn't want to try to order and install a box in that time frame (wasn't going to bother w/crap from auto parts store, was going to order a RedHead, instead). Yeah, the box is probably on it's way out, but I figure this should get me at least 1000+ miles, at which point I'll be home. And since I'm doing an axle swap once we get back, a couple days here or there for a steering box is no big deal then.

Thanks for your help!

Eamonn