POCKEE999

Need some help, my jeep is lifted 4.5 inch's and i installed an adjustable trac bar, and a dual shock stabilizer I checked my tie rod ends and there good but everytime I'm driving on the highway my steering wheel has a lot of free play. At 70+ it gets down right scary I have the stock sway bar links on it. My question is, is there some uprade to my steering componets to make my steering a little more stiff? PLEASE HELP

greenxj21

Do you have a rough country lift? And you could upgrade the tie rod

93slayer

I have a similar issue, play in the wheel at any speeds..... I can turn a couple inches each way without affecting the wheels....

92XJGuy

I had this at 4'', and still have it at 6.5'' with an HD tie rod. I've gotten used to it. I can mess with my friends when driving and act like I'm turning left and right and still be going perfectly straight. lol

SuperGlue

You need to adjust your steering box from the sounds of it. I have mine adjusted properly, it makes a difference between turning the steering wheel 3 inches before the tires begin to turn and it being as tight as a 3 year olds ***. There is a bolt with a allen head in the middle of it on top of your steering box. Loosen the bolt and tighten the allen head 1/4 turn at a time. after turning the allen head 1/4 turn re-tighten the bolt and go around the block. If its still loose repeat. If you go around and its to tight then loosen. Makes a world of difference. The gears inside the box get worn out with time and abuse, when tightening that bolt your tightening the clearance of the gears inside your steering box. So if you make it to tight and drive it like that to long you will blow your steering box up.

chicago

heres a tie rod upgrade. the stock ones a hunk a ****. ask me how i know. https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/zj-...upgrade-22717/

SuperGlue

I agree upgrading the tie rod is a benefit, but your problem is the steering box based on all of your symptoms. And if you really wanted to replace your steering system I would recoment the curry currectlync setup. Completly bolt in much stronger then the zj setup

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...nc.aspx?id=913

Jamison

Check your steering gearbox where it attached to the unibody rail.

Also, get under the jeep and have a buddy turn the wheel left and right and look for loose connections. Something will move where it's not supposed to.

Marks2000XJ

Hey SuperGlue,

Thanks for this information. Mine is doing the same thing. Feels like the front end kind of "floats" when going down the road. I knew it was not the ball joints or tie rod ends because I had them checked and they are all tight. My next guess was something was wrong with the steering gear box.

I was ready to drop some cash on a new one. I am glad I saw this. I will give it a try first. Thanks!

SuperGlue

No problem, expect to turn that little allen screw 2 or 3 rotations, but only do it a 1/4 turn at a time. It gets tedious and you will want to just do a full turn, but i promise you that you will regret it =P It will cause your gears to explode then you will have to buy a new one if you over tighten it. Test drive after every 1/4 turn till its where you want it. And Jamison has it right also, check to see if your box is seperating from your uniframe. In my opinion, even a stock tire size should have a steering box brace if it ever leaves the street. My rustys steering box brace tightened up my front end noticably. In fact, I would say that it removed what remained of the play that I had in my front end after adjusting my steering box. Here is the writeup I used to adjust my box, they are the same on wranglers..
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/s...riteup-498155/

POCKEE999

Thanks for the info guys, I knew I could get some good info from up here, but i found this video on YouTube and I plan on doing this
http://youtu.be/gAD0ugRQNek