Guys,

I apologize in advance for the horrendously long post, but I really hate it when people ask questions and don't give you enough info' for an educated answer. So anyway, here it goes.

I'm having a steering issue on my '92 XJ. It will randomly just stop steering, or will steer very little......sometimes left, sometimes right. There seems to be no real pattern to the irregularity.

I'll try to make this brief, but here's some back story. This has turned into a project that I've been working on for my youngest daughter who just turned 16. The rear diff grenaded about 6 months ago, so we decided to replace it (instead of repair). It already had a lift and 35's on it when we bought it, but the PO had done some STUPID **** (lift pucks with unknown springs under the front, huge lift blocks under the stock rear springs, etc...). So while we were in it, we decided to correct most of the major issues. It ran and steered absolutely fine before we tore it apart.

So here is most of the pertinent stuff that we did while we had it tore down over the last 6 months......
-----new RC 4" lift (front coils, rear springs, and shocks)
-----new BK Fabworks upper and lower adjustable (short) control arms
-----new BK Fabworks high steer kit
-----new SYE kit
-----installed a low miles Chrysler 8.25" rear axle (already had 4.10 gears), and locked (welded) it
-----new rear driveshaft for the 8.25" conversion above
-----installed 4.10 gear and Spartan locker in the stock D30 front diff to match the rear ratio

I don't wrench for a living, but 'm a pretty decent mechanic and have installed a few lifts in the past without issues....not to mention countless other mod's to numerous vehicles. And my buddy (who is even more experienced than I am) helped on all of this. So I feel reasonably confident that the steering geometry is not off by much (if any), and is definitely not off bad enough to cause the issue we are experiencing. Sitting still on the ground, sometimes it will turn absolutely fine like nothing is wrong. Sometimes it won't. Sometimes it turns full right but not to the left, and sometimes vice versa. But if you try driving it (vehicle moving), as soon as you begin to turn, it will act like the steering is locked. Not as if you're losing power steering, but like it's in a complete bind. I've driven many vehicles with lockers in the front AND rear diff', but this is WAY more than just that. The drag link and tie rod are definitely free and not binding, and the ball joints seem to be fine. Both axle U-joints are shot (I've bought new ones but haven't had time to replace them yet), but I really can't see that causing this serious of a steering problem.

Although it made no sense that it would go from steering perfectly fine (before the mod's) to virtually not steering at all, we installed a new steering box from Autozone because the old one did have a slow leak. Yet, still no change with the new steering gear. Although it DOES whine a little, it sure doesn't seem like a steering pump issue. The power doesn't seem to come and go, and raising the rpm's has no affect when it doesn't want to steer.

I hate to keep throwing parts at this, but (aside from replacing the pump....which I do NOT think will fix it) I really don't know where to go from here and even my buddy is scratching his head too. It's really driving me crazy and I'm about ready to sell this thing or part it out and buy her a YJ or TJ.

Any suggestions on what and where I should be looking at?

 

sounds like some thing is binding have somebody turn the wheels while your under it or look for some shiny metal were something is rubbing/hitting. is it possible the tires are hitting when articulating.

 

Have tou checked the belt it could be just a little loose xj's need the belt tight , also I have seen the pump pully get loose on the P/S pump shaft , you can use a marker to mark the shaft and pully to see if it is spinning on the shaft .

 

I checked that but can't see or feel anything. Articulation isn't a factor because it won't even steer on flat ground. There doesn't seem to be any contact....definitely not on the wheels/tires.

 

I've checked it a couple of times, but I'll check again and use the marker trick.

 

does the power steering pump groan or make any noises when it wont steer

 

A little. And if you man handle it or try to force it, it really starts groaning.

 

A bad u joint that is sized up will make steering difficult. Pull a tie rod off of the knuckle on each side and see how easy you can turn it.

 

Agree with 00t444e,

Knowing that the U-joints are bad, that should be the first place to start. While you are disassembling, look at and check parts. Sometimes problems don't always show up without diving in.

 

Thanks guys. I hate to keep throwing parts at it, but I'll try replacing the U-joints before I replace the pump. If that doesn't work, I'm about ready to part out this POS.