Steering wandering -- my solution

[mmerlina]

Hey guys, I posted this up on JF but I figured I might as well share here also, hopefully it will help save someone or more people some time and aggravation down the road..

I've had a few previous posts about my CJ zig zagging down the road especially after a sharp turn. I went through a lot of stuff.. and I'm not regretting it because everything I did pretty much needed to be done anyways.. however..

.. my problem ended up being the ujoints in the front axle shafts. My driver's side ujoint was almost frozen solid to the point where for me to get the c-clips out I had to bang shaft on the bench to get enough of an angle.

My theory is that after a sharp turn, the steering box had the torque to angle the shafts, but on the return when straightening back out.. I'm guessing that the rust was holding the shafts from going back to straight, and sending me all over the place.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was driving around with old ujoints. (.. and yes I did spend the extra money on the spicers)

 

[Old Dog]

Good to know. That would have been the last place I would have looked

 

[mmerlina]

Mine too! There was an alignment guy in the shop the other day and we were just bs'ing and I mentioned my problem to him.. he said check the axle ujoints cause sometimes it's just that easy.

So I figured I'd pass the good word along for people to keep in the back of their minds the next time their jeep is all over the road.

 

[double4]

Thanks for the information.
I'm glad yours is back in good condition now.

 

[mmerlina]

No problem, I feel obligated to share because everyone else here and most forums is always so helpful.

I actually just received my heavy duty steering bracket today.. gonna go bolt that on probably tonight cause I'm bored.

 

[double4]

I hope you got around to it like you planned!
Did the installation go ok?
How is your jeep driving now?

 

[mmerlina]

Yep, I got everything together! I had a few problems with getting the old power steering lines off cause the flange was rusted to the line on both of them.. one of them I twisted the pipe and the other I ended up getting off alright.

Anyways, with the new steering box and the HD bracket, it's like night and day! I get the turning radius I'm supposed to have. I didn't get many pictures cause it was late and I wasn't thinking, but here's a couple.