Hi, one of my cars is a 97 Jeep GCL (the AMC 4.0 version).
The car changes direction every time the crown or banking of the road changes. Otherwise, it tracks fine.
However, since there is very little local driving to be done without encountering frequent road crown and banking changes, this car keeps me on my toes around town, constantly changing the steering input an inch either way to keep it between the ditches.
Does this sound familiar?
Well, first of all, these don't have a steering rack, they have an old-school steering box and straight axle. They aren't precision-handling machines. I would be checking for a blown-out steering damper, slop in the track bar or in the steering box. Mine does the same but for a $500 vehicle, I never really dove into it.
My XJ does this too. I try not to worry about it too much and chalk it up to sloppy truck steering. I'm afraid going through and replacing parts will just lead to disappointing results.
It is common, but not necessarily normal depending on severity. Check all joints back to the pitman arm. The box may also have some slop. There are aftermarket braces for the box as well.
If there's more than 1/8 - 1/4" of slop in the wheel, something is wrong. Check all the tie rod ends and ball joints for play, as well as the front track bar. If there's none, then the play is likely in the box. If you google around, there's a few good writeups on the adjustment procedure for the box (which will get rid of the play unless the box is shot).
If it's still wandering once you get the steering tight, then it's time to look at the alignment (caster and toe).
Some amount of following road crown is normal for these things, but it shouldn't require much effort or hunting around with the steering to compensate for it.
If you lift the wheels off the ground, the track bar will bind up and not show wear. Get somebody to move the steering wheel back and forth while you lay on the ground and watch for movement. The tierod off the pitman arm doesn't need much slack to give you a wander.
Check the track bar like streetwise said. Then adjust the steering gear. I've done this many, many times and it transforms it back to new again. Most folks have no idea there is an adjustment.
Agreed on laying under it while somebody plays with the wheel. I've driven one that had maybe 1/8" of play in one of the draglink ends, it was like a drunk driving simulator.
DrBoost wrote: Check the track bar like streetwise said. Then adjust the steering gear. I've done this many, many times and it transforms it back to new again. Most folks have no idea there is an adjustment.
There's actually 2 adjustments. Even less people know about the preload adjustment on the input of the box (not as visible as the over-center adjustment on the top).
Wicked cool, thanks guys. I'll get busy with the diagnosis now that I know what to look for.
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