Loose Steering

I was able to drive the Jeep this last weekend, first time at speeds higher than of 10 mph. The steering was very loose, drifting a lot and I would slowly correct trying not to over correct.

looking under the Jeep there’s not a whole
Lot there, see the pictures below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/h1K6CPJNQnGM1SRq5

What can be done to help correct the loose steering?

 

Tie rods, ball joints, steering gear, steering shaft joints, and caster are things to look at.

 

Have someone rock the wheel back and forth while you lay under it and check for play.

Just looking at your pictures, it looks like you have a later steering box mount. They were notorious for loosening and cracking. Also, the bell-style joint on the steering shaft is probably a source of play.

Like @73 cj5 said, check your caster. It looks like your front pinion is pointing up at a sharp angle. That shouldn’t appear to be that high. You should have 5°-7° positive caster at the wheels. Throw an angle finder on a flat surface of a ball joint to see.

 

. Also, the bell-style joint on the steering shaft is probably a source of play.

What would the fix be?

 

A permanent fix would be a standard u-joint, but IMO, that’s pretty far down the list of things to check. Caster issues or steering box mount play will cause the wander, where a sloppy joint in the shaft will only make it a little harder to correct the wander. Like a bandaid on an axe wound.

 

Actually, the caster should be 5°-7° POSITIVE at the wheels. I believe ITLKSEZ mistakenly said negative.

 

My bad. I fixed my post.