Help! I am new to this forum but not new to the jku world. Having said this, I recently bought a 2014 jku Rubicon with 37s & a rough country lift. When driving the jeep after purchasing it I noticed a lot of play in the steering so I had a fox steering stabilizer put on it. Now, this fixed the play, but now it does not turn worth a sh*t. My mechanic replaced the tie rod & upper & lower ball joints, but still turning issues, almost as if the electronic lockers are locked in front. My mechanic is telling me that it has to do with the oversized tires & the stock lockers, but this doesn't make sense to me. I am in no way a mechanic, actually probably know only enough to get myself into trouble. I trust my mechanic, but in this case, I am not sure he knows enough about jkus to fix this. Has anyone else had this issue or know what may be the cause & how we can fix it?

 

This sounds like a hot mess. Were the BJs and TRE joints toast, or just replacing those for as a means of hoping for an improvement? Steering stabilizers are just never the answer.....band aid solutions. It sounds like something is binding up if you're describing it as trying to turn in 4WD and locked. 37s aren't going to make your steering non-existent, and you're not driving around locked so unsure why your mechanic is blaming "factory lockers". Believe me, you'd be chirping to high holy hell up front if you were locked and making any kind of turn on the pavement. You'd KNOW something ain't right. Are you saying it's THAT bad? Can you take a video and post it up?

If you're sitting in it at a stand still, are you able to cycle the steering both ways like normal, or not even close?

 

Its definitely not locked when driving. Yes, bjs & tie rod were bad. We have taken the steering stabilizer off & still same issue. I am headed to the shop in about 45 to talk to mechanic again & I can try to get a video. I haven't messed with it much since I took it to this shop so unsure of steering when sitting still, but judging from how it steers & sounds when I try to turn from a stopped position I would say not even close. Is it possible that the guy who installed the steering stabilizer for me put something back together incorrectly & if so, any idea what it could be? I would think that if that was the case they would have caught that when replacing the tie rod & ball joints. We also had new gears put in, could that be messing up the steering? Doesn't seem logical to me but I am grasping at anything at this point.

 

One thing you might do is lift the front axle, throw some jack stands under it, and cycle the steering while watching it. Just curious if everything is fine while it's under no load at all.

I can tell you I have 37s and factory steering box. I can sit at a dead stop in my drive and turn full right, full left all day long. You shouldn't be having an issue, so something is not right.

 

<br /><br />Its definitely not locked when driving. Yes, bjs &amp; tie rod were bad. We have taken the steering stabilizer off &amp; still same issue. I am headed to the shop in about 45 to talk to mechanic again &amp; I can try to get a video. I haven't messed with it much since I took it to this shop so unsure of steering when sitting still, but judging from how it steers &amp; sounds when I try to turn from a stopped position I would say not even close. Is it possible that the guy who installed the steering stabilizer for me put something back together incorrectly &amp; if so, any idea what it could be? I would think that if that was the case they would have caught that when replacing the tie rod &amp; ball joints. We also had new gears put in, could that be messing up the steering? Doesn't seem logical to me but I am grasping at anything at this point.

 

Problem solved! Lockers were not fully disengaging. Thanks for the help

 

Keep an eye on that. Can be common issue with the rubi lockers. In the old days it was not easy to repair. These days you can buy the actuators separately for ~$200. If it's getting "sticky"....probably a sign of things to come.

This would be the part that is the culprit most likely -

https://www.ebay.com/p/Actuator-Axle...4AA/1787129841