Something really scary happened to me today I was driving home from work and I noticed my steering wheel was not really steering my tires like it was not working my jeep was moving side to side I tried to steer it straight and I almost spun out. I also noticed that my electronic stability control (esc) indicator turned on any idea what could if caused I just installed 35 12.50 18 tires I'm rubbing a little but I'm getting my wheel spacers tomorrow I don't if this would help ?

 

I suspect it was due to the rub. What you see when it's on jacks, or just sitting idle doesn't represent what the rub does in dynamic driving conditions. Could get much worse in some conditions. Any chunks out of the sidewalls ?

 

If the steering wheel is not centered it can cause the ESC to freak out.

 

So I put on 1.5 spidertrax spacers on my jeep it helped a little but for some weird reason I'm still fighting to keep control of my jeep jk 2012 unlimited I noticed its harder to control and I'm concerned for my safety all this happened after I installed my toyo mt 35 12.50 18 tires now the wheels are not rubbing I just had my alignment done with different tires not the toyo tires I just got on about 3 months ago can that be the problem do I need another wheel alignment with the new tires ?

 

If the steering wheel isn't absolutely centered it will make the ESC go freaking nuts on you.

That would be my first check.

 

Have you tried disabling the ESP/TCS systems? If so, partial or what Jeep calls fully off? If not, try fully off: Press and hold ESP OFF button for five or more seconds. See if it drives better. If so and steering wheel is not centered, fix that. If steering wheel is ***perfectly*** centered, visually inspect the wires to your wheel sensors. Your new tires may have damaged one.

 

The flighty steering could be your toe-in also.... it'd be worth checking that since you have new tires. That will definitely make you fly all over the road and have constant steering corrections

 

Check both track bars. Could have a broken mount.

 

Have you checked the torque on the steering component bolts recently? Checked the ends for play?

Lifted? If so, what size lift, and which specific components were added?

Do you still have the alignment specs? Other than the new tires, is there anything else that could have changed the alignment? You smacked into a tree stump or rock or pothole? Wouldn't hurt to have them throw it on the machine and give you a printout, if you can find a shop that will do that without paying for the full alignment.

Some previous posts have indicated that changing the toe settings after moving to bigger tires helped. Might be worth a shot if you can't find anything else that could cause it.

 

Have a helper turn the steering wheel and inspect the front suspension for any worn or broken components. You said steering input doesn't feel responsive and the Jeep moves side to side makes me think the track bar is loose (or broken mount).