lost steering
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: nj
lost steering
Hello all, Ill start by saying that my 08 JK Sahara has got over 160,000 miles on it, so by no means is it a spring chicken. Back around 40k I got the death wobble, tracked it down and cured it with new tires and a replacement set of aftermarket greasable ball joints. Fast forward about 120k...two sets of tires and 4 steering stabilizers later (The stock stabilizer blew out, the Rancho I replaced it with lasted a couple of years then gave up the ghost and leaked at around 100k, the second rancho I replaced it with took the piss about 3 months ago not only by leaking, but one day actually had its internal piston seize which prevented making a full turn of the steering wheel during a trip back home, so I removed that one and filed it where in belonged in the back of a garbage truck)
A few weeks back I was traveling down a highway on a drizzly night at about 55 mph when suddenly a cat came darting out across the lanes and I "Collected" it with a solid thud and a little swerve. I had no idea what it was at first so I pulled over and rewound the footage on my dash camera only to see the unavoidable replay in slow motion of this little creature cashing in on his 9th life followed by me yelling WTF WAS THAT! Anyway a prayer later for the deceased I was back on my way continuing down the highway where about a mile and a half later the roadway begins to slope downward and to the left snaking its way underneath and overpass for an intersection highway above it. In true NJ mid winter road maintenance fashion there was the typical washboard of patches and lumps I was now jostling over as I sped along at 50-ish in the middle of the gradual left hand bend when all of the sudden....the steering wheel goes light and freely spins to lock, and the dash lights up like a christmas tree with ABS, BAS, ESP lights and the jeep veers and starts traveling straight heading towards the concrete abutment. I slam on the brakes and the front end starts slamming back and forth and probably took the record for the worlds worst death wobble in the history of jeeps. Now at a stop in the middle of the highway I can spin the steering wheel like a fidget spinner and poke my head out the window to see the front tire turned all the way to the left without any movement. Then the next minute or so was spent clenching as I was watching oncoming traffic barrelling in from behind me come around the bend and slam on their brakes and honk and call me all sorts of stuff. But I was dead in the water. In a move to attempt to not be such a sitting duck where I was , I hastily waited for a break in traffic and just began driving ahead and let the Jeep go in whatever direction it was in the mood for (Which luckily was over to the left and I jammed it up over the curb of the embankment and called for a tow.
So turns out that little freakin cat got the last laugh and was the straw the broke the camel. When I hit it, he must have delivered the final blow to the drag link because the tie rod end just dropped completely off of the pitman arm on the steering box and wished me luck as fate took over.
So the point is...its a pretty good idea to check your ball joints and linkage ends frequently....esp on high mileage vehicles. Or.....just dont clobber cats while driving.
All is repaired and replaced now, and Im trying the Bilstein stabilizer as well. That ordeal could have ended up with a much more tragic result, thankfully it didnt! But to be honest...its time to get rid of this jeep....Im kind of wondering whats going to come falling off of it next.....
A few weeks back I was traveling down a highway on a drizzly night at about 55 mph when suddenly a cat came darting out across the lanes and I "Collected" it with a solid thud and a little swerve. I had no idea what it was at first so I pulled over and rewound the footage on my dash camera only to see the unavoidable replay in slow motion of this little creature cashing in on his 9th life followed by me yelling WTF WAS THAT! Anyway a prayer later for the deceased I was back on my way continuing down the highway where about a mile and a half later the roadway begins to slope downward and to the left snaking its way underneath and overpass for an intersection highway above it. In true NJ mid winter road maintenance fashion there was the typical washboard of patches and lumps I was now jostling over as I sped along at 50-ish in the middle of the gradual left hand bend when all of the sudden....the steering wheel goes light and freely spins to lock, and the dash lights up like a christmas tree with ABS, BAS, ESP lights and the jeep veers and starts traveling straight heading towards the concrete abutment. I slam on the brakes and the front end starts slamming back and forth and probably took the record for the worlds worst death wobble in the history of jeeps. Now at a stop in the middle of the highway I can spin the steering wheel like a fidget spinner and poke my head out the window to see the front tire turned all the way to the left without any movement. Then the next minute or so was spent clenching as I was watching oncoming traffic barrelling in from behind me come around the bend and slam on their brakes and honk and call me all sorts of stuff. But I was dead in the water. In a move to attempt to not be such a sitting duck where I was , I hastily waited for a break in traffic and just began driving ahead and let the Jeep go in whatever direction it was in the mood for (Which luckily was over to the left and I jammed it up over the curb of the embankment and called for a tow.
So turns out that little freakin cat got the last laugh and was the straw the broke the camel. When I hit it, he must have delivered the final blow to the drag link because the tie rod end just dropped completely off of the pitman arm on the steering box and wished me luck as fate took over.
So the point is...its a pretty good idea to check your ball joints and linkage ends frequently....esp on high mileage vehicles. Or.....just dont clobber cats while driving.
All is repaired and replaced now, and Im trying the Bilstein stabilizer as well. That ordeal could have ended up with a much more tragic result, thankfully it didnt! But to be honest...its time to get rid of this jeep....Im kind of wondering whats going to come falling off of it next.....
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: nj
Hahahah! It was certainly an odd chain of events that make for a funny story indeed! 50-100 ft later would have had a much different outcome! Sometimes you just have to thank the big guy upstairs whos keeping an eye out for you ;-) Church and lottery tickets are good "next move" options lol
