I need some advise. I have flat towed by JK for thousands of miles with zero issues. I recently purchased an '04 Rubicon and plan on towing it to Colorado next month. I connected it with the tow bar for a test run. Steering unlocked, one click. While making a left turn on a city street, the steering on the Jeep turned all the way to the right and would not or could not straighten back out. I had to manually straighten it back. Has anyone ever experienced this problem?
Flat towing problem
- Thread starter MajorG
- Start date
@TurboTJ has an active thread with a possibly related similar issue. I would suspect the alignment in this case as well, possibly insufficient caster.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/death-wobble-while-flat-towing.45196/#post-768907
Have you had an alignment recently?
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/death-wobble-while-flat-towing.45196/#post-768907
Have you had an alignment recently?
Yes. I just had the front end gone through by a very reputable off-road shop, which included alignment. The jeep drives like a champ. No pulling or wobble.
It had to have relocked itself,Jeep stopped the lock steering around 2008,it is really easy to disable the lock on a tj,
I have flat towed my 05 Rubi and have never had this happen to me. I am trying to figure out how the wheels turned that far, mine never gets more than about half way
There is probably a thread on that. I have wished my steering did not lock on my 06.
I've never had this happen, yet. Not that this could be a cause, but is your tow bar level with the coach?
rouxbicon
TJ Enthusiast
I wonder if it could have happened under the following scenario, assuming the tow vehicle was a motorhome/coach. On a coach making a sharp left turn as on a city street, the rear end and hitch is going to swing right before it follows the front end to the left. The right swing will be more pronounced for a coach with a longer rear overhang. Under some circumstances if the transition from the right swing to the left turn (of the coach's rear end) happens rapidly enough, the front tires of the toad might not keep up and basically wind up being dragged sideways. if they are being dragged sideways at or close to a 90 deg angle, at that point there are no forces encouraging them to turn left.
Still seems like the toad's front tires should have eventually straightened out...
If that was actually the case, I don't have a good solution.
Still seems like the toad's front tires should have eventually straightened out...
If that was actually the case, I don't have a good solution.
You can actually disable the steering wheel lock by removing the spring under the lack cylinder housing. I think it’s two Torx security screws, I’m zip tie the spring to the wires if I need to install lster