Steering/suspension problem

C

Chasitek

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
657
Location
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Earlier today I was driving home from work and had to press the brakes kinda hard. At first everything was fine but toward the end of the hard brake my jeep literally swerved left and right. It wasn’t a one side brake. It pulled left then right then left again. Both calipers have been replaced within the last year and the brake fluid has all been flushed. The only this that’s happened prior to this is I drove on the beach the other day and it had a bunch of deep tire tracks and ruts so maybe it loosened something or wore something out? I don’t think it’s the brakes since it didn’t happen till the end of the brake. All was fine and then all of a sudden it started swerving. My steering is already not the best. Lots of slack in my steering wheel and the tie rods and drag link have been replaced. 250k miles on the steering box so maybe it needs replacing? The power steering box whines so maybe it isn’t pushing fluid properly? What would cause this besides it being brake related? Thanks in advance for any help


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Well from what you describe, you have 2 different issues, the panic braking should be straight ahead. The second issue is that the pump should be howling and not the box. If the box is howling, I would be changing it because that actually scares me.
 
astjp2 said:
Well from what you describe, you have 2 different issues, the panic braking should be straight ahead. The second issue is that the pump should be howling and not the box. If the box is howling, I would be changing it because that actually scares me.
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The pump is howling, not the box. The box has slack which I would expect given it has 250k miles on it. I’ll try getting a new box soon, see if that helps. My steering feels more loose than normal ever since the beach.


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Ok, now what year is your jeep? That will determine if you have a Mercedes box or a Saginaw one. What steering did you put in? Did you upgrade to the ZJ or better? I actually believe that when you did you stop, the rotors heated up and that caused your jeep to veer from side to side. What pads do you have? Are they the Black Magic brakes? Those are from @mrblaine who is our resident brake expert. Maybe he can chime in. He is very insightful on thing like this.
 
astjp2 said:
Ok, now what year is your jeep? That will determine if you have a Mercedes box or a Saginaw one. What steering did you put in? Did you upgrade to the ZJ or better? I actually believe that when you did you stop, the rotors heated up and that caused your jeep to veer from side to side. What pads do you have? Are they the Black Magic brakes? Those are from @mrblaine who is our resident brake expert. Maybe he can chime in. He is very insightful on thing like this.
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It’s a pos steering system. Gonna be doing the zj conversion soon. It’s a rustys offroad something. Not a y link set up. I have no clue what pads are on it, I forget. Definitely not great ones though and certainly not black magic ones. I’m about to do a front end overhaul but am just trying to figure out if the steering box should be apart of that. It makes sense what you said about the brakes heating up too much but I’ve slammed on them way more and not had this issue. It wasn’t a slam even, it was just a harder than normal push. Forgot to mention I was changing lanes when it happened. I was changing lanes and slowing down to make a right turn. Also, I tried to replicate it but couldn’t get it to do it again.


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Ruts in the pavement? Hard braking in a turn changes the whole dynamics of your problem. To be honest, I would not worry about the box unless it leaks. Just start your upgrades with the ZJ steering or whatever you want and go from there. I have problems on my LJ that I am dealing with, death wobble is a pain in the ass and I have a seeping brake line that just wont stop. Dont feel alone when it comes to problems. My LJ was a wreck when I got it shipped from Montana, frame was bent, new body parts. Good luck
 
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