JL Steering Box

[cinnur]

On a recent off road adventure, I might have damaged my steering box.
On a rock climb, my front alignment was knocked out, and my steering wheel was put 90 degrees out of sync.
No breaks or bends on any linkage found, and all has been put back in order. Some of the adjustments on the linkage are near or at max adjustments to get all back in alignment.

I can stay with all as it is since everything is operating correctly, but not finding any breaks or bends the steering box is on my mind as a possibility of being compromised in some manner.

Thoughts here on this situation?
If I change the steering box, stick with OEM, or get some third party upgrade unit?

My vehicle:
2019 JL 3.6.

 

[OverlanderJK]

Post a picture of your drag link.

 

[wayoflife]

Post a picture of your drag link.

This ^^^^

 

[cinnur]

This ^^^^

I will take some pictures when I get home later.
Thanks all for taking the time to read my posts.

 

[cinnur]

So, am I and several others who looked at this missing the cause?

 

[Mike Pierson]

There’s no good pics of the drag link… plenty of the rest though. Lol

 

[OverlanderJK]

There’s no good pics of the drag link… plenty of the rest though. Lol

Yeah that’s the track bar.

 

[cinnur]

I admire my track bar, so I just wanted to share it!


Are these shots of better use?

 

[cinnur]

Looking at drag links online, it does appear that mine does have a bit of an extra curve in it.
Would anyone agree?

 

[cinnur]

Do these additional pictures help?

 

[OverlanderJK]

That looks bent to me.

 

[cinnur]

That looks bent to me.

Myself and four others missed it on the trail.
The bend almost looks natural at first glance.

What catches my attention is that the Jeep service center I had work on the problem completely missed it.

Thanks all for the help in identifying the problem.

 

[kevman65]

Stock drag link pictured, yours looks normal to me.

 

[bobfriesenhahn]

The stock one looks less bent.

 

[GP NOIR]

Which direction is your steering wheel out of position?

 

[cinnur]

Which direction is your steering wheel out of position?

It was 90 degrees counter clockwise.

 

[jeeeep]

It was 90 degrees counter clockwise.

if it were me, I'd remove the nut from the pitman arm and look for signs of damage to either the sector shaft or pitman arm, 90* is a lot without a clear sign of something bent.

 

[TrailHunter]

I kind of remember going through this on my JK… I was convinced my draglink was bent, bought a new one and it looked the same… your steering wheel probably rotated out of center because the threads jumped at the coupler. Happened every time I got off a hard trail… switched to a Synergy Drag Link and the problem went away.

 

[GP NOIR]

It was 90 degrees counter clockwise.

Hmmm. If the drag link was bent (effectively shortening it) the wheel would have been out of phase clockwise. Jumping threads such as @TrailHunter suggested would turn the steering wheel counterclockwise.

I’ve had hard trail bumps knock the steering wheel out of phase with worn ball joints or the drag link had a loose bolt, worn bolt hole or a bad ball joint.

Upgrading the drag link is never a bad thing.

 

[Cousin Clyde]

I kind of remember going through this on my JK… I was convinced my draglink was bent, bought a new one and it looked the same… your steering wheel probably rotated out of center because the threads jumped at the coupler. Happened every time I got off a hard trail… switched to a Synergy Drag Link and the problem went away.

^
I vote this for the win.

I too would have to recenter my steering wheel after hard trails with the stock DL.

Someone I was with at EJS this year bent their stock DL at that coupler joint specifically, right in the middle.

Edit: NVM. Just realized you have a JL. I don’t have any experience with that.