Setting Gear Adjustment and Steering Idle Vibration






by Carl Walck


Yesterday, one of our buyers asked us: Can you explain what a bump steer is?

It's truly not as intricate as it sounds! When you turn your wheel from one side to the other so that your wheels are straight, perhaps your wheel jams up a bit prior to turning to the wheel to the other direction. Believe it or not, the steering boxes are made that way so when you drive in a straight line most the time you don't have a lot of play in the wheel. When you turn your wheel forwards and backwards you shouldn't have a bump in it unless something is wrong with your worm gear.

You may have to go in the side of your steering box and turn the adjusting screw that's perceivable in the hole. You don't have to turn it rather a lot , you could just have to give it an 8th of a turn then tighten the nut up to get the bump out of there. All you have to do is just jack your front finish up and turn your wheel forwards and backwards. Then adjust the screw out a little but of a time until the bump goes away.

Another query we get in the shop is this, "I have a vibration when my jeep is idling... What does this mean?"

This is also straightforward! It's probably simply an auto vibration from the motor. Maybe the motor is running a bit too coarse or maybe the pinnacle of the steering column bearing has a little play in it. These two things could cause a tiny vibration and in turn, make your wheel rattle. If you touch the wheel and it goes away, there's nothing to worry about.

A little rattling or vibration is usually standard if you're not turned up enough or you have a bad spark plug. It is not anything to worry about.




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