Rumors Confirmed: World War II Jeeps’ Handling Issues

Jalopnik’s David Tracy digs into longstanding reports surrounding faults in Willys steering systems.

Who knew?

Well, clearly someone did if the report by Jalopnik is true. We’re inclined to believe it’s the case since our friend David Tracy wrote it. The legendary World War II Jeep had a major engineering fault that could potentially make the vehicle hazardous for soldiers to drive, as highlighted in a recent Jalopnik post.

Apparently, some forums have discussed that wartime Jeeps pulled hard to the left when braking. That required the driver to do some extremely serious counter steering to avoid veering toward the other side of the road. Tracy says he recently experienced the engineering fault himself after driving one of the vehicles.  The Jalopnik writer even manages to dig up a video clip of a soldier struggling to keep the Jeep straight when braking:

The issue, as Tracy points out, lies in the World War II Jeep’s steering system. The Jalopnik writer describes the system as a “worm gear to change the rotational motion of the steering shaft into a pivoting motion of a Pitman arm.” Detailing the problem with a few graphics, Tracy says the 4×4’s core problem stemmed from an issue known as “axle wrap,” which can cause the leaf-sprung axle to twist when braking or accelerating.

In 1942, Willys Overland and Ford tried to address the issue by installing what’s known as a “torque reaction spring” under the driver’s side front leaf-spring pack. However, it failed to fix the problem.

Tracy goes on to describe a few underlying issues with the torque reaction spring itself. In the end, it all makes us appreciate the World War II Jeep a little more as an element of its authenticity. You’ll just need to be more mindful of it if you’re ever lucky enough to land one of your own.