Another steering question

[superbee70]

Recently bought an 88 GMC suburban 4 wheel drive, solid axle in the front. I'm having a problem where occasionally the truck will want to turn to the right or the the left. You can fell the steering wheel wanting to pull the truck, You can hold the wheel and continue to drive straight but if you let go the truck will turn. This lasts a few seconds then stops, may happen several times in a row in either direction. Doesn't feel like something is loose or broken, feels like something is trying to turn the wheel. It's very different than just loose steering or wandering. May last for a minute then the truck drives fine. Did it this morning pulling out of the house then again 45 minutes later pulling into work. First thought it was the steering box so replaced with reman cardon. Steering is basically tight except for this, wanders here and there but much better with the box. Everything looks good underneath, replaced drag link and rag joint at same time as box.

Is there any way the pump could cause this? I ask because when it happens it feeld like the assist is causing the wheel to turn, hard to explain. But I would think a bad pump would either over assist or underassist, not steer one direction or the other.

I also did drivers balljoints recently, didn't align afterwards. Can only toe be set on 4wd without alot of effort, Would toe cause this or just a wandering?

Other thought is cracked frame with Chevy is famous for. I checked when the box is out and looked good.

The rest of the suspension componenets are solid...no play or slop, bushings are good, no obvious broken or loose parts. Any thoughts? Next step is check the toe then have someone turn the wheel while i check to see if the box flexes.

 

[Tyger13us]

Recently bought an 88 GMC suburban 4 wheel drive, solid axle in the front. I'm having a problem where occasionally the truck will want to turn to the right or the the left. You can fell the steering wheel wanting to pull the truck, You can hold the wheel and continue to drive straight but if you let go the truck will turn. This lasts a few seconds then stops, may happen several times in a row in either direction. Doesn't feel like something is loose or broken, feels like something is trying to turn the wheel. It's very different than just loose steering or wandering. May last for a minute then the truck drives fine. Did it this morning pulling out of the house then again 45 minutes later pulling into work. First thought it was the steering box so replaced with reman cardon. Steering is basically tight except for this, wanders here and there but much better with the box. Everything looks good underneath, replaced drag link and rag joint at same time as box.

Is there any way the pump could cause this? I ask because when it happens it feeld like the assist is causing the wheel to turn, hard to explain. But I would think a bad pump would either over assist or underassist, not steer one direction or the other.

I also did drivers balljoints recently, didn't align afterwards. Can only toe be set on 4wd without alot of effort, Would toe cause this or just a wandering?

Other thought is cracked frame with Chevy is famous for. I checked when the box is out and looked good.

The rest of the suspension componenets are solid...no play or slop, bushings are good, no obvious broken or loose parts. Any thoughts? Next step is check the toe then have someone turn the wheel while i check to see if the box flexes.

toe could cause what your noticing,, front toe should be zero,, some like 1/8 toe out......... depends on tire size.........

i run zero toe out...factory spec.... ya need to check All the tie rod ends,, dont just try to wiggle um, from side to side, that wont tell ya much...

find the biggest channel lock plyers ya can get and squeze the tierod end up and down,, there spring loaded in side and will move up and down,, or get a block of wood and use a long crow bar and see if any of them move up or down,, if there is more than,, id say a 1/4 inch of movement.. it would need to be replaced..

lateral force on the front wheels is high going down the road and will make the tierod ends flex so to speak,, so if one side moves 1/8 inch and the other moves 1/8 inch,, then total would be 1/4 inch and out toe going down the road and give ya the feel ya have,, the tie rods from the pitman arm to the steering link can cause alot of slop/wander......

everything i have on my 4x4 is new and these old trucks are not race cars/ independent front suspension,, they do wander a bit and ya will always have to keep it going down the road straight,, for every bump in the road the body goes up and down and will affect the steering one way or the other,, they are just that way, a 4x4 always wiggle down the road is the best way i can explain it with a front straight axle..........

thats just a start,, could be a bound up brake caliper? loose wheel bearings,, bad front spring bushings? a broken frame?

 

[89Suburban]

Wheel bearings tight? Hubs are not locked?

 

[NOPHO84K30]

This is the same thing my trucks doing

 

[superbee70]

got an alignment and fixed 95 percent of the problem. Thinking that was the main problem. Tracks straight going down the road, only get some funny "choppy" feelings on tight turns, thinking thats from the outer edge of my tire lugs starting to get wore funny from the alignment.

 

[superbee70]

I was wrong!!!! bad u joint. The u joint on the pass side was seized in on plane. Even with the hubs unlocked it must rotate a bit in the housing. Put in a new u joint and problem completely disappeared.

Cant take credit for it though, saw a post on a ford site about the same problem.

 

[bucket]

Sorry I wasn't around to suggest it, but yes, a seized u-joint is most likely the cause of symptoms like that. And it may sound odd, but a posi unit hanging up can also cause the same problem.