03 Suburban LT Steering Issues, Wandering and Wobbly and Loose

[Fless]

Another symptom from when my centerlink was oriented incorrectly was inability to keep the thing straight on heavily crowned roads and a feeling of instability at highway speed. With all your parts replaced, make sure the centerlink is installed properly: tie rod droops angled toward the back of the truck so to keep them parallel.

Very easy for the unknowing to put back on wrong.

I keep forgetting about this possible cause. Something to check, posted by @SnowDrifter a while back:

Scrubbing/binding while turning at near full lock

Make that 3 of us with the same issues! Mine is an 04 4wd and it scrubs & hops when turning. I've experienced the same problem with holding an alignment, it goes out fairly quickly and I've been told by multiple shops that everything is tight. I don't think everything is tight, as I have a...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[GMT800Man90]

Another symptom from when my centerlink was oriented incorrectly was inability to keep the thing straight on heavily crowned roads and a feeling of instability at highway speed. With all your parts replaced, make sure the centerlink is installed properly: tie rod droops angled toward the back of the truck so to keep them parallel.

Very easy for the unknowing to put back on wrong.

It's on correct. I fortunately have done work for 16 years and I make sure everything is installed correctly before I finish a job.

 

[GMT800Man90]

Has the truck ever driven okay? Did you just buy it, or you've had it for a while? Has it ever been in a collision?

I've had it for a few months. It's always had an issue, but the tires that were on it when I bought it were trashed. It's never been wrecked.

 

[GMT800Man90]

I keep forgetting about this possible cause. Something to check, posted by @SnowDrifter a while back:

Scrubbing/binding while turning at near full lock

Make that 3 of us with the same issues! Mine is an 04 4wd and it scrubs & hops when turning. I've experienced the same problem with holding an alignment, it goes out fairly quickly and I've been told by multiple shops that everything is tight. I don't think everything is tight, as I have a...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

My biggest complaint is this...

The front feels like it's wobbling all over when backing up and when going forward at lower speeds. The wobble is what I have the biggest problem with. The steering wheel has no vibration, smooth as silk. But why the thing wobbles and feels like the tires are skipping the ground while turning is what's really pissing me off

 

[Fless]

Sounds like it's in 4wd, sometimes called 'crow hopping' -- or the ABS is kicking in due to a faulty wheel speed sensor or the like. Do you feel anything in the brake pedal when it does this?

 

[mattbta]

My biggest complaint is this...

The front feels like it's wobbling all over when backing up and when going forward at lower speeds. The wobble is what I have the biggest problem with. The steering wheel has no vibration, smooth as silk. But why the thing wobbles and feels like the tires are skipping the ground while turning is what's really pissing me off

you get anything like this happening?

 

[GMT800Man90]

Sounds like it's in 4wd, sometimes called 'crow hopping' -- or the ABS is kicking in due to a faulty wheel speed sensor or the like. Do you feel anything in the brake pedal when it does this?

There's no fault with the abs system. When I got it it did have the typical low speed abs activation where at 10mph you feel it in the brake pedal. But that went away when I did the hubs.

It doesn't feel like it's in 4wd when you're driving. Switch shows 2 Hi. If I push the auto 4wd button and then start to move it hesitates and then Service 4wd comes up. And it won't let me switch back to 2 unless I shut it off and turn it back on. It won't switch into anything else until I do that. If I push the 4hi or 4lo while in 2wd, you can hear it switch and clunk into 4wd. But I haven't needed to use 4wd at all yet.

I know the switches can be faulty a lot. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary while under the truck and inspecting the front transfer case or anything. Didn't see any cracks or anything. But usually when you're in 4wd you absolutely feel it while driving. And I don't feel that while driving. I always keep it in 2 hi.

 

[GMT800Man90]

you get anything like this happening?

View attachment 446547

Haven't seen anything like that. And I have checked.

 

[GMT800Man90]

Sounds like it's in 4wd, sometimes called 'crow hopping' -- or the ABS is kicking in due to a faulty wheel speed sensor or the like. Do you feel anything in the brake pedal when it does this?

Could it be bad wheels? I would have thought Firestone would have said something if the wheels were warped or out of round. But it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't even pay attention. It rides smooth as silk though which is where it gets me. Besides the wobble which feels like it's in the wheels. But all suspension parts are tight and new. The only thing I haven't replaced are the original autoride front and rear shocks. Which will be replaced with regular because I could care less about spending stupid money on shocks and a compressor for the autoride.

 

[Scottydoggs]

if its saying service 4wd, you got codes. normal scanner wont pick these codes up. need a abs scanner. even if the abs and brake lights are not lit up, you likely have a code (or 5 or 6) stored.