05 Yukon Xl.. Need some advice..

[bails40]

I have a 05 Yukon Xl.. There’s more play in the steering wheel than normal and everytime im on a bumpy road im all over the place, cant keep in a straight line (Country roads and most roads in Indiana). I can physically move the tie rod on the driver front but not the passenger. Idler and pitman arm, in my opinion, doesnt look the greatest. I also notice that theres some play in the CV joint where it connects to the differential.. I honestly have no idea where to start..

 

[corvette744]

Take it to someone that knows what their looking at .Safety inspections are free at any auto repair around here and im sure around you.Especially if their doing an oil change for you.

 

[OR VietVet]

Needs to be checked correctly by who ever does inspect it. If there is enough miles on it and you plan to keep it, just replace it all and start fresh and do the steering gear too with an alignment. When it comes to brakes and steering/suspension, I never replace 1 part at a time.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

You are already receiving sage advice from the knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

As stated above, get a mechanic to physically look at it and give you an assessment. Then, depending on your tools and skills, you could potentially perform a lot of the work yourself.

What you are describing while driving on rough roads should definitely be addressed, because if one of those steering components lets go and fails while driving, you could find yourself on a bad situation.

 

[swathdiver]

Time to dry dock that baby and replace the suspension and steering components.

 

[bails40]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

You are already receiving sage advice from the knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

As stated above, get a mechanic to physically look at it and give you an assessment. Then, depending on your tools and skills, you could potentially perform a lot of the work yourself.

What you are describing while driving on rough roads should definitely be addressed, because if one of those steering components lets go and fails while driving, you could find yourself on a bad situation.

The truck itself is actually my mom's daily driver. She told me that she started having this issue when she hit a big pothole a few weeks ago. I've honestly never seen this big of an situation on a passenger vehicle and let me tell you, ive seen some thing with working on Semis. I wanted to have that extra verification of what is more than likely the culprit from different view points, if that makes any sense at all.

 

[OR VietVet]

Needs to be checked thoroughly and may have a damaged tire/wheel as well.

 

[George B]

Like others have said it should be thoroughly inspected for worn parts but the big three suspects are as follows in order.
1. Idler arm
2. Pitman arm
3. Steering gear

Watch them as someone rocks the steering wheel.

 

[Logan5]

When I went looking for the cause of my Tahoe wandering all over the highway at any significant speed it ended up being my alignment had gotten toe-out. Once I zeroed it out it was much better. I might even toe-in slightly to see how that handles.

Toe-in/out is easy to check with a string.

 

[Bill 1960]

If this came on suddenly after an impact it won’t be properly corrected with a simple adjustment. Something got bent. Time for an intervention at a knowledgeable shop. That sort of damage can sometimes be tricky to identify visually, but an expert inspection combined with a quick check of the existing alignment will zero in on what needs replaced vs what may simply need adjustment.

There’s really no way to do this via computer screens, although if you want to continue DIY there’s some decent videos on most topics on YouTube that can help illustrate how to diagnose front end components.