Front end work troubles

[Larryjb]

It's much better now. Before, it was quite fatiguing because it had a poor on-centre feel.

I still have to re-adjust the toe-in, so I can't fully comment on the feel.

Larry

 

[Larryjb]

I got the toe adjusted today. Changing the steering box and switching the pitman arm from Moog to ACDelco also changed the toe by over half a degree total. The wheels went from about 0.2° Toe in to both pointing to the right. I guess it shouldn't have surprised so much. Right now I've got them pointing at almost 0° toe, so I should bring it in by an eighth of turn each side.

0verall, it handles much better now. I'm no longer experiencing fatigue from correcting the steering all the time.

Larry

 

[Rocket Man]

Great job and info Larry. Good to hear it's working out.

 

[sunrisor]

I just had my '03 XL worked on, had all Moog parts in. I wish I knew about the Moog pitman arm issue. Turns out the Moog idler arm didn't fit either. the shop put TRW in. Now the steering is really tight, and lots of steering corrections.

Larryjb, is that what your steering felt like?

 

[Larryjb]

Joe, check your front end ride height. A sag will cause the caster angle to be more vertical affecting steering. Then check the alignment. I corrected my ray and I have much better control.

Larry

 

[sunrisor]

They did an alignment. I glanced at the numbers and they seemed ok, but will check more closely. I put on the ticket, that I wanted the ride height checked before and after, that way it would end up in the same place. We like (ok, the wife likes) the slight rake look. I thought it looked a bit more (front end lower) than it did. Never thought that it would affect caster.

My thought was, he tried to take some of the slop out of the steering and tightened the steering box adjuster nut too much.

Somewhere up above this post, someone mentioned a loose center link, gonna check that too.

 

[Rocket Man]

I just had my '03 XL worked on, had all Moog parts in. I wish I knew about the Moog pitman arm issue. Turns out the Moog idler arm didn't fit either. the shop put TRW in. Now the steering is really tight, and lots of steering corrections.

Larryjb, is that what your steering felt like?

I had a Moog idler arm and idler arm bracket installed on my 02 Denali a few months ago, they fit fine. But I had heard the Moog Pitman arm was trouble so I went with the AC Delco Professional.

 

[Larryjb]

If the steering box is too tight, it won't have a good on-centre feel.

Ride height is easy to check and adjust. However, you should be able to look at the caster from the alignment print out to see if it's within spec.

Larry

 

[Larryjb]

Here is a link that will show how to measure will height: http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrol...ations/ride/trim_height_inspection_procedure/

 

[sunrisor]

Thought I would update...
Over the weekend, I opened the hood and found a puddle of fluid on top of the steering box. So, I decided to leave it alone for now. It was seeping a little before the repair, not sure why it got worse.

Since, my house is anything but flat or level, I decided to just crank the torsion keys 1 full turn (.2", according to the service manual). It seemed to help a little with the lane wandering, and with steering wheel return (a little). I may try another full turn and see what happens.

Now that the frontend is nice and tight, I discovered an intermediate shaft rattle....geez!!

So, I guess I have a steering box repair/replace in my future anyway...