New guy with front end issue

[irupp33]

Hey guys im new to the Tahoe world. I got a 2001 2wd Tahoe. It sits on 26s with 305/35/26 tires. It has some sort of a drop to it.

Now when I got it the steering wheel had some minor shake to it going down the road. So just like my s10 before I decided to replace the idler and pitman arm. (Pitman is fun!)

After doing that and getting an alignment and having the tires balanced again it seems to have made my issue worse! It is now however intermittent. It will cruise smooth down the road but if I hit a small bump itll send it into a shake down until it smooths out again.

Ive jacked the truck up and checked for any kind of play. Although the ball joints look worn there is zero up and down play.

There is however left and right play but its not from and suspention compnents. It seems I can move the tire left and right about an inch and a half and it just moved the steering gearbox. Now how much should I be able to move that with the truck off?

I don't want to start throwing money into it blindly. Any help is appreciated guys! I will post a picture of the new girl soon.

---------- Post added at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------

 

[HurricaneSSeason]

I have the same issue.

 

[TxDrewski]

Wheel Bearing I would assume.

 

[M Hankel]

**** EDIT ***** Just realized this thread was started five months ago..... Nice!!


If the shake is intermittent I would try re-balancing the wheels or swapping the front wheel/tire with the back ones. That size of wheel/tire combo can be difficult to get balanced correctly. I had to have my new Toyo's balanced three times before they got em right and mine are only 22's.

For excess play, if you can jack up the front of the rig and grab the tire on the top and bottom and wiggle it that way, it's a bearing issue or could also be bad ball joints. You can also put a pry bar in between the ball joint and spindle to see if you can get any up/down movement from the ball joints. If so, then those will need to be replaced. Then grab the left side and right side of the tire and try wiggling it back and forth. If that moves and the up/down was fine, then it's a tie rod issue. It helps to have someone else with you that can get under the rig and look to see what is actually moving to help diagnose exactly where the play is coming from.

BTW, nice color choice on you rig.

Good luck.

Mike