Sloppy/Loose Steering Fixed!

[Barman84]

The problem with ealeships period is the fact the mechanics have a job based off a friends hookup and barely if at all based the ASE certs to keep their job...

If you want a good mechanic go out back and look at the employee rigs. Find one that isn't stock by any means ask them who did the work if it is good have that person work on your truck.

Most mechs at the dealer don't want to work on your car unless its a write up for service or your paying cash as they get a flat rate for that hour as well. IE usually around 10 bucks or so. Now a service job if it calls for 8 hours and they do it in two they get paid the full 8... No matter what.

This is why I no longer work at the dealership and am out of the auto industry. Watching broke people come in to get something fixed that we could have adjusted the bill for but wouldn't because the write guy who doesn't know jack about cars says so... IE is is usually getting 10-25% of that total bill your paying the more you pay the more he makes...

 

[ashelm]

With 34+ years as a suspension tech (ASE sert) I would like to add my two cents in here. DON'T TAKE 100% OUT !!!!!!!!! Here is how to do this. (With the park brake on and the truck in park)(LOL) Do this with the tires straight and the steering wheel level. Start the truck and hold the adjusting bolt with the Alleen wrench, loosen the jam nut about 1 full turn. Hold the Alleen wrench with your left hand and with your right hand turn the steering shaft back and forth. Yes some power steering fluid will leak out but don't worry about that. Watch the pitman arm as you tighten up the adjusting bolt. You want just a little play. DON'T TAKE 100% OUT. Tighten up the jam nut and wipe up the oil. With your hand at the top of the steering wheel you want about 1/4 inch movement to the left and about 1/4 inch to the right before the tires turn. If you take 100% out you will be chasing the road like you can't believe. With 1/2 inch play you wont notice it as you are driving. But if you take it all out you wont like it. Trust me on that. Now go for a test drive. To check your front end parts your self do this. (It takes two people) (Brake on/in park) Do not jack the truck up at this time. Have some one slowly turn the steering wheel back and forth as you are under looking at the tie rod ends and pitman arm sockets for play. Any play you need to replace. Look at the idler arm for movement up and down. Just a little is OK but more than 1/4 inch you need to replace. Shut the truck off and jack up one wheel at a time under the lower control arm close to the ball joint. (You don't want the shock to extend) With your helper have them grab the tire at the top and push and pull on the tire as you watch the upper ball joint. Any play replace the ball joint. Now for the lower ball joint get a long bar and have your helper pry up on the tire as you watch the lower ball joint. A little play here is OK to. A lot of play and you will need to replace the ball joint. Now look at the sway bar links at the control arm. Large cracks or missing bushings and you will need to replace the link kits. Check the sway bar bushings at the frame for large cracks and any gaps between the bar and the bushings (You want the bushings to be tight). Check the shocks by twisting the shock to see that it is tight at the lower bushing. Look at the bushings on the top of the shock to see how they are. Also look at the steering coupler (Rag joint) at the firewall. Thats it for the front end now for the back end . Look at the control arm bushings and check your sway bar bushings (Links and frame bushings) check your shocks by twisting the shocks at the top and bottom. Grease the front end every oil change. Stay up on having your tires balanced, rotate if you can and WATCH YOUR AIR PRESSURE. Be nice to your mother and stay out of trouble. Scott
I forgot about WHEEL BEARINGS on the front end. Check your front wheel bearings with the tire off the ground by grabbing the left and right side of the tire and push and pull back and forth to see if you have any play. On my 1992 SUBURBAN I have adjustable wheel bearings on my 2003 YUKON XL I have sealed wheel bearings.

 

[electro]

Nice haha.

How about my steering gearbox? How do I know if that's garbage?

 

[ashelm]

Ryan a garbage gearbox is hard to diagnose over the INTERNET but if you will hold it up real close to your monitor and i will do my best. I have a 1992 suburban with 209,000 miles and I have only had to adjust the gearbox one time.
Now if you have a sector shaft seal or a worm gear seal that is leaking, that is a easy fix. New seal kits are in the $20 us funds. They are best done with the gear box off the truck. I have done a lot of FOOORRRRDDD gear boxes still on the truck but I would just take yours off and do it on the bench. If you have crashed then you my have a twisted or bent sector shaft. That too is a very easy fix but you will need it on the bench. With oversize tires and wheels it is easy to twist and bend front end parts with very little effort. If you parallel park up next to a curb and try to turn these big tires you can bend tie rod ends. If you hit a curb you can bend and twist every thing including the frame.
From what I can tell about your gearbox I would try to do the adjustment. Do as I said " with the steering wheel straight ahead and the tires on the ground". Start the truck and hold the adjusting bolt with the Alleen wrench and loosen the jam nut about one full turn. At this time oil will run out but don't worry about it!!! You wont loose much. With the Alleen wrench in your left hand and your right hand on the steering shaft start twisting (just rock it back and forth with your wrist) And watch the pitman arm to move as you turn the adjusting bolt clockwise (IN). DON'T TAKE ALL OF THE PLAY OUT !!!!! Maybe something like 1/16 of an inch play in the shaft before the pitman arm moves would be good. Hold the adjusting bolt and tighten up the jam nut and wipe up the oil spill.
That being said if you have to turn the adjusting bolt two and a half turns then OK YOU HAVE A JUNK GEAR BOX.Bearings and bushings worn. Any thing is possible.
Look at the rest of your front end if you still feel like there is play in the steering wheel after you have checked the adjust on your gearbox. An idler arm that is worn will give you a lot of play in the steering wheel.
One thing I left out was WHEEL BEARINGS. You check the wheel bearing with the tire off the ground and grab the tire side to side and push and pull to see if there is any play. My 92 has adjustable bearings my 03 has sealed bearing.
Ryan if I can help you or any one else let me know...... Scott

 

[electro]

Well, I adjusted my gearbox again today. It seems better again, I finally got somewhere in the middle.

I think I need to check everything else out in the front end.

 

[Wake]

With 34+ years as a suspension tech (ASE sert) I would like to add my two cents in here. DON'T TAKE 100% OUT !!!!!!!!! Here is how to do this. (With the park brake on and the truck in park)(LOL) Do this with the tires straight and the steering wheel level. Start the truck and hold the adjusting bolt with the Alleen wrench, loosen the jam nut about 1 full turn. Hold the Alleen wrench with your left hand and with your right hand turn the steering shaft back and forth. Yes some power steering fluid will leak out but don't worry about that. Watch the pitman arm as you tighten up the adjusting bolt. You want just a little play. DON'T TAKE 100% OUT. Tighten up the jam nut and wipe up the oil. With your hand at the top of the steering wheel you want about 1/4 inch movement to the left and about 1/4 inch to the right before the tires turn. If you take 100% out you will be chasing the road like you can't believe. With 1/2 inch play you wont notice it as you are driving. But if you take it all out you wont like it. Trust me on that. Now go for a test drive. To check your front end parts your self do this. (It takes two people) (Brake on/in park) Do not jack the truck up at this time. Have some one slowly turn the steering wheel back and forth as you are under looking at the tie rod ends and pitman arm sockets for play. Any play you need to replace. Look at the idler arm for movement up and down. Just a little is OK but more than 1/4 inch you need to replace. Shut the truck off and jack up one wheel at a time under the lower control arm close to the ball joint. (You don't want the shock to extend) With your helper have them grab the tire at the top and push and pull on the tire as you watch the upper ball joint. Any play replace the ball joint. Now for the lower ball joint get a long bar and have your helper pry up on the tire as you watch the lower ball joint. A little play here is OK to. A lot of play and you will need to replace the ball joint. Now look at the sway bar links at the control arm. Large cracks or missing bushings and you will need to replace the link kits. Check the sway bar bushings at the frame for large cracks and any gaps between the bar and the bushings (You want the bushings to be tight). Check the shocks by twisting the shock to see that it is tight at the lower bushing. Look at the bushings on the top of the shock to see how they are. Also look at the steering coupler (Rag joint) at the firewall. Thats it for the front end now for the back end . Look at the control arm bushings and check your sway bar bushings (Links and frame bushings) check your shocks by twisting the shocks at the top and bottom. Grease the front end every oil change. Stay up on having your tires balanced, rotate if you can and WATCH YOUR AIR PRESSURE. Be nice to your mother and stay out of trouble. Scott
I forgot about WHEEL BEARINGS on the front end. Check your front wheel bearings with the tire off the ground by grabbing the left and right side of the tire and push and pull back and forth to see if you have any play. On my 1992 SUBURBAN I have adjustable wheel bearings on my 2003 YUKON XL I have sealed wheel bearings.

Thanks for adding that info, you explained it better than I did. I worried a little bit about my posting what I did originally that someone might ruin their gearbox by tightening it too much.

Our NBS vehicles do have the worm gear wth the ecentric lobe, correct?

I do wish our NBS vehicles had adjustable/replaceable wheel bearings, I'm not a fan of the sealed units.

 

[tekkitan]

I had a promise note from the GM dealer (I'll never walk away with one of those again), to fix it.

Don't you love those? I still have my promise note for them saying they will fix my rear air if it wasn't a problem with the A/C. They replaced a few things and were waiting on a part for months. Then when I started calling they pretty much claimed not remembering me and they would call me back. Promise note at the bottom says it is only valid for a month or so.

STEALERSHIPS!!!!

I will have to try this mod too for my slop. Thanks.

 

[DESSKI]

With 107K on my Tahoe a half turn on 3/16 allen screw on the gearbox made a world of difference in steering response.

 

[RedCrush]

Any pics of where this adjustment is being made?

 

[Wake]

Any pics of where this adjustment is being made?

No pics but you can't miss it. Look straight down the front of your engine where the steering shaft meets the box. One bolt on top with the hex head and the nut itself on that bolt.