Steering Resistance - What to Replace?

[89Suburban]

Subscribed to this thread love alignment talk.

 

[petethepug]

Shop early for a steering rack. The GM reman units are either counterfeit, 6-$8h or just not available. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $8h for a genuine GM reman rack even though it would almost guarantee no issues for another 100k+.

I compromised and got Detroit Axle reman unit that came with a set of outer tie rods ends for $219.56. If it’s too good to be true, I’ll be keeping the leaky OEM core and having it rebuilt by an Indi shop as a plan B.

a little edit ... ordered this on 3-27-24. D/A printed the FedEx shipping label which triggered FedEx to send me an email that it shipped the same day. IT DID NOT. It took D/A another 6 days (weekend included) to get the parts in FedEx hands. From there it took another 5 days from MI to SoCal via ground without delays.

So a total of 10-11 days to get the steering rack. Nothing bad happened but six days to process an order without a heads up isn't very nice.



BTW Detroit Axle does not have a core charge, but if you don’t return the core, you don’t get a lifetime warranty. There’s very little info about this mentioned

 

[blondie70]

Pete...when one greases the tie rod ends, are there only 2 to grease ? Would there be inner tie rod ends on these racks ? Thanks

 

[claustralia]

Shop early for a steering rack. The GM reman units are either counterfeit, 6-$8h or just not available. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $8h for a genuine GM reman rack even though it would almost guarantee no issues for another 100k+.

I compromised and got Detroit Axle reman unit that came with a set of outer tie rods ends for $219.56. If it’s too good to be true, I’ll be keeping the leaky OEM core and having it rebuilt by an Indi shop as a plan B.

View attachment 423036

BTW Detroit Axle does not have a core charge, but if you don’t return the core, you don’t get a lifetime warranty. There’s very little info about this mentioned

I made a different thread on rack and pinion manufacturers. I think I'd prefer to buy new, maybe edelman with the lifetime warranty.

Pete...when one greases the tie rod ends, are there only 2 to grease ? Would there be inner tie rod ends on these racks ? Thanks

the outer tie rods each have their own grease point for the ball joints...on my 07 the upper/lower control arms didnt have any until I replaced them with aftermarket

 

[petethepug]

Not really sure. If we’re talking external bearings, it would depend on whether the manufacturer or rebuilder equipped them for zerk fittings.

Pete...when one greases the tie rod ends, are there only 2 to grease ? Would there be inner tie rod ends on these racks ? Thanks

 

[tc8510]

07 Yukon 5.3 SLT 300k miles

Hi all,

I'm attempting to tackle my steering issue but wanted to see if any others have experienced anything similar before I start firing the parts cannon at it.

At its core, I have very little steering resistance. You get used to it after driving for a while but the second I go to one of my other cars, its extremely noticeable. While I don't have very much play in the steering wheel and there is no drift while driving, when I go to make a turn the wheel has almost no resistance to return it back to center. After extensive research, almost everyone claims this is related to alignment. I have had 2 alignments post my front suspension rebuild without any improvement. Since I have replaced upper/lower intermediate steering shaft, UCA/LCA, front struts/springs, inner/outer tie rods, sway bar links/bushings all that is really left is the power steering pump and rack and pinion. I've also read that the steering angle sensor might be a culprit but I have no DTCs that would indicate an error.

While the alignment shop seems to think it is the rack I wanted to get some input before dropping the $500. There are no leaks on the rack but there is maybe a quarter inch of play of it moving in/out when I jack up the front and move a tire left/right. I did have to replace the power steering high pressure hose, due to a leak, which also could've caused an issue with the pump but it still feels relatively smooth (no whine) when I need to make a turn...its purely the lack of steering resistance to bring the wheel back to center. I don't believe the pump plays a role in providing the steering resistance/return to center but maybe I'm wrong.

If you were me, what would you replace next to try and resolve this issue or is there additional testing I can conduct to narrow this down?

Thanks!!

I had an issue with my 04 Yukon. Where it felt loose and to much play in the steering wheel. Long story short the whole front suspension is brand new. Same feeling. I did a little more research into it and came across the Mustang II Power Steering Flow Valve on this forum that swaps out right on the pump itself. Night and day difference... It tightened everything up and made it feel like a brand new vehicle!

Hopefully this helps with the 07' good luck!

 

[claustralia]

I had an issue with my 04 Yukon. Where it felt loose and to much play in the steering wheel. Long story short the whole front suspension is brand new. Same feeling. I did a little more research into it and came across the Mustang II Power Steering Flow Valve on this forum that swaps out right on the pump itself. Night and day difference... It tightened everything up and made it feel like a brand new vehicle!

Hopefully this helps with the 07' good luck!

I've seen this referenced a few times now, may have to give it a go since its relatively inexpensive. Did you replace with the whole kit or just the valve?

kit
valve

 

[claustralia]

Quick update: I talked to one of the rack manufacturers on the phone at length. They seemed to think it is alignment related, not rack. I'm going to eventually take her up to a different shop and use @Marky Dissod recommendation on specs and see if it makes a difference. Will update once I get around to it!

 

[Just Fishing]

I had a rack rebuilt by turn one for my vette a few years ago.
it was sort of a big pita since I had to box it and ship it to them, but that rack in the vette was a hard to find quick ratio.
Too many people swapped the reman units for those as an upgrade over the years, so it was rebuilt or lose my quick ratio.

They did awesome, I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
Sad to hear the reman units for our trucks is hard to find, I'm having an issue on my 09 where it feels like it's hard to turn when cold, then when it warms up it loosens up.

That's pretty much what my Vette had, they call it "morning sickness."
the cause was internal damage/wear in the rack itself.
Turn one had to bore the rack out and install sleeves.

 

[petethepug]

After my rebuilt rack from Detroit Axle is swapped with the leaky worn out OEM rack, I’ll use the box from D/A to ship it off to TurnOne for a rebuild.

I’ll lose my lifetime guarantee on the D/A rack, but knowing I have a good, OEM GM core to send off to TurnOne for a rebuild is peace of mind.

My concern is that if it took six days after paying D/A for a rebuilt unit to ship, having to pay D/A upfront and waiting again, for a replacement to be shipped and then reimbursed plus paying shipping on that warranty replacement sounds like a PITA. D/A didn’t do a core charge on this value rack purchase that shipped for free.

I feel pretty good about keeping my leaky OEM core now after hearing the feedback about TurnOne in MI. Thanks for the info.

BTW, the tie rod ends are shipped w/o the zerk fittings installed. Make sure you or the shop installs them and pump em full of grease or you’ll be be replacing them in a few months.