2000 Jimmy Steering Problems

The idler arm was replaced at the recommendation of the shop where I have had all my maintenance done on my Jimmy. As soon as I drove away, I noticed something was wrong. It felt like I was fighting the steering wheel all the way home. Whenever I hit an uneven spot in the road, the car felt like a boat, very pronounced "wobble" feeling. I took it back and told them something was wrong and of course they said they couldn't find anything. I drove it another week or two and then took it to the dealer and told them the story. They kept it two days, performed another alignment (they said it was within specs but at the extreme opposite limits of the scale from left to the right) and told me to give it a week or two for the tires to even back out. Well it's been three weeks and there has been no change. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any ideas as to what it might be?

Sincere thanks fro any suggestions,

JT

Almost sounds like bad ball joints. have your tires been wearing unevenly at all? A bad ball joint can cause a tire to go bald on one side within a week. Just a suggestion, after I rpelaced the ball joints on mine the "wobble" feel ended.

JT,
Any luck with resolution to your problems? I'm experiencing a similar situation. Had the ball joints replaced, idler & pitman arms. Have that boat, wobble like feeling, also front tires are wearing & a vibration between 60-65. It's been in & out of the dealship, tires rotated, rebalanced, put back on the alignment rack several times. Everything is good according to them, mechanic at the dealer is my brother-in-law, so I don't feel like I'm getting bs'ed. But I'm not happy and it wasn't like this before all the work was done! I've had it into a tire store and they say the same, alignment is good & nothing wrong in the front end. I'm at wits end!

Pam


The idler arm was replaced at the recommendation of the shop where I have had all my maintenance done on my Jimmy. As soon as I drove away, I noticed something was wrong. It felt like I was fighting the steering wheel all the way home. Whenever I hit an uneven spot in the road, the car felt like a boat, very pronounced "wobble" feeling. I took it back and told them something was wrong and of course they said they couldn't find anything. I drove it another week or two and then took it to the dealer and told them the story. They kept it two days, performed another alignment (they said it was within specs but at the extreme opposite limits of the scale from left to the right) and told me to give it a week or two for the tires to even back out. Well it's been three weeks and there has been no change. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any ideas as to what it might be?

Sincere thanks fro any suggestions,

JT

I have a 2001 GMC Jimmy that is also feeling like a "boat" at this point. I have replaced pitman arms and shocks, and the right wheel bearing. The funny thing is that the problem didn't start until the pitman arm (right side) was replaced. Now, any significant bump at speed makes the front end sway from side to side. Thank God for the new shock or I swear it would jump into the next lane!

Taking it to a shop that specializes in suspension for trucks on Monday. Will update on Monday or Tuesday.

Has any one had any luck with finding cause of this steering wobble. I have a 1999 GMC Jimmy, just had the idler and pitman arms replaced. Now I have the same wobble, or float feeling when I hit a bump. I know the GMC dealer is going to charge an arm and leg to replair.

Any solutions?

Sorry for not posting my promised reply on this. I had a truck shop which specializes in suspensions take a look....AND IT WAS VERY SIMPLE!
My idler arm had not been leveled after the pitman arm had been replaced which resulted in the front end being "pushed" to one side when the I went over a bump. They leveled the idler arm and everything has worked great since then.

BTW...I have 66,000 miles and while the ball joints are showing wear, they have not been replaced.

Any one out there that has had any front end work done on and now feel like they are steering a boat over bumps....go back to whoever did the work and tell them to check the level on the idler arm. It cost me an extra $120 when all was said and done since I went to a different shop, but the original shop SHOULD HAVE put the idler arm back properly.

Give it a shot...let us know if it helps.

Did the Mechanics tell you exactly what it means to "level" the Idler Arm? I'm a do-it-yourselfer and I'm on my 2nd Idler arm (within a week).

Thanks, I appreciate it.