Steering system issues.

Went to get an alignment the other day cause the truck was pulling to the right. Came back to pick up the truck and they gave me an estimate for repair at $1221.74 they listed: Replace: steering gear, pitman arm, idler arm, idler arm bracket pivot and intermediate steering shaft. And also replacing the front differential output shaft seals (I knew I had an oil leak) The steering shaft I knew because of the clunking and I had some grinding noises when turning left at low speeds. Truck has 171,000 miles on it, I can do all this myself but how do I know that the idler arm and pitman arm are bad ?

Bert

Went to get an alignment the other day cause the truck was pulling to the right. Came back to pick up the truck and they gave me an estimate for repair at $1221.74 they listed: Replace: steering gear, pitman arm, idler arm, idler arm bracket pivot and intermediate steering shaft. And also replacing the front differential output shaft seals (I knew I had an oil leak) The steering shaft I knew because of the clunking and I had some grinding noises when turning left at low speeds. Truck has 171,000 miles on it, I can do all this myself but how do I know that the idler arm and pitman arm are bad ?

Bert

If you know how to do all this work why do you ask about the servicablity of these parts...this is a simple determination.....if the joint flops around its junk...

Went to get an alignment the other day cause the truck was pulling to the right. Came back to pick up the truck and they gave me an estimate for repair at $1221.74 they listed: Replace: steering gear, pitman arm, idler arm, idler arm bracket pivot and intermediate steering shaft. And also replacing the front differential output shaft seals (I knew I had an oil leak) The steering shaft I knew because of the clunking and I had some grinding noises when turning left at low speeds. Truck has 171,000 miles on it, I can do all this myself but how do I know that the idler arm and pitman arm are bad ?

Bert

idler is $80 schucks and about 20 min labor; depending on a year, you need to pull steering gear along with pitman to replace pitman, pitman costs about same; intermediate steering shaft is $70 internet and takes 10 min to replace. i'd not be replacing steering gear and and idler bracket, i don't think they are complex/wearable out enough to replace, shop just weaves the yarn and milks you.
ISS will not produce grinding noises turning either way, all it does is clunk when you take off or slow down rapidly. there are no rotating parts in it, it just expends in and out when suspension geometry changes, where the noise to come from?
sounds more like worn CV joint on one side. halfshafts are about $100 refurbished, serve well and are easy to replace as a unit.
most of your repairs is fairly easy DIY at about 4th of the quote.

There was a post not too long ago with the same symptoms as yours and replacing the idler and pitman seemed to fix it. Not sure what they mean about the 'steering gear"? If they mean the steering box itself I would be doubtful on that. As you probably know, after all this stuff is replaced you're going to need to have it realigned.

BTW, what year, model & motor??

Let us know how it goes................

[quote=777stickman]There was a post not too long ago with the same symptoms as yours and replacing the idler and pitman seemed to fix it. Not sure what they mean about the 'steering gear"? If they mean the steering box itself I would be doubtful on that. As you probably know, after all this stuff is replaced you're going to need to have it realigned.

quote]

was my post from several mths back. and, also, there's another one, "shake in steering" i believe.
yes, steering gear or steering box, same devil. haynes says it has to be removed as an assembly with pitman in order to have pitman replaced. somehow i do not think it - the box - will go bad. pitman - quite possible.

ok, found of those posts:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=917111

and here's the other one:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=265506

Well, the grinding noise is from the steering gear they said, I'll have to check tomorrow concerning the pitman arm and idler arm for play. I've lubed the steering shaft before but now I'm just going to replace it. How hard is it to get the old seals out of the output shafts ?

Bert

2000 Silverado 15000 5.3

http://tinypic.com/ei2g51

Had an 04 Silvy and gad the same issues and the dealer replaced those items as well. Pulling to the right is a fail safe when the box starts to go bad according to the service tech. Thought mine was an alignment issue as well. Now i have an 05 with 55,000 and the same parts have to be replaced so I am going to do it myself.

[quote=ColoradoSilverado]Well, the grinding noise is from the steering gear they said, I'll have to check tomorrow concerning the pitman arm and idler arm for play. I've lubed the steering shaft before but now I'm just going to replace it. How hard is it to get the old seals out of the output shafts ?

Bert

2000 Silverado 15000 5.3

your truck is identical to mine, just different color. ISS is 10 min job, just hard to get under the steering column to undo the pinch bolt. but i'm 6'5 and i did fine. then you undo the bolt in the engine bay and simply pull the shaft out.
i am not sure what seals you are referring to, there're none on ISS. ISS goes into steering wheel on upper end and lower steering shaft on the bottom end. square rod on the top, splines on the bottom, as far as i remember. one cardan joint.
with all due respect, i do not see how steering box will produce any grinding noises. if it is possible, someone needs to educate me on mechanics of this, i'll appreciate that.

[quote=ColoradoSilverado]Well, the grinding noise is from the steering gear they said, I'll have to check tomorrow concerning the pitman arm and idler arm for play. I've lubed the steering shaft before but now I'm just going to replace it. How hard is it to get the old seals out of the output shafts ?

Bert

2000 Silverado 15000 5.3

your truck is identical to mine, just different color. ISS is 10 min job, just hard to get under the steering column to undo the pinch bolt. but i'm 6'5 and i did fine. then you undo the bolt in the engine bay and simply pull the shaft out.
i am not sure what seals you are referring to, there're none on ISS. ISS goes into steering wheel on upper end and lower steering shaft on the bottom end. square rod on the top, splines on the bottom, as far as i remember. one cardan joint.
with all due respect, i do not see how steering box will produce any grinding noises. if it is possible, someone needs to educate me on mechanics of this, i'll appreciate that.


The seals I'm refering to are the output shaft seals on the front differential (leaking). Like I said, I've lubed the ISS before so I know how to replace that, you're right it took like 10 min. I checked the idler arm and pitman arm and there's a lot of play so I will replace them anyway. Concerning the steering gear, is it a lot of work to replace, I mean i'm taking off the other parts anyway, so do I have to take those off again if I replace the steering shaft ?

Bert

http://tinypic.com/ei2g51

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn101/ukrkoz/steering_Page_1.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2a0jqlc.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2rrazig.jpg

donno about seals, sorry.

ok, i passed on my steering gear, as it's too much of a hazard to DIY because of possible malalignment in steering. but on our trucks, steering gear is fairly accessible. pitman is very hard to get to though. idler was some 20 min job. i ended doing idler and installing steering shock. it works so far.
you'll must make DEAD SURE steering wheel has no play or movement while you have steering gear removed, or you'll end up with cocked steering. folks use seatbelts to virtually tie steering wheel down as hard as possible so it does not move.
i have no idea why you keep linking ISS to the rest of the jobs, steering gear can be removed without removing ISS.
sorry, did not know links will come up like this. and for some text cut off, my bad. there's a link to steering gear removal right above the very 1st pic.

I'm not linking the ISS to the rest of the job, all I said was that I'm going to replace it because of the famous clunk.

Bert

I'm not linking the ISS to the rest of the job, all I said was that I'm going to replace it because of the famous clunk.

Bert

bert, that's all good. you do what you need/want to do, your project. just trying to be helpful. all the best and good luck.

bert, that's all good. you do what you need/want to do, your project. just trying to be helpful. all the best and good luck.

Thank You !

Bert

hey, you most welcome. if you need better copies from repair manual, let me know, i'll get them fixed for you later tonight.
watch your knuckles!:wink:

hey, you most welcome. if you need better copies from repair manual, let me know, i'll get them fixed for you later tonight.
watch your knuckles!:wink:

Nah, they're clear enough. Have a buddy of mine get the parts cause he'll get a 40% discount at NAPA.

Bert

http://tinypic.com/ei2g51

let me know how goes it with steering gear. i might as well follow the suite and replace my pitman. it has some play in it. i just really don't want to mess up steering.
my concern is not removing it, but re-aligning everything back together.
napa's good parts store. discount or not, quality is ok.

let me know how goes it with steering gear. i might as well follow the suite and replace my pitman. it has some play in it. i just really don't want to mess up steering.
my concern is not removing it, but re-aligning everything back together.
napa's good parts store. discount or not, quality is ok. all done, steering gear, pitman arm, idler arm and ISS. Wasn't too bad, just make sure you keep a brand new truck again.

Bert


http://i35.tinypic.com/207tlkz.jpg





you're steering wheel straight. I included a picture of the two ISS's, the new NAPA one and the old one. It's like driving

Well, finaly got it

Sorry about the text being messed up.

Bert

How hard was it to replace the steering gear? I am pretty sure mine has to be replaced as well. Skeptical it is an alignment issue.

Bert, please, let us know:
1. did you DIY?
2. if yes, how hard was it to remove steering gear and pitman? could you remove pitman without removing steering gear? as my pitman needs attention

glad you got new ISS. looks much better than the old one. more substantial.

Hey Guy's, it wasn't that bad just make sure you have a good puller. I ended up taking off the whole steering linkage because I had a hard time getting the pitman arm and idler arm off the steering linkage because I didn't have the right puller at first. I can't believe the difference in driving, guess in time it get's worse a little at a time so you don't realize how bad it really was.
I'll let you guy's know about the Steering Shaft to see how it holds up over time.

Bert

http://tinypic.com/ei2g51

Brent, once again - what do i need to know about pitman removal? i had no trouble pulling idler out. how did you secure steering wheel in place and mate steering gear back with steering shaft? i am only afraid of one thing - messing up that alignment.

Brent, once again - what do i need to know about pitman removal? i had no trouble pulling idler out. how did you secure steering wheel in place and mate steering gear back with steering shaft? i am only afraid of one thing - messing up that alignment.


Just set your steering wheel straigth and lock it, mark the relationship of the pitman arm on the steering gear, and copy this on the new one. The pitman arm only goes on in 4 90 degrees positions so it's pretty hard to mess up, when installing the pitman arm turn it so it's facing up when in center and then install it.

Bert

Just set your steering wheel straigth and lock it, mark the relationship of the pitman arm on the steering gear, and copy this on the new one. The pitman arm only goes on in 4 90 degrees positions so it's pretty hard to mess up, when installing the pitman arm turn it so it's facing up when in center and then install it.

Bert

not worried about pitman. steering gear. you had it removed, right? that means - steering wheel is loose. but, because i will not be replacing steering gear, i can just mark how it mates with the lower steering shaft and then match them later.

thanks, bud. glad it all worked itself out for you.