Sloppy Steering Questions

Hello all!

I have searched the posts regarding steering slop and I have a few questions….

I have a 97 Blazer and I have been pouring $ into it and needs some help.

I recently got some new tires & alignment at the “S” place. After the work, it appeared that I am drunk every time I drive it….definitely some play in the steering that wifey & I did not notice before. The previous tires were on for 8 years and wore very evenly! This is wifey’s car mostly weekends & to work car now (96K). I took it back to “S” and they said that the alignment was out after only about a month. I then took it to our mechanic. He told me that the pitman and idler arms needed to be replaced. He showed me on the lift how they moved when another person wiggled the tire (looked sloppy).

Here is my question….My wife would wiggle the steering wheel back and forth (without tires moving) and I could see the steering shaft go back and forth. Not saying that the pitman & idler do not need to be changed since there has never been any suspensioun work done but do you think that the adjustment on top of the steering box should be tried….what do I have to loose????

Also, to get to the steering box adjustment, it looks like I might be able to remove the air filter compartment and then reach right down to the adjustment area…..sound plausible?

Thanks to all for all the great topics!

Here is a link with the adjustment procedure for the stteering gear box, it is more involved than what most people think.

http://www.partsmike.com/saginawadj.html

hope this helps

Thanks for the reply!

I did see this through some of the searching but on this forum(?), my perception was that you could do a small adjustment to see if that helped. Am I wrong to think that some people were doing the small adjustment on this forum without going through the process of removing the pitman arm?

how did the "S" shop perform an alignment with the loose front end parts? Cannot be done, you should get your money back. Have you verified the play in the gear box? Make sure to do that first before you try to tighten it---

how did the "S" shop perform an alignment with the loose front end parts? Cannot be done, you should get your money back. Have you verified the play in the gear box? Make sure to do that first before you try to tighten it---

That is my thought also and probably why they said that it was out of alignment again even after such a short time. You can bet after I have the parts replaced, I will be taking it back so they can try again (under warranty) since they never checked the parts out. Bad workmanship makes me worried about taking it back…maybe I should just ask for the money back!

Verified the play in the steering box: I had my wife wiggle the steering wheel back and forth (without tires moving) and I could see the steering shaft turning before the steering box. Was that the correct procedure?

:disappoin
I just had my pitman & idler arm replace by a shop and now the steering wheel is off by 45 degrees. Also the play in the steering is gone but the wheel does not feel like it’s easy to turn now and after gong through a turn, the wheels don’t straighten out on their own! I asked them not to do an alignment….will the alignment fix these problems?

Caster affects "returnability" coming out of a turn. It also affects the ability to maintain a straight line while driving, and how much effort is required to steer the vehicle away from that straight line. If those things were acceptable before the pitman arm and idler arm were replaced, it sounds like the work of a rookie to me. Any time any steering linkage parts, (pitman arm, idler arm, tie rod ends, center link), are replaced, the wheels must be straight ahead when applying torque to the fastener. If the wheels are turned one direction or the other when torqued, the linkage will develop "memory steer". In other words, the linkage will always try to return to the position the wheels were in when the linkage was torqued. Take it back and have them do it correctly or get your money back and find a real alignment shop with a technician that knows what he's doing.

Also, use the link in post #2 for adjusting the steering gear box. That's the correct, (and only) way to do it.

I took the Blazer to have the alignment done. I asked the repair place why the steering was so hard to turn and they said it was due to the new parts. (funny...I later thought...hum a new car has new parts...why isn't their steeing hard to turn?) After the alignment, the steering is still hard and it wants to return back to center after a turn but since the steering is hard, the response is too slow. Also the Blazer still wanders but now with the hard to turn steering, it makes it worse because I can't feel when the wheel is going to react to the steering.

We live in a small town so now I'm stuck going to the dealer for an estimate.

Any idea why the new parts would make the steering so hard?

I just want my Blazer back to normal....not to mention I hate the thought of distroying my new expensive tires:nono:

If the alignment was set with too much positive caster, it will make the vehicle hard to steer and return quickly after a turn. Also, high caster will reduce wander, so I would suspect something else needs attention. The bit about steering hard because of new parts is a line... don't buy it. They're telling you that to pacify you because they don't know what the problem is. It's obvious they are not specialists when it comes to wheel alignment. Have a reputable shop check it out.

Well after having the pitman & idler arm replaced, now they are saying that the steering box needs to be replaced. (that’s what I originally thought from everyone’s suggestions but they found the play in the other parts and they are original with 96k).

One question is would the steering box make turning the wheel hard when driving? Slow driving, turning feels normal but when you get going the wheel feels hard to turn. BTW this was also true before they tried to adjust the steering box.

Also, there is a boot at the end of the steering shaft (from the inside steering column) that has a boot (dust boot?) where the shaft connects to the steering box. This “boot” does not close all of the way and I was thinking about getting a new one before the steering box is replaced. Anyone know what the name of the boot is or a part number?

Thanks!