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Car Forum / Chevrolet / Chevrolet Trucks / August 2007Found a (FREE & EASY) Steering Wander Fix for my Suburban!
Hi guys. I thought I would share my experience with a V1500 I bought last fall with 210K miles on it, and what ultimately fixed the problem for those of you who have that horrid wander that just won't go away. I will try to keep this short, but want to tell you all that I did so you understand this is not just a random guess when I got lucky or something. Perhaps you can try it, and/or share some thoughts or theories as to why this fixed my wander. Here is what I replaced and what the effect was... Outer driver tie-rod because it was worn - this brought the truck from unsafe to drive to just simply annoying to drive Inner driver tie-rod and the sleeve - no improvement Passenger side tie-rod, drag link, and sleeve - no improvement Front end alignment - no improvement Steering Stabilizer - no improvement Sway bar bushings - maybe a little better, but no "significant" improvement Adjusted steering box - no improvement New tires and rims (I was going to do this anyway, but hoped it would help the wander) - no improvement Steering Box - no improvement At this point I am annoyed because I have spent somewhere around $400 dollars and countless hours changing parts and cleaning up grease on myself. After careful reconsideration I began to ask what would make a steering system that is tight act "spongy" on the road. The steering box and steering stabilizer where my only to theories. Since I was not about to swap a steering box again I tried an experiment and simply took OFF the steering stabilizer. ** BINGO !!! ** It was like a brand new truck! I had to relearn how to steer the truck because the improvement was so drastic. I would call it just shy of perfect! So now the question - why? The steering stabilizer is supposed to reduce that sort of problem, not cause it. Any thoughts??? -Michael in Bedford, VA snip > So now the question - why? The steering stabilizer is supposed to > reduce that sort of problem, not cause it. > > Any thoughts??? Because it was too stiff, wouldn't allow the steering center itself easily. The damper has either seized up or was poor to begin with. > snip > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Because it was too stiff, wouldn't allow the steering center itself > easily. The damper has either seized up or was poor to begin with. It has 210,000 miles on it, it was past due to be replaced. Normally they just blow out, leak to where they don't do anything at all. Did the Suburban even come with one stock? If it's aftermarket, it could have just been installed wrong which would also cause problems. >Did the Suburban even come with one stock? If it's aftermarket, it could have just > been installed wrong which would also cause problems. Yes, it comes with one stock. The one I took off I assume was the original based on it's condition. I put a new one on and test drove it with absolutely no effect, so I concluded at the time that was not the problem and went on changing other things. If I were to describe the effect on a scale from one to 10, with one being dangerous to drive, 5 being completely annoying but safe, and 10 being perfect, then I would say changing the original driver side tie- rod that was visually shot took it from a 1 to a 4, and ALL the other changes collectively took it from a 4 to a 5, and simply removing the stabilizer took it to a 10. There is still a little more "play" in the steering than I prefer, but the "wander" is completely gone. My only theory is that both stabilizers stiffened the steering to the point that it took so much pressure to move the wheels that the system tended to over steer just enough to cause it to wander. Based on all the complaints that I have read about those trucks wandering even when new I makes me question if there is a flaw in the design of the steering. I figured I would share with folks since I have read so many complaints about wandering and figured it would be a free and easy experiment for folks to try. The only other thing I can come up with would be pump/fluid viscosity related, and I just can't logic through my head how that could have caused my symptoms. Michael in Bedford, VA >>Did the Suburban even come with one stock? If it's aftermarket, it could have just >>been installed wrong which would also cause problems. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > related, and I just can't logic through my head how that could have > caused my symptoms. Have someone follow you and check from behind. It could be you're not tracking straight, rear wheels directly behind the front ones. Once I pulled my hair out trying to figure out why a similar vehicle did things you mentioned. Except this vehicle didn't have a stabilizer. Turned out to be the fiber coupler that seperates the steerting box from the column shaft. The plastic shield kept me from seeing the real problem. I kept going to the box to minimize the play. Glad you found it. James on Sunday 29 July 2007 06:38 am, someone posing as Michael took a rock and etched into the cave: <snip> > At this point I am annoyed because I have spent somewhere around $400 > dollars and countless hours changing parts and cleaning up grease on [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > So now the question - why? The steering stabilizer is supposed to > reduce that sort of problem, not cause it. Wow, that easy. Just for us non-techies - what is a steering stabilizer? I've not heard of such a thing. I imagine you have the recirculating ball type, like I do.  Signaturewww.perfectreign.com > on Sunday 29 July 2007 06:38 am, someone posing as Michael took a rock and > etched into the cave: [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Just for us non-techies - what is a steering stabilizer? I've not heard of > such a thing. I imagine you have the recirculating ball type, like I do. Perhaps this? <http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/scan/fi=products/st=db/co=1/s f=category/se=Steering%20Stabilizers/op=eq/nu=0/sf=veh_make/se=Chevy%20%3A%3A%20 GMC/op=eq/nu=0/ml=25/tf=category/to=x/tf=veh_make/to=x/tf=description/to=r.html? id=7ehWpmiq> > Wow, that easy. > > Just for us non-techies - what is a steering stabilizer? I've not heard of > such a thing. I imagine you have the recirculating ball type, like I do. Ever heard of google? on Wednesday 01 August 2007 09:27 am, someone posing as Battleax took a rock and etched into the cave: >> Wow, that easy. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Ever heard of google? No....what's that? Seriously, I'm not clueless enough to ask without first having done my homework. The closest I got is this: http://www.wikipatents.com/4736962.html ...which doesn't provide much insight. Signaturewww.perfectreign.com > on Wednesday 01 August 2007 09:27 am, someone posing as Battleax took a > rock [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > ...which doesn't provide much insight. It looks like a shock, especially the aftermarket versions which are larger. It's normally connected from the frame to the steering linkage. Of course you have to have a gear box linkage setup and not a Rack & Pinion Steering setup. Normally there's just 1, but sometimes there can be 2 on a Lifted truck. Go here for a better description on what they do. http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/W_stabilizers.htm Had a 4Runner that came in today, could turn left, but only right about 1/4 of would it should have been able to do. Put it on the rack and saw that the Factory Steering Stabilizer that it had, well the bolt holding it to the frame mount fell out, so it fell down and was hitting the the Front lower cover every time you turned right to jam the steering. Had to replace it and all was good once again. |
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