Hello

[71WarWagon]

Im not sure if I'm posting in the right spot (newbie here) but I figured I'd post an introduction and try to gleen some info from you guys.

First off: I have trolled this site for a long time. I had a 70 c-10 as my first truck (ever). Originally it had the 2bl, 3-on-the-tree, and only a heavy duty spring package from the factory. Very VERY basic but i loved it....loved it soo much i spun a bearing playing around in high-school and parked it for a while. A long while. Eventually I had some extra income coming in and had a great neighbor that loved to feed me scraps from his hot rod projects. He had a 68 or 69 ( I think...hard to remember now) Chevelle SS. Apparently the P.O./ O.O. had purchased it new and ordered a second motor so he could build a race motor out of it. Fast forward many many years and my neighbor aquired both the car with the raced out motor and the stock numbers matching motor that had been packed in cellophane for the last 30+ years. He pulled the worked 396 motor and sold it to me for pratically nothing...something like 300-400 bux...running mind you (and running VERY well I might add) and then found me a sweet deal on a T-400. That was a very very fun truck! At least until I grenaded the rear 12 bolt.... It got parked, then life happened, and it got forgotten, then marriage happened and it got sold.


Sooo....for 6 years I have been working on my wife to let me replace my old rig. Every conceivable scheme was concocted in order to fool her into letting me pick up even a cheap, barely running truck. Let me just say, my wife is very wise...and mean.

Well, eventually she slipped up! She started talking about having a third little nugget and thats where I found the chink in the armour. I told her before we ever got married that there will never be a minivan in our driveway...ever. So she tried to suggest a suburban or tahoe. Being the non-conformist that I am I agreed to a 67-72 era suburban. I stood my ground and she finally let me win, with the agreement that if I bought something that needed work that it would be done by the time the baby was born and under the price of a newer sub.

So, thats the long and the short of it. I found a 71 3/4 ton 4x4 with a decently fresh 350-th400-np205 combo that has had alot of body work done (see 95%) and wasnt too badly mangled by the P.O.'s.

Now: I have read through alot of different areas of this forum and have used the search button alot but have turned up short on a few things I'm ironing out right now...

First: The column is trashed. I have about 1-1.5 inches of play side to side and at least an inch of play in and out. I remember my dad and I rebuilding the 3-on-the-tree linkage/ column when I first got my old truck but i havent had any other columns of this vintage apart before. Its the auto/ non-tilt version. The detents seem to work ok and the turn signal cancels ok in both directions but the slop is scary and I havent found a very good break down for that particular column on what to buy to rebuild it. So any help is good.

Secondly: I have some horrendous bump-steer. I'm not sure it it is a 4" or a 6" inch lift but it is lifted. It seems to be a quality lift from what I can tell by looking at parts and their construction. Any large bumps in the roads will jerk the wheel pretty hard in hand and typically sends the truck jerking to the left.

Besides a small tranny leak that I have yet to find and a pleasant header gasket leak it seems to be a nice rig that has had alot of the hard work done already.

Well, thats about it, and any help is truely appreciated.

Charlie

[vectorit]

Welcome to the board!
Awesome burb you have, I'm a big fan of the 4x4's!

Have you had the front end checked out for worn parts yet?
Also, I can barely see a steering stabilizer shock under there. Have you made sure it is still good? They are cheap enough to replace, and they make a ton of difference on these lifted trucks.

About your steering column, I don't have much to say about it since I am all about 4 speeds. But there will be some one sooner or later that will chime in, and I know there are some members on here that rebuild them.

Again, welcome to the best resource on the net for burbs like ours.

[71WarWagon]

I havent had it to a shop or anything yet. I bought it towards the end of Feb. and finally got possesion of it a few days ago. I have driven it a total of maybe 30 miles, changed the oil, fixed some gauges, tried to fix my header leak and gave it a quick once over just to make sure it was in fact road worthy (not in that order ...lol). It does have a steering stabilizer on there, not sure of its condition though. The thing isnt puking fluid but I havent pulled it to give it the ol' push pull test so I dont know. I hate throwing parts at stuff so I figured I'd ask and see what opinions came in.

Thanks for the warm welcome!!!

[vectorit]

Another thing I check, which is an easy process.
Is, I grab hold of the upper inside of the front tires and give it a few yanks. If you feel a lot of play, or hear any clunking from the hub then the hub will need to be dug into since a bearing may have burnt out or?

Just a thought on your bump steer issue.

[Average Joe]

Sweet 'burb! Welcome to the board.

[CG]

Never heard of a column with that kind of play before. I remember when I put my first K10 together I had a shop check over the front before I drove it. When I picked it up I had the weirdest steering problems, sounded similar to yours. Turned out the steering box was loose. The shop didnt do a very good check over =(

[olblue60@aol.com]

Welcome to the board from Maryland!!
Just a thought, If you have sloppy steering, the column may be worn but the shaft is turning none the less. I believe that you probably have some worn front end parts. There is also a way to adjust your steering box to take out some play. My .02 cents is that your truck has worn front end parts which will tighten up play and help with the bump steer. Great looking truck !!

[71WarWagon]

Ill be doing a more in depth search in the next few days. Its still snowing where I live and I dont want to go lay in it if I dont have to.

Thanks for the info.


Charlie

[Burb]

Welcome from TX and good find ...

[rjsdad]

Like your burb! Very cool looking.

[haskell]

Good find there especially with a lot of body work done. I am a fan of the 3/4 T 4x4's.

[rcbildr]

Sweet Burb!!!!

Another thing to look for while you are checking for worn steering components is whether or not a raised steering arm or drop pitman arm was used. A friend of mine ran out of funds and couldn't afford one of those parts...he has a mid 80's burb with a 6" lift... he has bump steer pretty bad.

When you are down there, look at the tie rod that connect your steering box to the steering arm on the axle...it should be horizontal or very close.