Loose steering on 90' Suburban 2500 4x4

[rack]

Hello to everyone,
I have steering problem with my Suburban which, unfortunately I do not drive very often.
I will try to explain it.
When I drive, if I turn the wheel, it reacts with some delay, then it goes further then expected so I have to turn it back to correct it. I am talking about small adjustments but they are annoying. Also I do not feel very safe with such big vehicle.
I hope you get the picture :-)
Do you think it is steering gear or power steering?
Thanks for the help,
Ivo

[Front Range]

Is the frame cracked at the steering box, or is the steering box loose on the frame? If that looks ok I'd check the rag joint, steering link arm to see if anything was obvious.

[Electricduane]

Check your ball joints and tie rod ends . . . tho (as usual) Front Range knows a lot more about this than I do . .

[Front Range]

I'm not much different then you E-Duane. Pretty much just fixing things that fall apart as it happens, I sure as hell wasn't a willing student. Probably good that I never had a match and a can of gas at the same time.

[rack]

Thanks for replies guys,
Today I take a look at steering.
I discover that there is play in steering column at the point it exits the body, looks like worn bushing or bearing. I will take some pictures.
I think I will start fixing this first.

Thanks,
Ivo

[Greenlee]

I'd check the rag joint first. That's a pretty common problem. I think worn ball joints would make it wander down the road, but wouldn't affect the steering that much. When I rebuilt my truck I swapped out the rag joint with one that was in better condition from another truck and now the steering is very tight.

If I remember correctly, TXFirefighter on this forum did a nice write up on rebuilding the rag joint a few years ago. It may have been in his 73-87 build thread.

[slotard]

I think I saw something about replacing it with jeep Cherokee xj stuff that doesn't have as much play too

[NorCalAnthony]

Originally Posted by slotard

I think I saw something about replacing it with jeep Cherokee xj stuff that doesn't have as much play too

Yep it's a pretty common swap/upgrade for our trucks.
http://ck5.com/forums/threads/jeep-x...pgrade.286086/

I picked one up at Pick-n-Pull a few months back for $10-15 just haven't had the time to put it in yet.

[rack]

Thanks for replies guys,
Sorry for being away for long.
Can someone tell me what is this part of steering column in the picture called?
Also, what is in there? Some busing or bearing? I need to repair this, the shaft rattles in there.

Sorry, I am not native English speaker.
Thanks a lot,
Ivo

[rack]

I found it, it is lower steering column busing kit, and ordered it.
Here is pic.
I also find Jeep XJ shaft.
Unfortunately, it maght not fix my problem :-(. I checked it again, when I turn steering shaft, the movement comes from steering box, not from rag joint.

[NorCalAnthony]

Double check that you're steering box is still bolted tight to the frame and look for cracks in that part of the frame like Front Range posted earlier. If you find any cracks there's a bolt in and a weld in brace that you can use to help prevent further damage:
http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/steeringkit.htm

[rack]

So, I changed lower steering column bearing. It feels much better now. Not shaking and rattling as before :-)
Next step is to rebuild steering shaft coupling. The boot is gone, inside is full of dirt...
Is Omix-ADA 18018.02 rebuild kit I need?
Thanks,
Ivo

[rack]

Update...
I got steering gear rebuild kit and soon ti will be done. Hope everything with the steering will be fine.
Also got new shocks front and back, new steering dumper. Will install them with rebuild steering gear.

I also wish to change all leaf spring bushings. My are smashed.
I am not in US and the only part source I have is rockauto.
In rockauto catalog I see three types of bushings:
Front spring forward
Rear spring forward
Rear spring rear

Is Front spring rear bushing the same as any of the above?

Is there bushing that could be changed on the shackles or I should change shackles?

Can anyone tell what bushings are required?

Thanks,
Ivo

[rack]

Some update...
What have been done so far... changed steering column bearing (myself), rebuild steering gear (hope it is really rebuild...by mechanic, on this story later...), rebuild power steering pump(myself).

About the story... I am really p..sed off by local "mechanics"
The truck have been inspected by at least three different "mechanics", even one alignment shop, and everyone claimed no suspension issues found...
Until the day, I just lightly kick FL tire... with truck on the ground it shacks. I inspected it further... I grab it by hand and I was able to see movement in the upper ball joint about 1/2"...

So, my next steps:

I ordered new shocks for all corners, leaf spring bushings, sway bar bushings, all ball joints, tie rod ends.

I have GM 10 bolt front axle. I watched may videos on changing ball joints on this axle, it is mostly clear what I should do :-).

My question:

Should I drain diff oil and open it, in order to pull axle shafts?

Since I am there, I plan to change all bearings and seals, may be u-joints as well.

Thanks for the help,
Ivo

[Ski-me]

Originally Posted by rack

Some update...
What have been done so far... changed steering column bearing (myself), rebuild steering gear (hope it is really rebuild...by mechanic, on this story later...), rebuild power steering pump(myself).

About the story... I am really p..sed off by local "mechanics"
The truck have been inspected by at least three different "mechanics", even one alignment shop, and everyone claimed no suspension issues found...
Until the day, I just lightly kick FL tire... with truck on the ground it shacks. I inspected it further... I grab it by hand and I was able to see movement in the upper ball joint about 1/2"...

So, my next steps:

I ordered new shocks for all corners, leaf spring bushings, sway bar bushings, all ball joints, tie rod ends.

I have GM 10 bolt front axle. I watched may videos on changing ball joints on this axle, it is mostly clear what I should do :-).

My question:

Should I drain diff oil and open it, in order to pull axle shafts?

Since I am there, I plan to change all bearings and seals, may be u-joints as well.

Thanks for the help,
Ivo

I don't think you need to drain the front diff to remove the axle shafts, but you will if you want to replace the bearings and seals. Be sure to mark the caps before removal to be sure they go back in the same location.

[rack]

Hi Jeff,
What caps do you mean?
I am not native English speaker so, I could miss the term :-)

I removed 4WD axle lock on driver side and find dry rust and water drops, definitely seals are gone...

I am fabricating wheel nut wrench, then I will remove hubs and see what is in there.

[Ski-me]

Originally Posted by rack

Hi Jeff,
What caps do you mean?
I am not native English speaker so, I could miss the term :-)

I removed 4WD axle lock on driver side and find dry rust and water drops, definitely seals are gone...

I am fabricating wheel nut wrench, then I will remove hubs and see what is in there.

Sorry. The bearing caps I'm speaking about are the two pieces that hold down the carrier and bearings. See pic with two red arrows (yellow is not mine and looks like a rear gov lock carrier).

Now, the more I think about it, I'll change my answer about the front axle shafts. You can technically pull them out without draining the front axle gear oil, however when you go to put the shafts back in...you are more than likely going to pick up a little dirt from the tub and will ultimately get into the carrier housing upon re-assembly.

I drained mine and installed the axle shafts. Then took some QTips (cotton ear cleaners) and removed any dirt that got brought back in.

If it's been awhile, I would replace both joints on your front axle shafts. If your seals are leaking out of the tube, I would also replace both seals.

However, you need to research about the bearing replacements. The will need to be pressed off and then the new ones pressed back on. I just don't know if that messes with your backlash/gear adjustments. Dig into this more on your end.

I've done the job except the bearings so ask away if you need anything. Good luck!

[Ski-me]

Hubs don't sound like their in good condition, sorry. May have to pick up some Warn Hubs. I have the cheaper ones (no gold on dial), and seem to be working just fine. Unless you are wheeling a lot, the lower end is OK.

[Ski-me]

And while I'm on the hub subject, be sure you have good hub nut, locking ring and locking nut.

When you re-assemble, the nut with the little "nub" on it goes on first facing outward (red Arrow). Torque setting dependent on what type of hub. Not too much though and allows the rotor to spin freely with a slight amount of resistance.

Then the locking ring goes on (green arrow), and then finally the locking one (blue arrow). Final nut is the one that gets torqued a lot. Around 150 ft-lbs that locks everything together.

[rack]

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the comprehensive answer. Everything is clear.

So far, so good... I disassembled everything :-)

Findings:

Steering damper totally dead.
Ball joints very loose, upper LH almost popped out.
Tie rod ends look OK.
Leaf spring bushings are smashed.
Water and rust in LH wheel hub. Hub lock was blocked engaged.
Very strange discovery in LH hub... outer bearing Made in ROMANIA
(Romania is our north neighbor country)

Now I am cleaning everything and waiting for new seals and bearings to arrive.

I will post some pics later.

Thanks for the help,
Ivo

[rack]

Slowly progressing on it...
Here are some pictures.

Front axle striped:



Here it is before and after:





New ball joints installed:





Here I have some questions.

The grease fitting on the old upper ball joints were on the side. On the new ones fittings are on the bottom, shown on the picture.
Will it rub in u-joints?

Second question... as far as I read in this forum, it is impossible to insert new sway bar bushings in the ears/eyes shown on the picture.
Is it true? If not, what is the way to do it correct?

Thanks,
Ivo

[Ski-me]

You don't end up greasing the ball joints very much. With the zerk on the bottom of the upper ball joint seems a bit odd. My lower ball joint has the zerk on the bottom and my upper ball joint has it on the side. Difficult to access but can be done if I recall.

At a minimum, you should grease both the upper and lower joints, and then remove the zerk and your kit should of come with a few plugs. Those plugs then screw into the place where the zerks were.

Are they Moog ball joints?

[Ski-me]

http://ck5.com/forums/threads/ball-j...os-now.282020/

Let me know if you can't see the pics. Hopefully this will help a bit for you.

[rack]

Hi Jeff,

They are AC Delco ball joints.

So, I will grease and plug them before inserting axles.

Have you experience with sway bar bushings?

Thanks,
Ivo

[Ski-me]

Yes, you also should be able to replace all the sway bar bushings.

http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/swaybarbush.htm

https://smile.amazon.com/Energy-Susp...eywords=3.5118