Wandering

Batass · Post by **Batass** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:51 pm

My truck has always wandered a bit, but lately has gotten much worse. Nothing was found wrong during the last inspection 4 months ago, but I didn't notify them of the problem. Nothing seems to be loose in the front suspension. Tires have been rotated and correct pressure.

The steering is a little loose, its tight to the left, but to the right is mushy. The truck turns left tighter than right.

Its much worse at highway speeds and takes a lot of attention to stay straight.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:12 pm

Turning radius sounds fine I think that's pretty normal from all the vehicles I have driven.
Start from the basics, check fluid level, check pump and gearbox for leaks. check for loose pitman or idler arm, check ball joints and alignment, check tie rods, front sway bar links. These can all contribute to a steering issue.

Batass · Post by **Batass** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:37 am

The idler arm is mounted on the frame right? That had slight play in it, most of the play is in the steering box. Any way to tighten that up?

What does this truck use in place of a steering dampener?

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:49 am

There was no factory steering damper but the attachment point is on the frame for one. to use a factory style one you need to do some parts exchange since the needed attachment point is not in the linkage. It.s easier and cheaper to pick up the Rancho kit from JC Whitney or your favorite parts place on line. It's an easy bolt in setup that takes all of 30 minutes. As for idler arm there is no play allowed so it should be changed out. Most people have upgraded to the MOOG Problem Solver and have had great luck. I would go ahead and do the idler arm at the same time myself. The gear box can be adjusted but I recommend not trying to do it in the truck, it is supposed to be on a bench to adjust and if you go too tight guessing on it you can bind up the gears inside so that the wheel will not return to center automatically.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:23 am

Try cross rotating the front tires and see of the wandering continues. Then try rotating the rear to the front.
An alignment would be a good idea as it will highlight worn components. it is a good idea to check alignment at least every 20k miles, or anytime there are symptoms that might indicate a need.

hunter401 · Post by **hunter401** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:53 am

I have this problem as well. I found that the gear box is leaking at the sector shaft. I tried tighting it but the problem had become much worse after 1 week. I lending up replaceing the gear box and pitman arm at the same time. I did not feel like having to take it all apart again to replace the pitman arm so I just spent the extra money and bought that at the same time.