Two weekends worth of mods and a ? about steering problems

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:27 am

After getting ideas on what to do about my crews rear end moving around I placed my order from Summit Racing for the Energy Suspension rear bushings, front sway bar bushings and a Hotchkiss rear sway bar kit. The sway bar kit came in first so last Saturday I installed that, pretty straight foward all I may need to do is have the tailpipe moved a bit, I had to remove it from its rear hanger to get the sway bar endlink mount bolted in. I noticed a distinct improvement in how the truck handled in the wind and on corners. This weekend I just finished installing the front sway bar bushings and doing a lube job. I think I will hold off on the rear spring kit since it involves burning the old bushing out of the frame and without a lift I just do not want to be stuck under the truck with bits of burning rubber falling on me.
One interesting note was when I did the front passenger sway bar mounts the endlink was loose,it had apparently been loosened or removed by the dealership when they changed my CV boot a few weeks ago and never tightened up again. I can't wait until my morning commute to see how things feel.

So now for the ? I have noticed in the last couple of weeks since I had the CV boot and half shaft replaced that the steering has started to act up I feel like I am fighting to keep the truck in the middle of the lane it seems to drift one way they when I correct it drifts the other way I feel I am constantly making adjustments. Should the Dealership have done an alignment after they changed the cv boot and half shaft or can you think of anything else I can check ?
Thanks guys
Brian

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sun May 14, 2006 11:14 am

Wish I could answer that but, hopefully someone will later today.

coffeedrnkr · Post by **coffeedrnkr** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:16 pm

I would think that the dealership is supposed to take note of the position of the alignment cams on the upper control arm, and make sure they are the same after they get it all back together

but technically you really "shouldn't" need an alignment b/c they didn't really mess with stuff that affects your alignment, they just unbolted the spindle replaced the shaft and bolted everything back together....

just a thought, somebody tell me if I am wrong..

Blaze One · Post by **Blaze One** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:22 pm

when my blazer started to need constant adjusting while driving , I took it in to the garage and found that I had "play" in the pitman/idler arm(s) .
After replaceing those , it was greatly improved .

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Sun May 14, 2006 2:20 pm

As for them checking the position of the alignment cams I doubt if they paid much attention to that they have to outsource all their alignment work because they do not have there own rack and since they also loosened the sway bar when they removed the half shaft and left it loose when they gave it back. I don't guarantee that they didn't unhook other components they didn't need to. I found fresh grease in 2 of the 6 zerks on the passenger side after the CV was worked on but they left the others untouched.

Should there be play after only 20k? That's where I am at right now.All though it might be from the evil 11th grease zerk that I can not reach with my grease gun or even my hands to check wether it needs more. Any good tips on getting at the beast without dropping the plastic shield?

I am also experimenting with adjusting the tire pressures. When I had the 30x9.5 installed they inflated them to 32psi the door plackard shows, I brought them up to 35psi today and will see how that affects things I have seen people running everything from 32-50psi on various web sites so I guess it's just trial and error to find the best pressure for now. My stone driveway is not a good place to test eveness of tire patch on the ground but the tracks on my garage floor look to be good edege to edge when the tires are wet.

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:18 pm

I just wonder if that wondering is related to the loose end link. Before you start messing with stuff take it for a drive with the new stuff in and see if it helps.

quickbiker · Post by **quickbiker** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:54 pm

Yea, they should have checked alignment. As I remember, some of the stuff that keeps it aligned has to come apart to swap the CV shafts. Good luck.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Tue May 16, 2006 2:11 am

Taking it in to the dealer this morning. I have to go out an remove the HPPIII program and set it back to stock.I am leaving the 30x9.5 and the spacers on. I hope they don't try to make that the culprit since I have told them before about the steering problem before I had the new tires on. I am also having them check the brakes they grab when wet and the pedal keeps sinking to the floor when I depress the pedal and hold it down. I also will get the interval wiper fixed and I need to see if they can figure out why sometimes when I push the button from 4hi to 2hi it does not always take the first time. I had this happen once and only noticed it after about 15 miles when I went to turn into a driveway and got a loud groaning from the front end. It had been wet and muddy getting out of my driveway but had been dry roads for most of the rest of that trip. Hope I didn't mess something up there.
At least I get a loaner vehicle today although with my luck it will be a malibu or some other little car that I will have to lay down in to drive

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Tue May 16, 2006 6:58 am

It sounds like you need a good alignment and maybe a new idler arm. If they do an alignment then tell them you want the printout showing exactly where they set it at. The stock GM idler arm is a POS. I went through 2 in less than 50k miles before I replaced mine with a MOOG problem solver and haven't had any problems since.

The brakes should not go all the way to the floor.

Air in the brake lines or a frozen caliper slide pin can cause similar problems. A bad seal in the master cylinder can also cause this problem. Be sure to let us know what problem they find.

Good luck with getting the interval wiper thing fixed. I tried 2 times to get it fixed and each time they told me they "could not duplicate the problem".

The encoder motor might be causing your 4hi to 2hi problem, but let us know what they find to be wrong here as well.

I have gone through 3 encoder motors so far and I only have 80k miles.

You might also need the front diff cable adjusted slightly.

Steve

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:31 pm

Here is the info as of today.
Dealer is ordering me a new steering box,brake vacuum booster,and wiper pulse module. They couldn't duplicate the 4HI -2LO problem or so they said so that will have to wait until it gets worse I guess. They tried the old "did the problems start after you did all the mods" routine but I disabused them of that idea right quick. They then looked a bit deeper and found the faulty steering box. They suspect a vaccuum leak in the booster is the brake problem, and the wiper problem was one of those "oh that" response from the guy I dropped it off to this morning. BTW the guy also owns a CC so he knows these trucks well.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Tue May 16, 2006 4:10 pm

killian96ss wrote:

Good luck with getting the interval wiper thing fixed. I tried 2 times to get it fixed and each time they told me they "could not duplicate the problem".

Steve

I just gave up on this issue too. My new dealer is really cool and bends over backwards to help me. I haven't mentioned the wiper problem to them. My original dealer stated they were unable to duplicate. The interval sucks compared to my '97 and I can usually duplicate the wipers stopping 1/3 the way up on the windshield when it was on interval when I turned the ignition off for 30 minutes or so. Maybe one day when I am off, bored and have a fresh coat of rain-x on the windshield, I'll drive the the 20 miles and let them see the switch in the "ON"position and the wipers parked 1/3 the way up.

Please keep us posted 04crewvt

GM may realize that their "base" is disappearing and they need to modify their act. I am seriously preparing for a new rubicon or Taco but, will keep my cc

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:06 pm

Got my crew back from the dealership today.
They found the steering gearbox leaking and replaced it then had the allignment done. Nice smooth ride today to work. They also found an internal vacuum leak in the brake booster and replaced unit, brakes much better now. They also fixed the wipers,they replaced the wiper circuit board after finding moisture inside.

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:15 pm

04crewvt wrote:Got my crew back from the dealership today.
They found the steering gearbox leaking and replaced it then had the allignment done. Nice smooth ride today to work. They also found an internal vacuum leak in the brake booster and replaced unit, brakes much better now. They also fixed the wipers,they replaced the wiper circuit board after finding moisture inside.

Glad to hear they fixed everything.

I also had a gearbox replaced because it was leaking through the top gasket.

It might be a good idea for others to check their gearbox just in case.

Steve

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:57 pm

And their brakes. If with the engine off you can pump up pressure on the pedal and then start the truck and the pedal slowly sinks all the way down to the floor you may have the same problem I had.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:16 pm

Well it's time for another pulse control module I think I will just spend the $32 at Advance Auto and get the lifetime warranty since this seems to be a recurring problem.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:44 am

I got the new pulse motor a couple of weekends ago. Quick work to replace and now it has a lifetime warranty. I found rust spots on the internal contacts the factory replacement I had installed 2 years ago but no other obvious solder joint problems I think it just wasn't sealed up very well.