Vehicle sways!!!!

! K, Hello all! I am running Bridgestone Dueler's from sears on my 96 s-10 blazer 4x4, 4dr., 4.3.... I have changed all the front end parts, I.E. ball joints, tie rods, idler arm, sway bar links, and i have had an alignment done, the problem is, after about a week of having the alignment done, the truck starts to sway back and forth like the wind is blowing the truck.... After the first alignment, hell, i was doing 85 and didnt even know it, now i am nervous to do 65 for fear of being "blown" off the road! Just took it back to Sears for an alignment recheck, and everything is just how it was a month ago, Dead on! Any ides??

Also, is there a way to tighten the steering gear box to eliminate some of the steering wheel play, it has always been there since i have owned it so i dont believe that it pertains to the above issue! Thanks Again!

be careful with the dueler AT's... they put them on silverados from the factory and have had a problem with the tread falling off of them.... they dub it as "stonechipping" and give you a discount on a new set of tires.... I have known several people to only get about 15,000 miles out of these tires until this starts happening... however, all of thme do not do it.... my dad just got 65,000miles out of his dueler at's with no problems.... they dont have very strong sidewalls though.... 300-400lbs in the bed of a truck will cause the sidewalls to squat..... we found this out the hard way.... makes them sort of unstable..... oh well, we still hauled 2100 lbs of landscaping blocks in the bed of a Z71....... thought the duelers were gonna exploed.. hahaha

just kinda pulling stuff out my butt here...

tread squirm (unless you are very sensitive to movement, I doubt that is what it is)
control arm bushings
wheel bearings
some weird brake sticking issue

What kind of tire pressure are you running in the tires?

I just checked that today also, and they are all at 34 psi, i would rather run at 40 but they tell me not too.... Someone mentioned maybe a broken belt in the tires but, i just had them rotated also, and it still does exactly the same thing...

you could have one or more worn shock absorbers.

all four been replaced allready, both rear and front... like i said, i'm completely baffled!!! lol

i agree with the brake issue, if perhaps your rotors are warped, or they are sticking it might pull you around a bit. Check the E-brake too.

yeah... i didnt think about the rotors... come to think of it, the front rotors warped on dads silverado... when you hit about 55-65 it would sway a bit and then shimmy..... it sucked...... check your rotors.....

If it was ok for a week and then suddenly developed this problem, I would suggest having everything that was just done re-checked.
If sears did the work and sears checked it again and said it's ok, I would go somewhere else for a second opinion.
If all the parts are tight and the alignment is good, then you are probably looking at tire tread separation.

I would recommend getting your "swaying" problem fixed before attempting a steering box adjustment. The steering box is adjustable, but it's sensitive and must be done with the steering box at dead center. If it's overadjusted (to tight) it will create more problems and wear out very fast.

I know i have a lot of movement in the steering wheel/play, and thought that may be whats causing it! Not sure.. Didn't know if maybe adjusting the steering box would remove the play and also solve the swaying problem....

I dont like sears sevice department.... they broke a rear caliper on my 98 mustang and weren't gonna tell me..... they just acted like nothing was wrong...... then wanted me to buy a new one from them???? and of course you have the classic ron white lug nut story... hahaha.... but yeah.... sear is alright, but I would take it to a place that specializes in front ends and wheel alignment.... get a second opinion from a person that is trained specifically to work on front ends... not the do-it-all guys at sears or even firestone or wherever...


BTW... did you do the work of tie rods, ball joints, etc..??? if so did you use a torque wrench?? things may not be torqued to proper specs and could be coming loose a bit?? i dunno im just going out on a limb here.. . . . .

I have the same problem and have done almost all of the corrective actions you have done:  ball joints, alignments, linkages, etc.  Did you ever get the problem fixed?  If so, what did you do?  There is an adjustment screw on top of the steering gear box to adjust the play in the steering.  Be careful, not to tighten it too much.
 
Would like to hear from you on the swaying problem.
MWoody

MWoody,
I had the same exact problem early last year with my 98, Here's a few questions for you...
Is your truck hard to control on the expressway?
Does it feel like it wants to go into a different lane on it's own?
Are you constantly making steering corrections while driving?
What year is your truck and miles on it?

I don't know about Mwoody, but I have 97 Blazer with 170k and would have to answer YES to all 3 questions.  What's Up.

Blazwest, Here was my cure......
I replaced the WORN OUT P.O.S.  STEERING box in it  (80,000 mostly hi-way miles) I had to relearn how to drive it afterwords. It's a  1hour job. It now steers almost like a Corvette. I can now let go of the steering wheel 65 mph on the X-way for blocks at a time. Even on the strong wind day's, i have full control... $195 bucks, and a Lifetime Warrantee at Murrays auto parts.
 
If your front end is tight and you want to test your steering box for SLOP, simply start your engine up, CENTER your steering wheel, stand outside with the window rolled down, Looking at your front tire, SLOWLY turn your wheel to the left and see how far your wheel went before your tires moved. If you moved your steering wheel more then 1/2 to 1 inch and see no movement from the tires, Your box is bad.

 Hey, Thanks for the advice. I"ve had my suspicions about the gear box, after going thru front end and the only thing i found was marginal lower ball joints, which I replaced. The steering gear did not look to friendly to replace, so I kept putting it off, especially without more evidence. The front end seems pretty tight,  so I went ahead and did the slop test. Let's just say it was less than perfect, much less.  Probably a couple inches each way. You said it only took about an hour, maybe its not as bad as it looked. If the temp. ever gets above 20, I give it a try.
 
 Any tips on the repair you could offer would be great..           Thanks 

Also check the "RAG" joint under the plastic cover that connects the steering shaft to the box....there are a few ways to deal with this and they are a better fix than just replacing the joint with another one.

Check out s10Forum.com for tight steering...the thread tells how to replace that short section of the steering shaft with a dodge/jeep shaft that has u-joints on both sides. And depending on what year your Blazer/Truck is depends on what year Jeep Grand Cherokee steering shaft you can use to replace it with...

Blazwest,
This is a pretty simple job. You will need to buy a pittman arm puller ($10 bucks) and i've been told that on the 4x4's you will need to replace the pittman arm also, Mine is a 2x4 and it was reuseable. First thing I did was Jack car off the ground. then I removed the (Large nut 1 1/4 i think? with breaker bar )from the pittman arm. Then I used the puller on it to remove it from the steering box only, remove the plastic rag joint cover where the shaft meets the box, it opens from the bottom with the help of a screwdriver, then remove the steering shaft at the box ( 1 bolt 10mm i think?) slide the shaft towards the fire wall. then remove the two power steering lines from the steering box. (make sure you have a drain pan under them and drain the pump resivior completley) Then I went through the wheel well to remove the (3 bolts 17mm i think?) that hold the pump to the side of the frame. Minipulate the old box out, Install new box in reverse, In your case carefully mark where the pittman arm is at before installing your new one. I filled my new box up with synthetic fluid, started truck and turned the steering wheel left to right and keep checking the fluid, after the pump primed the box, it was like new.
 
Sorry I can't remember all the nut size's or the torque spec's, That's what happens when you start to get old.........
Look things over carefully, and make sure you have all the correct tools before you start the job, use common sense, you will be fine, Oh and DO NOT turn the steering wheel inside of  truck or the tires until everything is buttoned up.
I marked my tires with white chalk on the ground before I jacked the truck up... I had my son in law as a helper for some of the three handed things and fetching me some tools. Again, you will be fine doing this job, afterwords, you will be oversteering the truck ( because of the sloppy steering you were use too) til you relearn how to drive it.
 

just wondering if this is the same problem that i had and was talking about in another post... now mine is a 2000 but i figure they're pretty much the same.. my question to the people posting about this problem is..
 
1. does the vehicle seem fine when normal city driving at lower speeds..???
 
2. and by swaying do you mean when you get up to highway speeds the rig feels like it could sway hard in any direction espicialy when going over bumps, bridges, ect..??
 
and if so.. if you ever fix it.. please let me know how lol

Well thats some good news, between your great info and Mr Haynes I should be able to get something done there. I think maybe my toughest issue will be replacing the pitman, clearence is slim on 4x4.   I do have one last question, what kind of shape was the  Rag joint in, was there any noticeble wear or would you even be able to tell. Then again yours must have been ok, your problem is solved. With the mileage on this ride I was just going to live with it, but its very annoying and the damm thing runs great.
    Thanks again, i hope to get to this in the next couple of weeks.
   By the way I checked out your pics, very nice!

Blazwest.....
My rag joint was just fine, and yours will be too...
Also this was the absolute best thing I ever did to my truck,  Just remember to take your time and get the right tools. You won't belive the driving difference, 11 months later, I am still amazed with it.
The Steering box I installed was an A1 Cardone Reman, I ordered it from Murrays  Auto Parts and  I picked it up the next day. The box itself will be set centered so make sure your wheels are as centered as possible when you start the removal process... 

Dino55
              Glad to here more good news. I just found the A1 Cardone Reman. 4wd on rockauto for $158. plus core. The 2wd was $142.
Can't wait to get this done now, just have to find some time.   Thanks...
 
Also to metalhead, the swaying is  less noticible when going at slower speeds. Refer back a couple of post to dino55,  3 questions and check for slop.  We've come to this steering gear issue after determining  front end is tight.

Well, Havent worked on it much lately, like you, too cold, but i mentioned it to the chevy dealer shop foreman, and he believes that even though the front end parts are "new", one of them could be binding, either from being too tight when made, (the socket) or just being installed too tight or over torqued! I havent had him take it for a drive yet but plan to...
          I dont drive it very often due to how it is....  BUT, I did forget to mention that the steering is pretty stiff either way i turn it, since the work was done!  You can almost feel it bind then release, which is causing an "over correction" inadvertantly causing the "sway"! I feel it intown like a drifting, but at highway speeds, its like a chase back and forth!  REALLY AGGREVATING!!!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: DINO55

Blazwest, Here was my cure......
I replaced the WORN OUT P.O.S.  STEERING box in it  (80,000 mostly hi-way miles) I had to relearn how to drive it afterwords. It's a  1hour job. It now steers almost like a Corvette. I can now let go of the steering wheel 65 mph on the X-way for blocks at a time. Even on the strong wind day's, i have full control... $195 bucks, and a Lifetime Warrantee at Murrays auto parts.
 
If your front end is tight and you want to test your steering box for SLOP, simply start your engine up, CENTER your steering wheel, stand outside with the window rolled down, Looking at your front tire, SLOWLY turn your wheel to the left and see how far your wheel went before your tires moved. If you moved your steering wheel more then 1/2 to 1 inch and see no movement from the tires, Your box is bad.

 
 
Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why didn't I see this before??? I have had this problem for over 3 years and just found this.