I am stumped on tracking down what is causing it to feel like a wheel is about to fall off while driving.
98 2 door tahoe, 4WD, 256k miles
My tires were/are getting close to needing to be replaced. 2 tires are getting real close, while the other 2 have about 5000-7000 fewer miles on them. I found a deal for a set of 4 used tires/wheels and decided to get them mainly foe the wheels, but figured the tires were about 50% tread and would buy me a bit more time before getting 4 new tires.
Due to offset being different, I knew I wouldn't get much bite from the lugnuts, so I put longer lug studs all the way around and put the "new wheels/tires" on. I noticed that the tires were rubbing when turning, so the next day, trimmed back the quarter panel and front bumper a bit, tested again and don't see/feel any additional rubbing. After driving with this new setup for a couple weeks, I notice a looseness in the steering and start trying to track it down.
A little recent history...About a year ago, I changed out inner/outer tie rods, upper control arms, lower ball joints, sway bar links and had purchased pitman arm, idler arm w/ bracket, but never got to the pitman/idler arms. About 9 months ago I replaced the drivers wheel bearing/hub assembly as it went out.
Back to current timeline...I did the usual tests to check the tie rods, wheel bearings, etc. and found a slight bit of play side to side. Being the tie rods were newish, I figured they aren't causing the side to side play as they felt tight when trying to move them individually and went ahead and replaced the pitman/idler arm. No change really, except for what seems to me is the looseness getting worse. I decided to check the rear wheel bearings as I didn't know the history there before I bought the truck 3 years ago. They both seem tight, the differential seems tight. I decide to try going back to the previous wheels/tires to rule out the "new" set being the issue. Again, seems like it's becoming even more noticeable, no improvements. While turning full lock or close to, I can feel a clunk and almost like the tires are skipping. Seems like a CV axle could be going bad. I replaced both, no improvements again. I've checked the hubs/wheel bearings, fron tand rear, the tie rods all feel tight, made sure that none of the new studs are loose, made sure no loose bolts/nuts in steering/suspension of both front and rear. I changed the u-joints out on the rear driveshaft as I had been noticing a clunk when starting to pull from a stop on occasion, that seems to have gone away at least, but the looseness, uneasy feeling still there, if not slowly getting worse. I'm basically at the point of I can't drive it, but I kinda need to to drive.
I'm not sure what to check or change next. There is just an uneasy feeling while driving. Sometimes it feels like it's just floating. What am I missing?
Thanks for any ideas, help you can provide.
Brian
98 2 door tahoe, 4WD, 256k miles
My tires were/are getting close to needing to be replaced. 2 tires are getting real close, while the other 2 have about 5000-7000 fewer miles on them. I found a deal for a set of 4 used tires/wheels and decided to get them mainly foe the wheels, but figured the tires were about 50% tread and would buy me a bit more time before getting 4 new tires.
Due to offset being different, I knew I wouldn't get much bite from the lugnuts, so I put longer lug studs all the way around and put the "new wheels/tires" on. I noticed that the tires were rubbing when turning, so the next day, trimmed back the quarter panel and front bumper a bit, tested again and don't see/feel any additional rubbing. After driving with this new setup for a couple weeks, I notice a looseness in the steering and start trying to track it down.
A little recent history...About a year ago, I changed out inner/outer tie rods, upper control arms, lower ball joints, sway bar links and had purchased pitman arm, idler arm w/ bracket, but never got to the pitman/idler arms. About 9 months ago I replaced the drivers wheel bearing/hub assembly as it went out.
Back to current timeline...I did the usual tests to check the tie rods, wheel bearings, etc. and found a slight bit of play side to side. Being the tie rods were newish, I figured they aren't causing the side to side play as they felt tight when trying to move them individually and went ahead and replaced the pitman/idler arm. No change really, except for what seems to me is the looseness getting worse. I decided to check the rear wheel bearings as I didn't know the history there before I bought the truck 3 years ago. They both seem tight, the differential seems tight. I decide to try going back to the previous wheels/tires to rule out the "new" set being the issue. Again, seems like it's becoming even more noticeable, no improvements. While turning full lock or close to, I can feel a clunk and almost like the tires are skipping. Seems like a CV axle could be going bad. I replaced both, no improvements again. I've checked the hubs/wheel bearings, fron tand rear, the tie rods all feel tight, made sure that none of the new studs are loose, made sure no loose bolts/nuts in steering/suspension of both front and rear. I changed the u-joints out on the rear driveshaft as I had been noticing a clunk when starting to pull from a stop on occasion, that seems to have gone away at least, but the looseness, uneasy feeling still there, if not slowly getting worse. I'm basically at the point of I can't drive it, but I kinda need to to drive.
I'm not sure what to check or change next. There is just an uneasy feeling while driving. Sometimes it feels like it's just floating. What am I missing?
Thanks for any ideas, help you can provide.
Brian
