Shocks and questions

[Cucv]

My steering is shot or so it seems , the steering wheel is loose and has tons of play and over and under steer in it. I want to replace parts but im not sure whats bad, im having it checked on friday at a shop to see whats bad. (Ill replace the parts i can that are not alignment specific) If they say it just out of alignment ill have the shop do an alignment. I want to try the steering box tightening mod to see if that helps. But how do i tell if my shocks are bad? I hit a bump and it rattles and moves all over. My rear shocks are arnott replacement but i dont know if they are good either.

Help!

 

[rockola1971]

How many miles on it? Most likely your problem is one or any combination of ball joints, tie rods, pitman and idler arm, control arm bushings, gearbox or even the steering shaft or a wheel hub assembly. Doubt its your shocks causing the looseness.

 

[Big Mama]

Agreed. Especially if the steering wheel is moving that’s dangerous. The noises are ball joints wheel bearing and could be your struts are loose at the top that’s an easy check. Alignment may be off but it’s probably due to the above mentioned parts. Get it repaired so it’s safe to drive.

 

[Cucv]

How many miles on it? Most likely your problem is one or any combination of ball joints, tie rods, pitman and idler arm, control arm bushings, gearbox or even the steering shaft or a wheel hub assembly. Doubt its your shocks causing the looseness.

149k miles. I agree I dont think the shocks are the cause either just rides like crap over bumps. But how do I tell if they are bad. Ill know more after the front end is looked at on friday. I plan to do new pads and rotors, new hubs and sway bar ends and mounts and tie rods all at once when I do my brakes.

 

[Big Mama]

The shop will let you know if the shocks are bad but otherwise look for leaks, rotted bushings or excessive rebound or truck sitting lower on one corner.

 

[Cucv]

Im at Les schwab and this is what they told me

Front end has been lowered a bit, camber is off, he cant find worn parts, but front shocks are ready to be replaced. Says the torsion bars might have been lowered

The tech said he might hear a front hub bearing and he did not feel the rear end shift and my track bar bushings look good, can the track bar look ok but still be bad?

 

[Big Mama]

So did someone prior to you lower it? Heaven knows how many messed up jobs there are out there. Usually the tech finds all kinds of things to replace. Are you sure the tires are ok? Balanced? Camber can wear down the inside of it.

 

[Cucv]

Tires were rebalanced rotated and camber fixed, i did not lower it, i dont think its lowered. Tires had some wear on inside of tread. But it drives much better now.

 

[Big Mama]

Great so everything is good?

 

[Cucv]

Better yes, still a small amount of sway in the rear and im confused on shocks for the front, so many options. I need to look at my rpo to see which code i have.

 

[Big Mama]

Good to go with GM or AC Delco. How were the rear shocks? You can always go up in size on the sway bar and end links.

 

[Cucv]

He said rears are fine, they are the Arnott replacement, there are like 10 options on rock auto for shocks for the front. How do i know what to get.

 

[mikeyss]

In your RPO codes in the glovebox, that's where you'll find this info. I think the front shock codes start with a 6** and a 7** type code.

 

[Rivelite]

If your going to do the inner/outter tire rods, hubs, end links, you may as well do your idler arm, idler arm bracket, the dreaded pitmarm arm and new sway bar bushings. I ordered all Moog parts for this. This should take care of about any steering issue you have outside of a worn steering box or uneven tires. I had very loose steering myself and decided to just replace all the same worn parts and it made a huge difference.