Pull to right/shaking wheel

[1sBtrThnN0ne]

Been having an ongoing problem with my 06. The truck wants to pull hard to the right everytime I let go of the wheel. Also there is a shaking in my steering wheel. Every so often I would here a rattle (almost like a heatshield) when turning left or right and it sounded like it was coming from the drivers side.

I put the aftermarket steering rack bracket kit in. Replaced pads and rotors. Noticed a leaking axle seal on drivers side so swapped the seal and the whole half shaft while under there(thought maybe a bad cv joint). Changed the front diff fluid. Rotated the tires(drivers side tire was worn more than the others and since the rotation I haven't heard the rattle noise up front).

Still no luck and it's progressively getting worse. Next thought was maybe wheel bearings or tierods? Any thoughts?

 

[4speedfunk]

Could be a number of things...hub, ball-joints, caliper, tie-rod, etc. It should be pretty obvious if something under there is worn or broken.

I just did a rack-swap on an 08 Alpha last week. It had identical symptoms, and a local GM service center diagnosed it as a bad steering rack. They wanted to charge this guy $1000 to replace it (and a week of downtime), so he did what any loyal GM customer should do...told them to "GET BENT"! He picked it up and drove it down to my shop. I just happened to have a good used rack in my stock-pile so I popped it in and had the guy back on the road the next day for less than half of that amount. After removal, I noticed that one side of the rack didn't want to work very well, and it had a small leak from the drivers-side boot. Usually these racks break externally where the casting meets the tube sleeve...but this one looked brand new on the outside. Whatever was wrong, the swap fixed it. So, I guess things can go wrong inside them even though they appear fine.

BTW...I yanked the 16mm tie-rods from his old rack and junked the center section. Let me know if somebody wants some trail spares...$30/pair.

 

[H3HummerLineX]

I sent an email regarding the tie rods


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[1sBtrThnN0ne]

Any way to tell if it is the rack and not something else before spending $300+ on a new one?

 

[Hunner]

Jack that wheel off the ground and put a hand on top and bottom of tire and push pull. See if it is loose.

Do the same front and back to find if there is bearing play.

 

[alrock]

Shaking and worn tire could point to a bad shock on that corner. You temporarily fixed the issue by moving the tire, but if the shock is bad the issue could come back. The pulling could also be worn control arm bushings, upper or lower. The whole arm could be out of place, pulling the truck to one side.

 

[1sBtrThnN0ne]

I ended up jacking the truck up to check for play in the tire. Everything seemed to be tight with no extra play.

Driving down the road, the steering wheel seems tight with no extra play side to side.

Regarding bad shock: how can I check the shock? I always thought you can push down on the corner and watch the return. Upon doing that everything seems tight and comes right back. Something else to check?

 

[Bigunit]

...bad alignment...wheel out of balance or defective tire

 

[1sBtrThnN0ne]

I had thought maybe a tire issue, but the problem was the same after rotating the tires. No difference in pulling/shaking.

I'm thinking I'll take it in for an alignment and see if they have anything to say.

 

[1sBtrThnN0ne]

Took the truck in for an alignment. Still pulls and shakes.

Before the alignment, when the steering wheel was centered the truck would pull to the right. This ment you had to turn the wheel slightly left to stay straight when driving.

After the alignment when the steering wheel is held straight, the truck goes straight, but now when it pulls it causes the steering wheel to turn right.

Almost seems like the alignment just shifted the steering wheel position but did nothing for fixing anything.:gaah:

 

[SedonaBound]

Is there a front end specialty shop near you? It may pay to have a real front end guy inspect it thoroughly. Trial-and-error isn't getting you anything but costs with no fix.

 

[06 H3]

Start cheap. Go get the tires balanced, then alignment but it also sounds like you have some worn components. Check the bushings, ball joints, hubs etc.