Steering wheel not centered

[cjkeeliii]

When I bought my '85 m1008, the steering wheel was not centered so I had the front end re-aligned and the steering wheel centered. However, when I place the truck in reverse and back up while turning, the steering wheel won't immediately return to center. After a few hours or days of driving it will re-center itself. I know this is an oddball problem, but I was hoping someone had some answers.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

you have something wrong with your steering box.

 

[Armada]

What all did they do during the alignment? Adjust gear box lash, replace any parts? Something is too tight if it's not freely returning to center. Adjusting the drag link is what centers the steering wheel.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

paul, the issue he's describing sounds like when he backs up the steering wheel is not following the path of the tires, like he then pulls forward and although the tires point straight the wheel isnt.

 

[Armada]

Hey Chris, did you scoot out early yesterday at the show? I looked for you after I got set up but couldn't find you.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

i had to leave at 12:30, because i couldnt get out of my 10hr shift on saturday.

 

[K5NUTT]

The steering wheel canbe recentered by adjusting the draglink...however this sounds like to me the classic chevy busted center pin in the leaf spring problem to me. I've owned many a K5 in my life and usually this is scene after bringing the truck out of 4x4 and returning to 2wd. But i'd also check the torque on the ubolt nuts....150 ft. lbs.

DW

 

[CCATLETT1984]

i am still leaning to a issue withing the steering box, but simply marking the location of the leaf springs and then backing up until you get the steering wheel out of center and looking at the marks will decide if the springs are the issue. I dont think they are though. since you would experience pulling due to the sping moving while in forward motion as well.

 

[84cucv1ton]

i was told to leave the box alone. its set for the factory. guess that not true?

 

[CCATLETT1984]

well after many years of use, the boxes do loosen up, there are instructions to properly set them back to factory specs, if done wrong you can wreck the box. I have the directions on how to do it, but will have to scan them into the computer as right now they are large jpeg files. and the resizing would make them unreadible. you could try searching google for the directions its not difficult, but you must pay attention to what you are doing.

 

[K5NUTT]

Well....a new center pin from your local spring store is cheaper than the gear box.
And...it doesn't always necessarily cause a pull.

I guess in this situation the best thing to do is to start from scratch.
Jack up the left front from the axle tube unitl the tire is slghtly off
the ground. Have a helper gently rock the steering wheel back and forth
and observe the drag link ends (which wear out fairly often...especially
when in the dirt or rock crawling((from experience..lol)) and the tie rod ends.
Use a big pair of channel locks to squeeze the rod ends to ensure the sping under the ball is still present and accounted for. The side to side movement is what we are worried about...as the ball has worn out the cup under the ball....
While your at it slide a prybar under the wheel and check the balljoints as well....
You may notice the gear box output shaft hopping up and down....however they will do this just very slightly. Now repeat for the other side and you'll have a good look at the steering system. Next up is the over looked. If new front lift springs are installed or just fact replacements....the upper shackle bushings are always neglected. Unless you do the work....and see for yourself what that upper bushing...sleeve and bolt look like you could have some issues you are unaware of. And a great cure for CUCV front spring shackles are the offroad design shackles with greaseable bolts.
The last item in the food chain is the rag joint and the actual steering shaft that bolts up to the lower end of the steering column. To check the condition of the rag joint look at the pins that come thru the rubber portion of the rag joint....if there is any wear on those pins from contacting the metal section of the joint the rag joint is done. The steering shaft is pretty robust....but on my 79 K5 and the Chalet i run a Borgsen shaft for strength and durability. The shafts thru the ages haven't changed much...gm went from a splined input on both ends to the double d style somewhere in 76-77....as well as changing the ratio of the box itself....and i think it was 79 or 80 the boxes became metric and went from a compression style psi fitting to one that used a teflon seal...
Also the lower column bearing right there where the steering shaft slides on have been known to loose a few balls in the course of thier life and are easy to replace.

A gear box can not make your steering wheel become off center...unless perhaps the mounting bolts in the frame are loose and or the frame is cracked around the mounting bolt holes....which is a very common chevy 4x4 issue between 73 and 91.
If the spring center pin is loose and bent...or broken...worn out spring eye bushings....spring eye mounting points....or the u-bolts are loose....the steering wheel will change positions on you.

If you decide to adjust the backlash on the steering box...make sure you follow the procedure in the gm helm mnanual....very important.

If you find or just want to replace the gear box...stay away from autozone and checkers rebuilds....and napa's over priced version of the same thing in a different color. Sometimes mass production in a factory isn't the ticket for quality as i used to drive by the reman plant in phx every day on my way into the shop. Might i suggest a shop in phx whom i have dealt with for many many years who is still small enough to have awesome QC as everything is done in house. Benchworks Steering does awesome work and they are the same price as what you would find locally. I'd just find a core in your local bone yard and send it to pat to have in rebuilt.


Sorry for being so long winded but i have worked on the GM 4x4's for a long time...and i'd hate to see you spend 265 dollars for a reman box and end up having the same issue...


DW

 

[Armada]

Great write-up! This may sound bizzare, but I had a front axle u-joint on my M1008 start 'freezing' up one time. It caused a number of problems that would lead me to think the problem was elswhere. Steering would lock up while in a turn, wheel wouldn't center, etc. One minute it would be fine, the next, something strange would happen. Might be worth checking out the axle joints on your rig.

 

[K5NUTT]

Armada....besides being a 63B in the army i have owned one to many k5's in my lifetime...currently that number is 8...and its enough...hehehe.

In buying used K5's...or any K1-2-3 i find the magically moving steering wheel is a fairly common item.

I have heard of the UJoint equasion as well...which can destroy the bearing in the spindle that has the plastic race that the stub shaft rides on.

And here's another one from experience. Camber is adjustable on the corp 10B axel....there are two methods. The cheap and easy is to use a upper balljoint sleeve that has varying degree's of offset built into and a wedge washer to be placed under the castle nut. This is fine for a daily driver that fits in the mall cruiser relm but for trailside manners and durability it fails horribly! The next method is a camber plate that is installed between the backing plate and the spindle. Can't hurt it via driving habits...and the adjustment made to get the camber back in spec makes driving her a dream. But to every silver lining.....lol.

it does not excelerate brake wear...but it does cause the pads to wear at a slight angle due to the relationship of the caliper mounting points and the slight tilting of the spindle via the shims.

DW