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'87 K5 Mystery, Random Front End/Steering Problem

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4x4chvy

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87 Blazer K5. Most of the time it goes down the road straight, no hands.
Handles beautiful. However......
Twice in the last couple of weeks - the front tires went all wonky, the truck dived right-left-right rolling up to a red light and was not responding to the steering wheel.
Felt like a tire was comin' off, scared the crap outta me and the little car next to me. So far it has only happened at very low speeds (under 20 mph)

OCCASIONALLY and RANDOMLY it pulls snug to the right and you almost need to give it a quick jerk to get it straight again.

Passenger is tire slightly cupping (othr side is fine) -
New Skyjacker Nitro shocks and dual stabilizers.
New tie rod ends and Recent alignment
New steering gear box, bolts are tight, no cracked frame.
New Drop Pitman arm.
Recent drag links (from pitman to recurve arm)
New rag joint,
New p/s box/resevoir and belt

Wheels have ZERO play side to side or top to bottom so I'm guessing the wheel berrins and ball joints are ok.
The last time it went all wonky (at 7 mph in Lowe's parking lot)... I stopped and looked, expecting all the lug nuts or the passngr side wheel to have fallen off.
Nope, but that hub felt hotter than the drivers side hub. (?)

I'm out of ideas. Nothing is loose, nothing can be made to wobble or wiggle. There is no sign of any 'shiny' (loose wear spots)
There is no loose hardware, no broken leafs. Caliper bolts didn't break, rotors aren't warped, rims aren't bent, Swampers have lots of tread.....:dunno:

Sometimes I don't mind letting something break to find a mystery problem, but losing the steering and having my Chevy climbing over or laying over on someone isn't cool.

Any other ideas, suggestions, similar weirdness? Thx.
 
The side with the hot hub I would take it apart and inspect the wheel bearings VERY CLOSELY. The last time someone posted with a similar problem they found bad wheel bearings and a burned up spindle.
 
Thanks. Does it sound right for only one side to be bad?
l'll replace all of it, both sides, if anything looks off. Inner, outer, seals and races, even if I have to replace the spindles......
I'm just hoping it's not ball joints. I can handle anything but ball joints.
 
It does sound like ball joints to me but generally you can feel that if you jack up the front of the truck and feel for any play in the joints.

Bad ball joints won't make the hub hot however, that is caused by bad or misadjusted wheel bearings.
 
It's crazy. There is no play anywhere. Not even with a big pry bar. No wiggle, no wobble - nothing.
It's intermittent, random, has only happened twice in the last month - and at very low speeds.
But when ithappens - you'd swear a wheel just fell off or the steering shaft broke.

I'll get it all apart, take pics, let you guys know what I find and we go from there.
Thanks for the help.
 
have you checked the frame for cracks at the box?
 
Sticking or stuck brake caliper on the hot hub side. Or a caliper frozen or sticking piston, not clamping when the other side is, on the cool hub side.

One other thing I've seen make this kind of problem, debris in the brake hose acting as a check valve of sorts. Not allowing proper fluid flow to/from the calipers.
 
I'm liking the bad brake theory, since I can't get any wobble or play from the tires, wheels, steering or suspension and it does happen at low speeds and coming to stops....
Thx 4 that. I'd have pulled everything apart and not even thought to check that the brake is working right. Hardly ever use them.

(huge tires, 5500 lb gas-sucking truck - who uses brakes? :)
 
496truck said:
Sticking or stuck brake caliper on the hot hub side. Or a caliper frozen or sticking piston, not clamping when the other side is, on the cool hub side.

One other thing I've seen make this kind of problem, debris in the brake hose acting as a check valve of sorts. Not allowing proper fluid flow to/from the calipers.
Click to expand...
Just fixed this yesterday on my 88. Put a new caliper, pins, and hose on the passenger side. Exact symptoms the OP explained. Goes down the road perfect now, stops true, and I'm sure the MPG is gonna start improving a little too :D
 
Took my front end nearly apart yesterday.
Ball joints can't be budged with a 6 foot iron bar and a guy strong enough to rip the tires off my truck.
Wheel berrins have zero play, no chips and plenty of grease.
Hubs are working properly (one side not stuck locked in)
Tie rod ends are good.
No excess play in the steering wheel, none in the shaft knuckle or the rag joint.
New steering box has no play and no leaks.
Tie rods/drag links between New pitman arm and re-curve arm are good, no play.
New p/s pump has no play and no leaks.
Brakes are still almost new and working fine. Rotors not scored or warped, pistons operating normally.
Tires all have 28 lbs of air.
No loose bolts, nuts. No loose, worn or broken anything.

RANDOMLY and OCCASIONALLY, it tugs slightly right...
and still RANDOMLY and OCCASIONALLY, (although becoming more often!) when you turn right, it doesn't want to come out of the right hand turn...When it does come out of it, it kinda jerks/over steers to the left.

*sigh*
Most of the time it goes down the road perfectly straight, no hands and stops straight, no hands. Right turns seem to be when it happens worst.
 
Last edited:
Assuming that all you posted is true. NOTE: Not accusing you of lying, there is always a possibility of a mistake.

But if you have eliminated all the above, the only think I can think of is a malfunctioning spool valve in the steering.

The spool valve is what controls the boost when you turn the wheel.
If it were somehow loose, or there was a seal letting fluid bypass it, you would get those type symptoms.

I don't understand why it does not do it all the time, but I have seen malfunctions in other components that only show up under certain circumstances.

Now, if that is the problem, how to find out for sure?
Replacing the steering box again is the sure way, and if there is a warranty, probably the best way.

Otherwise, I'm not certain of a guaranteed way.

You might jack up the front end, and slowly turn the steering from lock to lock with the engine running while you or someone watches the tires move.
If the spool valve is hinky, I would think the tires might move jerky.

Also, with the engine off and the tires on the ground, turn the steering wheel hard both ways to see if you have something loose between the steering box and the wheel that only shows up under load.
 
4x4chvy said:
Took my front end nearly apart yesterday.
Ball joints can't be budged with a 6 foot iron bar and a guy strong enough to rip the tires off my truck.
Wheel berrins have zero play, no chips and plenty of grease.
Hubs are working properly (one side not stuck locked in)
Tie rod ends are good.
No excess play in the steering wheel, none in the shaft knuckle or the rag joint.
New steering box has no play and no leaks.
Tie rods/drag links between New pitman arm and re-curve arm are good, no play.
New p/s pump has no play and no leaks.
Brakes are still almost new and working fine. Rotors not scored or warped, pistons operating normally.
Tires all have 28 lbs of air.
No loose bolts, nuts. No loose, worn or broken anything.

RANDOMLY and OCCASIONALLY, it tugs slightly right...
and still RANDOMLY and OCCASIONALLY, (although becoming more often!) when you turn right, it doesn't want to come out of the right hand turn...When it does come out of it, it kinda jerks/over steers to the left.

*sigh*
Most of the time it goes down the road perfectly straight, no hands and stops straight, no hands. Right turns seem to be when it happens worst.
Click to expand...

The next thing I'd do then is get a fish scale and check the ball joint tension, they could be too tight. Disconnect the tie rod and with the wheel off see how much force it takes to turn each knuckle. There is a spec for it that I can grab out of my shop manual if you need it.
 
No offense taken. Lying is pointless and doesn't get my truck fixed.

I tried what you suggested (truck jacked, engine running, turn wheels) seems fine.
Nothing binding.
Wheels turn great, nothing loose or wobbly and nothing appears to be binding - on or off the ground, engine running or not.
The Steering box is 2 weeks old - yep, it's under warranty. Maybe change it "just 'cause" at this point, but that gear box and the Pitman were the first things I changed when the Blazer started acting weird. Did the p/steering resevoir/pump 5 days ago.

Going to take it over and have the alignment checked (was aligned 3,000 mi ago when the new tie rods went on), then have it put on a lift and looked at by yet another 4WD shop.

If they don't find anything, I'll probably take the front differential apart and look in there. <--- Grabbin at straws, now. :(
 
What are you using for a steering stabilizer??...maybe its not doing its job all the time or aint working at all??..
 
4x4chvy said:
No offense taken. Lying is pointless and doesn't get my truck fixed.

I tried what you suggested (truck jacked, engine running, turn wheels) seems fine.
Nothing binding.
Wheels turn great, nothing loose or wobbly and nothing appears to be binding - on or off the ground, engine running or not.
The Steering box is 2 weeks old - yep, it's under warranty. Maybe change it "just 'cause" at this point, but that gear box and the Pitman were the first things I changed when the Blazer started acting weird. Did the p/steering resevoir/pump 5 days ago.

Going to take it over and have the alignment checked (was aligned 3,000 mi ago when the new tie rods went on), then have it put on a lift and looked at by yet another 4WD shop.

If they don't find anything, I'll probably take the front differential apart and look in there. <--- Grabbin at straws, now. :(
Click to expand...

did you actually check the frame mounting of the box for cracks? they're not always noticable when assembled.. mine was acting VERY similar and thats what it ended up being....
 
Make sure that your spring pins haven't broken or sheared off.

I could turn left all day long, but turning right did nothing.

Just a thought.

Later,
Buddy
 
**MYSTERY SOLVED**

Took it back to the old man who aligned it to have the alignment checked.
Alignment was dead on. The old guy already had my truck on the rack, front jacked. So I figured maybe we could look around again. As I was telling him the problem.
He went and got a wrench - took the tie rod off the right wheel, tried to move the wheel..... looked at me and said,
"Ya front u-joint's junk, it's lockin' up ya wheel."
Sure enough, he moved the u-joint a bit with a big screwdriver and the wheel turned just fine. Moved it again - it locked up the wheel.

So a couple u-joints and might as well do bearings while I'm in there. :)

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP/SUGGESTIONS
 
Damn, those are the ones I hate. I don't mind some obscure problem that would never happen again in a million years.
Its the ones that are so obvious when you find them that bug me.

Of course a binding axle u-joint would keep it from turning. If the u-joint don't bend, the wheel can't move.

I am wondering about any stress that might have been put on the axle.
Don't think its likely to be cracked or anything like that, but I wondering about seals or bearings.

Glad you found it, and even more glad you posted. I'll bet we will see that problem again.
In fact, I wonder if we aren't already. I remember some odd steering threads over the past month or so that might have been caused by that.

And, FWIW, I almost got it. If the u-joint had been in the right position when you had it jacked up, you probably would have found it

Oh well, horseshoes and hand-grenades.....
 
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