91 Blazer steering issues

[blazer88]

I just sold my 91 Blazer to my sister. It has the 350 5.7l, and the 4l60 transmission. It has a four inch procomp lift, blocks in the rear and springs in the front, not sure if it has the drop pitman arm, it has 33x12.5 BFG All Terrains. I did not do the lift, I bought it this way. It was done at a shop, and I asume they knew what they were doing. But I drove it for nearly seven months, and put around 7000 miles on it. Pulled a trailer with it and tested out the four wheel drive a bunch of times. But before I sold it to her I made sure that everything was in great shape and it all is. She is complaining steering issues, these are her words "the steering is very loose, she often over corrects in turns because os sloppy/slow to respond, and bumps in the road are a cause for concern because it tracks into them and is hard to correct without over correcting." This was me second blazer and I think that it is just fine, I say that you don't really drive a blazer, you merely guide it and let it drive itself. She has it checked out at our local 4 Wheel Parts store/shop here in Fresno,Ca. The guys at the shop had different opinions about the steering, some felt it was loose, others felt it was fine. All parts checked out 100%. Nothing needs to be replaced, but she is worried that it is not safe to go the snow, and regardless of my persistence, she will not take my word that it is okay. Sorry for the long post, I hope that we gave enough information of the symptoms. If you need more info I will check this often. Please if you have any ideas hit me up on the forum. Thank you.

 

[xCaliK5x]

Don't take this the wrong way, but if your sister is typical of most girls, she has no business behind the wheel of that thing without some major instruction and seat time to get use to it. I don't even let my wife move mine in from the street, not that I do not trust her, the truck handles way different then her car and that in itself could lead to trouble over correcting or not planning your turn in advance. If she had a car before, its a huge step in adjusting. It sounds normal to me for a 20 year old truck, as normal and accurate as anyone can diagnose over the web boards. I'm happy mine handles more like a 19' ski boat then a 35' bayliner now. I did the XJ steering shaft swap and added a dampener. That helped alot. Hope this helps you.

 

[George_Pimpdaddy]

One thing that happens on these chevys as you add lifts and bigger tires is that the steering box can become loose on the frame or even crack the frame around the bolts so it's worth crawling under and getting a good look and feel of things. Might help to have someone steer the truck side to side while your watching for unacceptable movement in the steering system.

 

[xCaliK5x]

One thing that happens on these chevys as you add lifts and bigger tires is that the steering box can become loose on the frame or even crack the frame around the bolts so it's worth crawling under and getting a good look and feel of things. Might help to have someone steer the truck side to side while your watching for unacceptable movement in the steering system.

Duh! I forgot about that! I added a steering box brace from ORD too ........... my mind has as many holes as my truck has from rust!

 

[Thunder]

Does it have a steering stabilizer? Or if it has the stock stabilizer perhaps it should be replaced with a HD one. What about tire pressure. Sometimes too high of air pressure will make them catch ruts and wander. I run my 33s around 28 psi for the road.
I dont really like the way it feels any higher than 30. Unless i am towing or loaded.

 

[blazer88]

I too think it is the woman driver, to some degree, she does have some time behind the wheel, she drove my original one on and off, but she has been in little hyundai for a long time, while i have been in blazers and a ford truck fr as long as I have been driving. I have checked the steering box/frame fro cracks and that is okay, I have not checked out the box for any movement, I will do that and I will also look into a steering stabilizer, I am not 100 percent sure if it is stock or not. I never had a problem driving it no I never looked into anything more than normal. Thanks guys.