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Steering and road wander

A

AC130Ghostrider

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I have an 89 K5 with an 8" lift and 39.5 swampers on 16.5x15 wheels and running dual stabilizers. This is only my second rig with tires this big. It wanders on the road pretty good which I completely expect. Are there things I could do to at least make it a little better? My thoughts were go to maybe a 12" wheel, don't know if that would really help. Steering braces? The stabilizers could be worn out, I just got it on a trade. Maybe with swampers this big that's just the way it will be. I had an 83 GMC truck with 39.5 MT's, but they were more of an AT tire and it did fine. Any recommendations are appreciated, thank you.
 
check all your tie rod ends for play/wear. the stabilizers will help, but really only mask the problems temporarily. Check your alignment toe in . I have a psc steering box, it is progressive, 9:1 in the middle 13:1 towards lock. helps some. Also look into replacing the rag joint with a jeep shaft. to remove slop there.
But there will always be some . Larger tires will grag the road and push alot more than a normal street tire.
 
I will check the TRE's. What is the rag joint? I have mostly been a dodge guy, well really anything with a SFA, but have always loved these blazers. I am fairly knowlegable about 4x4's in general, but I also know from building a few dodge's that doesn't get you very far without really knowing the ins & outs of your rig, which I don't when it comes to the blazer.
 
The rag joint is the Fabulous GM invention (cough) that connects the steering shaft to the power steering box. a dampener of some sort I think. The add alot of play to the steering.

The expensive replacement is something like this with universal joints on both ends. I bought one myself.
http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/catalog/7994_Full_Size_ChevyGMC_Truck-p-1449.html

the inexpensive mod ,most perform here is ,the Jeep shaft:
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286086&highlight=jeep+steering
 
I will read up on that, they both look like good options. I don't mind paying more if I'm getting more. Thanks for the links.
 
The Jeep shaft is all you need. You can get a good from the junkyard for 5-10bux. its a 10 minute mod and well worth it. Between the Jeep Shaft mod and the ORD steering box brace kit, those are 2 of the "mandatory" add ons for a Blazer. :D
 
Is there a certain year or style of jeep shaft to get? I don't think there are shims under the front springs, but I'll check again. Thank you guys for all the input, I'm sure I'll have many more questions the more I get into working on it. When I can I'll post a pic and detailed mods for feedback on do's and don'ts.
 
Do you still have the factory push/pull steering? Or was it changed to cross over steering?

The factory set up just sucks and is even worse when lifted. You need the drag link to be as level as possible for best results but it will still suck.

The steering box could need some adjusting or all out replacement. I was able to make some adjustments on mine and can drive down the highway with no hands on the wheel. Awesome. But I still have push/pull so when I hit a bump......

Cracks in the frame where the steering box mounts are common. Have someone move the wheel L/R while you watch for movement between the box and frame.

Start with that stuff and let us know what you find.
 
OK I'll check it out and let you know. I do have shims under the front and rear springs. They are prolly 1/4" to 3/8" on the thick end.
 
All the steering looks stock. If you are talking about the drag link off the pitman arm, mine is not level. The TRE's are not too bad, but I'm sure they are not helping either. The frame has no cracks. It sounds like if I do the jeep shaft and frame brace and get a drop pitman arm (?) it should make a difference. Again I know it will never be like stock, but even a small improvement would be good.
 
Do some google searching on how to adjust the saginaw steering box. That's what made the biggest improvement for me, after the XJ shaft.
 
ok, and are you talking about a wrangler or cherokee style jeep or are they the same? Sorry for all the stupid questions, I just want to make sure I know what to get.
 
Unless your rag-joint really is bad, I'd wait with the XJ-shaft swap and focus on other stuff like:

1. Check for play in steering shaft, box, draglink ends and tie rod ends.
Lift the driver-side front wheel and have a buddy move the steering wheel bak and forth, just so the passenger-side wheel starts to move.
While you're under it checking for play.

2. Caster-angle
Since you have angle shims under the springs, it could be too small.
On a dana 60 it's easy to measure with an angle finder on top of your steering arm.
If it´s the stock 10-bolt axle, I'm not sure how to properly measure it, but someone here probably does.

3. Wheel offset.
With 15" wide wheels you probably have a lot of negative offset.
That gives a lot of scrub radius, which makes it really sensitive to ruts in the road.

And regarding the draglink, with 8" of lift it shouldn't be level to the ground.
To prevent bump-steer, it should follow the arc of the springs somewhat.
 
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