Suburban pulls to the right?

[urbanmx]

I bought a 91 4x4 Suburban and it pulls to the right, I had it aligned and it's better but still pulls to the right. The steering wheel does not want be at center it always goes a little to the right. Keep in mind this is very minor but after a 14hr drive it becomes a big deal.

The alignment guy said it won't hurt the tires and some thingy is getting more fluid to it than the other side making it pull to the right and that would cost $350 to fix.

Does this fluid thing exist and if so what is it's real name, is it easy to fix, and does the replacement cost sound correct?

 

[PsychoticDeadGuy]

dont bother...a gm dealer wont even mess with it...it is very common in the secont gen chebby trucks...my k5 does it and i bet most of the trucks on this site do it too. a gm dealer cant even diagnose it...you will pay a fortune to just try and figure it out...so just get used to it...it is probably more noticable when you press the brakes, right?

 

[muddybuddy]

me too! me too! ive come to accept it, but i dont do no 14hr drives.

 

[1-bad-burb]

my 85' burb does it, and it is realy noticable when braking, kind of a PITA but you'll learn to deal with it.

 

[4xcrazy]

Mine doesn't,,,,,,,,,,it goes left, right, forward, backwards, left and right at the same time,,,,just learned to "hang on" when goin for the ride i guess

 

[89GMCSuburban]

I did my own alignment with tape measure and bar of steel. Mine doesn't pull. Maybe just the wrong compensation for the road crown...

 

[cbbr]

I thought that they were supposed to pull slightly to the right. Something about not heading into oncomming traffic if the driver fell asleep? Of course mine pulls slightly to the right and the alignment guy told me that it was set up that way from the factory and that i didn't need to do anything (like pay him to fix it) about it.

 

[gumneck]

Cool, one less thing needing attention b/c mine pulls right when braking too.

Does everyone's interior rear light not work too? How about no cigarette lighter working either or courtesy lights when opening the doors? I could go on and on but I love my Blazer.

I have to love b/c I bought it off EBAY.( )

 

[Pookster]

the pulling to the right thing is the same as bump steer issues.

Whenever your front springs compress, your steering wheel will start turning itself to the right. By you holding onto it, it causes the wheels to turn right.

There are a few bandaids and fixes:
1. If you have a lift, it aggrevates the problem. If your suspension is flexy, its also a problem. So, make the suspension stiffer, add a stiffer sway bar.

2. A lot of times, the "diving" effect of the truck is because of the rear brakes not working right. Make sure your rear brakes are 100% operational. Get a porportioning valve if you have to!

3. Crossover steering. This is the only real cure to this problem, since the problem is the drag link pulling and pushing on the pitman arm as the axle moves up and down.

I also believe that trac bars for the front may also help, but havent personally looked at it.

 

[helo]

no fsckin' way.. THREAD BUMP. I've been trying to fix my '89 burb pulling right since I bought it.

So, crossover steering is the freakin' solution? Really???

Can anybody attest to this?

I'm sick of swerving all over the road when I have to slam on my brakes doing 70mph+ (2 lane highway, 55mph limit, cars slow abruptly).

I have a slight pull to the right almost all the time, but I can generally attribute it to bumps in the roads I drive. New tierods, suspension bushings, brakes^4, balljoints. BJ preload is adjusted, steering box is adjusted, etc... I'm mystified except for the bump-steer concept.

 

[dremu]

no fsckin' way.. THREAD BUMP. I've been trying to fix my '89 burb pulling right since I bought it.

So, crossover steering is the freakin' solution? Really???

Can anybody attest to this?

I'm sick of swerving all over the road when I have to slam on my brakes doing 70mph+ (2 lane highway, 55mph limit, cars slow abruptly).

I have a slight pull to the right almost all the time, but I can generally attribute it to bumps in the roads I drive. New tierods, suspension bushings, brakes^4, balljoints. BJ preload is adjusted, steering box is adjusted, etc... I'm mystified except for the bump-steer concept.

Uh, crossover is overkill for a stock truck, IMO.

For the slight pull, try swapping your front tires left-for-right. I did it at the suggestion of my tire guy, and it helped ... I've no clue as to why, as they were of identical age, pressure, etc.

If you brake and the truck pulls, consider replacing the front calipers. If one is sticky, the other one brakes more, which is bad juju. Replace both, as they're cheap, and you should bleed the whole system anyway.

Since you're doing that, you should lube the star adjusters in the back, and then adjust them because while they're allegedly self-adusting ... they aren't. Also gives you the opportunity to check the rotors and drums for wear.

Even stock, properly set up these trucks can stop, straight, on a dime, and give you change. I had to do an emergency stop in M1009 and I left rubber on the road from the 33"s ... but it stopped, straight, and gave me a coupla cents back out of the dime

-- A