Steering gear slop

[JohnC]

Is there any factory approved way to quantify slop in the steering gear?

[JohnC]

Hmm, no bites...

Let me put it a different way.

for those of you who service these things for a living, if I brought mine in and said the steering gear had too much slop, how would you refute my claim?

(New pitman arm, idler arm, inner and outer tie rod ends...)

[madmatt]

lift it, pry around on things, find where the slop is coming from and replace that part. If it was the Steering gear box, I'd replace that or if it was the pitman and idler arms,, I'd replace those.

[JohnC]

I know how to find and fix the prolpem. I need to be able to tell the dealer "I did this and the measured slop exceeded the allowable maximum". They replaced all the stuff mentioned above and it's still sloppy.

[DmaxMaverick]

I scoured the manual, and NO definitive "slop" procedures or limits quantified. No diagnostics, either. Only test and repair procedures for the components. The TSB's only cover noise or vibration. I suppose it is relative to a customer's perception of slop, and their specific expectations. If they replaced all the parts, they must have agreed the slop is present. If no improvement, they must also agree the slop is still there??? I wouldn't let them off the hook, just because they replaced a bunch of parts (all too common, these days). Have you had a local independent specialty shop look at it? Many times, they are light years ahead of the dealerships. If they identify/fix the issue, you can stick GM with the bill.

[rapidoxidationman]

How far can you turn the wheel without any perceptible movement of the front wheels? You can measure in inches on the steering wheel from one side of movement to the other. Now compare this measurement to a known good example of identical steering (a buddy's truck?). Any difference in those numbers? There's the slop you were looking for...

At least that's how my old '77 Toyota Celica haynes manual said to measure it...

[DickWells]

JohnC: Is there any chance that this relates to the "Underhood Clunk", "Can be felt in steering wheel", listed on page 123 of the Duramax Vol. II?
My GMC has always had that, and I can't detect any play down under with the truck up on a lift. Didn't know about the survice bulletin until I got my copy of Vol. II the other day. The book says to replace the upper intermediate steering shaft with improved part.
Like my yearly membersip being the best $20 I'll spend all year, this book is worth every penny. Gotta love the DP!
Dick Wells:)

[madmatt]

JohnC,,, check your in box.

To others,, There is a spec and procedure for the play in front end componets. 1mm play is the spec for most all the joints in the front end and it requires a magnetic base dial indicator and a steering lock pin to perform the procedure.

[JohnC]

All the joints have been replaced. There is about 1 1/2" play measured at the steering wheel rim before anything happens. The truck tends slightly left so the wheel is usually at the right limit of the slop. When turning left or when the road crown shifts hard right I have to go about 1 1/2" before any correction starts to take place.

The dealer replaced the box, not at my request, and it's been like this ever since. When they replaced all the joints, they did not replace the box. I need to prove to them it's bad.

[DickWells]

Wow, with that much play, what more do they want you to prove? I can't detect any play in my S-box with jacks under the lower arms, from the driver's seat, watching the left tire. With 94K on the clock, yet! I do get a little clunk/rattle in the wheel at low speed, turning on rough going. Always have. I thought that was bad enough. If those guys have any pride at all, they'll make it right.
DW:)

[JohnC]

Thought I'd let you know how this all played out.

Took it to the dealer and they said it was a bad box. I told them it had been bad from the day they installed it. They said I was off warranty and to pound sand. We argued and finally they agreed to replace it if I paid the $100 deductible. I agreed and they did. The new box (assuming they really put a new box in) was not significantly better than the old one. Since I was off warranty and didn't think I'd gain much from complaining again, I decided to try tightening the adjuster screw. 1/4 turn made it noticeably better. I kept making smaller and smaller adjustments until I felt the play was about gone then I made one more small adjustment, maybe 1/12 turn. I'm now happy with the way it steers. All in all I probably turned it about one full turn. Interestingly, if you read the adjustment procedure, it says to back the screw off 1 turn then tighten it until the over center torque increases by a set amount. Wonder if the person who set it up got the steps in the wrong order? On two different boxes, both of which ended up in my truck, over a 12 month period????:mad: