Steering Radius on 83 C10 SB

[befland]

My steering radius is horrendous on my 83 Short Bed. It takes about 73 1/2 acres to turn this thing around. I find myself constantly backing up and going forward again to make a fairly simple u-turn. Time consuming and when you have cars coming from the other direction, dangerous! Is there a simple (i.e. inexpensive) way to solve this problem?

Bill

[dieselcrawler]

Bill,
I dont' know much about 2wd trucks, all mine are 4x4's, and the steering is diffrent. It has been my experiance in the 2wd trucks I have driven, they seem to cut tighter than my 4x4's... so I was wondering if you have full travel on the steering components. Do you get a full 3.5 turns out of the steering wheel, lock to lock? Are all your steering pivot points well lubed, and not binding? Shot in the dark, just where I'd start if I was workin' on it... Being as your truck is a short bed, and a 2wd, I would think it would turn on a dime. Good luck findin' out why not...

Greg

[gavio]

Somethin' about old Chevies and turning....

My van is even shorter than your pickup and it still turns like the Queen Mary. I was kind of surprised when I got it as I've had full-size vans before (Dodges) that turned WAY tighter than this. I thought maybe it was just the Chevy van but maybe it's all the Chevy trucks of that vintage. My front end is mostly rebuilt within the last couple years, including steering box and suspension components, and freshly aligned, so it doesn't seem to be a result of anything broken - apparently it's just the way it is.

I have noticed that at full steering lock, it plows pretty hard over the outside tire, so maybe it has something to do with GM steering geometry of that vintage - maybe ya just CAN'T turn 'em any tighter.

If there's a solution, I'd love to hear it.

Good luck!