Steering Issue? Among other things...

[fondupot]

Yup, once in a while it seemed to be okay and others worse. Made me think I was crazy. Having driven the loaner for a few days confirmed to me that I am not crazy, at least as far as the truck goes.

 

A bad steering gear could explain the wander and the pull because of slot in the steering mechanism and the crown compensation has no clue what is going on since the steering angle sensor would be getting false readings, I think. I don't really have enough detailed info on the system to say for sure.

 

Well be sure to keep us updated on your fight with the dealer. Because I was convinced this was a tire issue. Because I noticed it at delivery of my truck, I took delivery with the GM 22" wheels and swapped them for the All Terrain 20's shortly after. I had them do an alignment as well at that time too, and it was good for a long time. Then my most recent tire rotation I noticed the drift came back again. They flipped the front tires on my truck but it stayed the same.

 

I was gonna hold out until my next tire rotation to see how the truck drives after that. If it's still doing the same thing, I can assume it's not the tires.

 

Dunno what to think, but I'd like to hear what you find out.

 

The past three vehicles I have owned have been EPAS. 2011 F150, 2012 Kia Optima SX, and now my 2014 Sierra. It was GREAT in the F150. Very light and easy to turn at low speed, but when driving at speed it was solid and didn't drift.

 

I had terrible trouble keeping my Kia driving straight. It had terrible drift and was SO sensitive to any little road imperfection. The Sierra is not nearly as bad as the Kia but still has some subtly similar characteristics. Hell even my dad's 2014 Ram has EPAS and its really good in his truck.

 

But I definitely prefer the feeling of a traditional Hydraulic steering setup.

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Well be sure to keep us updated on your fight with the dealer. Because I was convinced this was a tire issue. Because I noticed it at delivery of my truck, I took delivery with the GM 22" wheels and swapped them for the All Terrain 20's shortly after. I had them do an alignment as well at that time too, and it was good for a long time. Then my most recent tire rotation I noticed the drift came back again. They flipped the front tires on my truck but it stayed the same.

 

Dunno what to think, but I'd like to hear what you find out.

 

The past three vehicles I have owned have been EPAS. 2011 F150, 2012 Kia Optima SX, and now my 2014 Sierra. It was GREAT in the F150. Very light and easy to turn at low speed, but when driving at speed it was solid and didn't drift.

 

I had terrible trouble keeping my Kia driving straight. It had terrible drift and was SO sensitive to any little road imperfection. The Sierra is not nearly as bad as the Kia but still has some subtly similar characteristics. Hell even my dad's 2014 Ram has EPAS and its really good in his truck.

 

But I definitely prefer the feeling of a traditional Hydraulic steering setup.

I will absolutely keep updating the thread as to where I stand on getting this resolved.

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So, I call customer service. They say to contact involved dealer with concerns...

 

This just gets better and better.

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So, I emailed customer service, asked for area rep to call me. Emailed me back today saying I should start doing this over phone... Hmmm... To me, phone equals no documentation. They said I should get a call in 1 to 2 days.

 

Just a side note, the play/wandering is getting a little worse.

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Update:

 

No call back on 1/28/15 by 1:30PM so I called themback. I got to leave another voicemail including my name, case number, work number and my cell phone number.

 

No call back on 1/29/15 by 1:30PM so I called them back. I got to leave another voicemail including my name, case number, work number and my cell phone number.

I received a call last night about 7:45PM and had a long discussion with the representative. There seems to be a discrepancy between what the dealer is telling the GM technical assistance center (TAC) and what TAC is hearing. She read me the dealer report that says yes, they can duplicate what do we do? She read me the report from TAC that said if the dealer could not duplicate the issue, do not attempt any repairs. We were both confused.

The CS representative is reaching out to the dealer to contact the TAC again. I liked my conversation with her. She was pleasant and professional. She asked a lot of questions about my issue and the truck.

 

Fingers crossed.

[Tqjunkie]

Appreciate the update,I hope they can find a fix .

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Service advisor called and wanted to know if I would leave the truck with them for the day when the area rep is in so they could take him for a drive and demonstrate. They would of course give me a loaner. I said that would be fine. Then I tried to get some information on what he told TAC and the confusion between what the Customer Service rep was telling me and what TAC was telling them. He said they couldn't duplicate the noise. I said what noise? He said the pop in the steering when it was cold. I told him I said it broke free like something was in a bind until then. No audible pop, just the mechanism coming free. He says TAC reports the wander is also normal on the 20" tires.

 

From my original post, which is a cut and paste of the paper I gave the dealer, does anyone on here think I heard an audible pop? I have re-read it and don't think I said anything close to that. I think I am going to go back and ask to talk to the actual technician who will be looking at it.

 

To the others on here with 20" tires or bigger than stock 18" tires, do you feel a pull to the left? Does your truck wander all over too?

 

I do like that they called in the area rep on their own, but I would think that they would think to put 18" tires on there themselves to eliminate that as a variable. Sigh...

[pm26]

If the truck pulls to one side, the caster is not set properly. Check the wheel alignment. Caster is set slightly differently on each wheel to compensate for the road crown. It has nothing to do with the steering mechanism itself.

[pm26]

I saw this on the forum as well. Like I said, I found most of my issues answered here already, so I was really just wanting to share my story. I wanted to post my numbers as I hadn't seen mush in the way of my 12-13MPG mark. I was wondering if the truck was pulling so bad, maybe it would hurt the mileage as well?

It could if pulling was caused by a dragging brake caliper on one side, or a bad wheel bearing on one side. If it is only due to a minor wheel alignment issue, it should not affect the fuel economy.

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If the truck pulls to one side, the caster is not set properly. Check the wheel alignment. Caster is set slightly differently on each wheel to compensate for the road crown. It has nothing to do with the steering mechanism itself.

The electric power steering compensates for the crown in the road electronically according to what I find online. Alignment has been done already. Also, according to dealer, the steering angle sensor was aligned which is part of the alignment process on the new trucks. I think that's where the calibration issue comes from. A brake could cause it, but I see no signs on the disc that is abnormal. I looked.

[pm26]

The electric power steering compensates for the crown in the road electronically according to what I find online. Alignment has been done already. Also, according to dealer, the steering angle sensor was aligned which is part of the alignment process on the new trucks. I think that's where the calibration issue comes from. A brake could cause it, but I see no signs on the disc that is abnormal. I looked.

Ok then, they did something wrong in the alignment itself, whatever the new process calls for.

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Dealer called. GM area rep wants to have it Monday to evaluate. Will let you all know what happens.

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So, I'm spreading off the truck from the winter muck. Notice a bunch of my rust proofing coming off with the muck... One more thing to point out to the area rep tomorrow.

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Got truck back today. Area rep says this is normal for the wandering. Ticket says frame rust is normal.

 

Service advisor said the area rep will get back to me within 48 hours with whatever it is he says to do and he is the best area rep they have... The service advisor then tells me the truck had no issues. What?

 

He says the loaner I had is a completely different truck and I am not comparing apples to apples. I told him yes there is something wrong with this truck, I know the loaner had 18" tires and not the 20" tires I am running. (I am about to lose my temper at this point.) I said if you think the tires are causing it... He cuts me off and days if we were to put 18" tires on it. I said "Did you?" They didn't. I told him look, I am not a kill the messenger guy, but I wrote you half a page explaining it. Tire size does not equal a cold weather binding in the steering.

 

At this point I took a deep breath and walked to the counter, signed my ticket and left. It was in everyone's best interest. I was about ready to explode.

 

 

I am damn near done with GM. Unless this area rep comes up with a damn good solution, I'm out of this circus. After all this, having enough faith in GM to buy another vehicle doesn't look too wise on my part.

 

You know, my dealer sent me a little care package after I bought the truck. Had a couple of coffee cups in it with their logo and some cookies... It was a nice touch. Guess what flavor? I shit you not, they were lemon cookies. I wonder if that was some kind of sick joke

[Tqjunkie]

Thanks for the update,I was hoping for your sake and the rest of us with this problem that they might find something,I think in the spring I may take my truck to a place that specializes in suspension and alignment and see what they can do for the steering pull.