Loose Steering And Leading To The Left

Graya25 · December 28, 2009

I've had this problem for quite some time now and have been trying to figure out a solution to it. The steering in my 1997 Sierra is loose and definitely has some play to it. Especially on the highway, the truck leads to the left, so if I want to go straight, I have to turn to the right slightly. I looked up the problem in my factory service manual and everything points to replacing the "steering gear valve" which looks like a costly and time consuming repair. A couple of months ago, I bled and replaced the power steering fluid, which turned out not to be the problem.

Has anyone had a problem like this? What would you suggest to do with it?

georgecdisc · December 28, 2009

I've had this problem for quite some time now and have been trying to figure out a solution to it. The steering in my 1997 Sierra is loose and definitely has some play to it. Especially on the highway, the truck leads to the left, so if I want to go straight, I have to turn to the right slightly. I looked up the problem in my factory service manual and everything points to replacing the "steering gear valve" which looks like a costly and time consuming repair. A couple of months ago, I bled and replaced the power steering fluid, which turned out not to be the problem.

Has anyone had a problem like this? What would you suggest to do with it?

All your steering linkage snug? Pitman arm, idler arm, etc? Does it pull to the left or is the steering wheel angle just off? Tires wearing evenly?

Graya25 · December 28, 2009

I've had this problem for quite some time now and have been trying to figure out a solution to it. The steering in my 1997 Sierra is loose and definitely has some play to it. Especially on the highway, the truck leads to the left, so if I want to go straight, I have to turn to the right slightly. I looked up the problem in my factory service manual and everything points to replacing the "steering gear valve" which looks like a costly and time consuming repair. A couple of months ago, I bled and replaced the power steering fluid, which turned out not to be the problem.

Has anyone had a problem like this? What would you suggest to do with it?

All your steering linkage snug? Pitman arm, idler arm, etc? Does it pull to the left or is the steering wheel angle just off? Tires wearing evenly?

I haven't checked the Pitman arm or idler arm, I'm not too sure on what to look for there, although that sounds like it could be the case. Looking back through the service records of this truck, back in 2004 the shop that inspected it said the Pitman arm was very loose, however on subsequent records it wasn't mentioned again...

I would say it's more so wandering. If I have the steering wheel perfectly straight on the highway, the truck starts wandering off to the left. So it's probably a pull problem.

The tires are wearing evenly. I changed the front tires about two months ago and the wear on the old tires were pretty even.

georgecdisc · December 28, 2009

A pull is where you have to apply constant torque on the steering wheel to keep it tracking straight. Steering wheel angle is when the vehicle will track straight without touching the steering wheel, but it looks crooked.

If you have the tools available I would lift the front end up, grab the tires at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions and push/pull back and forth. Try to watch any of the steering linkage for excessive play. It might just be that something needs to be re-torqued. I had an idler arm on my '98 that needed this. I found out when I went to get an alignment and the shop told me I didn't need one, all they did was tighten it back down because it was loose.