99 Silverado Steers Harder To The Right Than It Does To The Left

1999silverado1500z71 · April 25, 2010

Last week I had my 1999 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 aligned for the first time in its life. It has 111,500 miles on it. The shop aligned the truck, balanced tires, and rotated them. After I picked the truck up and drove it I noticed that when I turned the truck to the left the steering was effortless, however when I turn the truck to the right I have to use more effort. It starts to steer harder after the wheels have passed the position where the wheels are pointing straight. It never did this before. After about a week of driving to see if it would go away, it did not. I took it back to shop and told them what was happening. They checked the alignment and everything else and said it was all okay. But it still steers harder to the right than it does turning to the left. I took the truck in to get aligned because the steering wheel would kinda shake or shimmy back and forth when you drove down the road and once you let go of the steering wheel it would instantly dart off to the right. It drives down the road straight now and the steering wheel doesn't shake anymore but I still have to put more effort into it when I steer to the right than when I steer to the left. Steering to the left is effortless, while steering to the right is the opposite.I was wondering if anyone on here could help me or if anyone else has had some similar experience.

Nytemare · April 25, 2010

Last week I had my 1999 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 aligned for the first time in its life. It has 111,500 miles on it. The shop aligned the truck, balanced tires, and rotated them. After I picked the truck up and drove it I noticed that when I turned the truck to the left the steering was effortless, however when I turn the truck to the right I have to use more effort. It starts to steer harder after the wheels have passed the position where the wheels are pointing straight. It never did this before. After about a week of driving to see if it would go away, it did not. I took it back to shop and told them what was happening. They checked the alignment and everything else and said it was all okay. But it still steers harder to the right than it does turning to the left. I took the truck in to get aligned because the steering wheel would kinda shake or shimmy back and forth when you drove down the road and once you let go of the steering wheel it would instantly dart off to the right. It drives down the road straight now and the steering wheel doesn't shake anymore but I still have to put more effort into it when I steer to the right than when I steer to the left. Steering to the left is effortless, while steering to the right is the opposite.I was wondering if anyone on here could help me or if anyone else has had some similar experience.

Sounds like the spool valve in your steering box is getting gummed up. I would try flushing your P/S fluid and running ATF in there to clean everything out.

Your steering box could be on its way out too.

Also check the air pressure in your tires...it may be low on one side causing increased effort.

michaeld70 · May 9, 2010

It could be your tires. My brother in law builds tires for Goodyear and I remember him telling me about a test they did years ago where they drove with a bunch of different tires. They all looked the same but didnt steer the same, some were harder to steer, almost to the point of being scary lol. I forget what the reasons were, but you may want to try putting the tires back to where they were before the alignment.

1999silverado1500z71 · June 28, 2011

I know this reply is really late but I thought I could reply to help others with the same problem. Turns out that the steering gear box was going bad in my truck. I had it replaced and it steers like new. The cost was $429.50 installed at the dealer in May 2010.