2005 Silverado help please

ma67cpe · May 29, 2014

I bought a 2005 silverado about 3 months ago and I have had nothing but issues. The truck is bone stock. Ive had to do a few things right when I bought such as brakes etc. Now what was minimal at the beginning has become a full blown problem. What the truck is doing Is when I hit bumps the wheel shakes violently. Not really like the death wobble. It was not a constant shake. Only when bumps were involved. The part I hate the most is when Im on the freeway and hit a road transition the wheel will shake, the pedal will shake and the whole truck will basically shake and it will try and make me switch lanes. I took it to a shop and he replaced the inner tie rods. Still did it. I told him to fix it and he told me that is normal for those trucks because they have a stiff ride. I basically got screwed by him. So i went out and bought a new power steering rack with new outer tie rods. Me and a buddy put that in. I also got a deal on some 20s thinking that the stock 17s might have had something to do with it. Well i put the rack in and now the problem is worse. I have a constant shake in the wheel unless the road is completely flat and new pavement. The shaking starts at around 45 mph and stays during the whole ride even if Im going 80. Now the bumps are so much worse and it feels like the front end is about to fall off.

Question 1. Why would replacing the rack make the problem worse?

Question 2. Could the rack not have fix anything and the bigger 20s have made it worse over the 17s?

Question 3. I have seen the problem with the intermediate shaft so could that cause any of this if it never got handled?

Question 4. Could ball joints do all this without making a popping noise at all?

Thank you anybody for any info you could give.

chupe442 · May 30, 2014

Something is obviously loose.. Is there a steering damper?

8.1HD/ALLISON · May 30, 2014

Need to check all front suspension components. Ball joint included. Wheel bearings, idler, pitman arms. Somthing has to be looses. That is not normal.

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brucelimerick · May 30, 2014

1. Probably didn't.

2. yes yes.

3. probably not.

4. Yes. Ball joints don't "pop" unless the wheels are about to fall off. You should have noticed the vibration 20k ago.

The mechanic is an idiot. NEVER go to him again. It takes a 3' pry bar to notice if the ball joints are gone. I don't care how stiff a truck is, when it hits an expansion joint it should never jump left or right on you.

When replacing parts to fix a problem start with the cheap ones that wear the most. Tie rods and ball joints are the parts that take the most abuse and fail most. Maybe wheel bearings but normally both don't go at the same time. So one side will shimmy more than the other. Sort of the same with ball joints but they wear faster and take more abuse than wheel bearings.

When both sides shimmy it points to your steering gear first because it is all connected and one loose part and it all shakes. You have replaced all the tie rods. Checking the ball joints is next. 20's will make the problem worse because they are bigger and put more torque on the steering system. BTW you said nothing about a wheel alignment. You had an idiot mechanic in there, you and your buddy did work too. I can almost guarantee you need a wheel alignment too but it is not your immediate problem in my opinion at this point. Ball joint check is next.

ma67cpe · May 30, 2014

1. Probably didn't.

2. yes yes.

3. probably not.

4. Yes. Ball joints don't "pop" unless the wheels are about to fall off. You should have noticed the vibration 20k ago.

The mechanic is an idiot. NEVER go to him again. It takes a 3' pry bar to notice if the ball joints are gone. I don't care how stiff a truck is, when it hits an expansion joint it should never jump left or right on you.

When replacing parts to fix a problem start with the cheap ones that wear the most. Tie rods and ball joints are the parts that take the most abuse and fail most. Maybe wheel bearings but normally both don't go at the same time. So one side will shimmy more than the other. Sort of the same with ball joints but they wear faster and take more abuse than wheel bearings.

When both sides shimmy it points to your steering gear first because it is all connected and one loose part and it all shakes. You have replaced all the tie rods. Checking the ball joints is next. 20's will make the problem worse because they are bigger and put more torque on the steering system. BTW you said nothing about a wheel alignment. You had an idiot mechanic in there, you and your buddy did work too. I can almost guarantee you need a wheel alignment too but it is not your immediate problem in my opinion at this point. Ball joint check is next.

Thank you for the detailed reply. When I put the rack in I drove straight to the alignment shop and they didn't say anything about something being loose. When i search this issue I get a lot of bad pitman/idle arms but my truck has a rack so that is out. Ive been reading about this intermediate shaft issue on these trucks. How severe can that shaft affect the truck as far as the front end bouncing out of control at times?

ma67cpe · May 30, 2014

Need to check all front suspension components. Ball joint included. Wheel bearings, idler, pitman arms. Somthing has to be looses. That is not normal.

Sent from my LGL86C using Tapatalk

Ball joints were checked but by the same idiot mechanic that put the inner tie rods in. I do not have a idler arm or a pitman because my truck has a rack in it. Im getting a second opinion on the ball joints in the morning. thanks for your reply.

brucelimerick · May 31, 2014

I have never had any problems with my intermediate steering shaft on my 01.

Check this like out

http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/topic/30288-gm;s-finally-has-fix-for-steering-shaft/

Seems there were some problems and they mention a popping sound. Power steering can make people forget how the treat their steering system. I never crank my wheels when not moving. Puts huge strain on all the parts. You should always be rolling when turning the wheels, even just a little.

Your alignment shop sounds pretty lazy too. Most will check all the parts first before they try to align it. They might skip the new parts but you would think they would have checked all the other components. They might get a ball joint job out of it too! Plus it is useless to align a weak front end and then they have an unsatisfied customer. It is just stupid business.

I would still get the ball joints checked first. If they are good the intermediate shaft is next and your alignment is probably good. It is good to have a great mechanic. I only trust a few but if there is a problem I go into the shop and they will show me what is wrong. If the ball joints are bad he can show you the movement with the pry bar.

The problem with the steering system is one bad part starts to ruin all the rest. And if you have some expensive tires on that hurts big time. Though the intermediate shaft doesn't have the same effect as a tie rod end. They do have a ball joint in them and that can wear. Seeing GM has redesigned this part it obviously was a big problem for them. Their engineers seemed to be out to lunch for at least a decade. From the sound of all the recalls they still haven't really got their act together yet.