Should i just go ahead and take it to a dealership to fix the steering problem? it's got SERIOUS bump steer. It's unsafe to drive. on the highways.
or should i take it to Midas for them to fix it. ?

I'm assuming i'm going to be paying for struts/shocks/springs. and maybe something else.
hopefully it's not the steering box.

*heres' the background story if you need it to help me make a decesion*

replaced lowre ball joints, inner outter tie rods, tie rod sleeve, wheel bearings, center link , idler arm. Now my car handled pretty good, but after 2 weeks or so... it was scary to drive again. I got an alignment, and then it was bad in about 2 weeks again.
Could the shocks/struts/springs cause the bump steer to be this horrible? could it be the steering shaft? or could it be the steering box?
i imagine it can be all this. that's why i need to get it pin pointed by a shop.
What would you do? *btw, i have no garage, very limited tools and am a novice.
appreciate it

 

sounds like somthing is working its way loose...

you need to figure out whats happening.....

 

"Bump steer" is rarely a problem on these cars. It is something that is determined in engineering by how the parts are located in relation to one another. The tie rods are almost exactly the same length as the control arm and their inner end is directly in line with the CA bolt, so the tie rod travels in almost exactly the same arc as the CA. Therefore the direction that the steering steers the wheel in, changes very little, if at all, during reasonable excursions of suspension travel.

What is the car really doing? Lose the buzzwords and describe it in plain English.

 

Basically the front steering is acting very unsafe. as if i'm trying to stay in my lane it is a feat. every little bump will adjust my car going to the left more or towards the right. I just adjusted the air pressure on the tires, but it may be due to alot of other things. my shocks/springs/struts need to be replaced i bet.
*in other words, if i was to drive 70mph and the road curved a bit, it is VERY hard or very stressful to keep it in the lane w/out adjusting it from left to right constant.
I hope that is detailed enough....

 

It sounds like something in your front end is loose. I'd suspect the center link. If you can jack up your car and take a look. There should be no play at all. If you can wiggle any parts, check where the play is coming from. If it is installed properly, you need to replace it. I highly doubt it is your steering gear.

 

Idler/pitman arm....

 

Sounds like the steering box is pretty sloppy. I would try adjusting the screw on top of the steering box. Loosen the jam nut and tighten down the allen set screw, then back it off about a quarter turn and set the jam nut. Hopefully this works for you, otherwise you might want to look at the steering column/rag joint. But I will admit that this is a grasping at straws idea.

 

thats not it.

DONT mess with that screw.

 

MrDude_1, any reason why you say not to mess with that? I did that a few weeks ago and it tightened up the feel of the car.

 

my guess is your car is following ruts in the road
mine did the same thing till i changed the idler arm (thing that bolts on to the passenger side of the frame rail
my guess is that is worn out !

 

my car has all of those simptoms, it also HAS PLAY when jacked up, can't tell where the play is coming from, there is one ball joint that looks pretty f-ed up, lot of grease around it...

 

I went through all this crap myself within the past year. Had all major front end parts replaced and it felt better. However keeping it straight at highway speeds was still kind of a chore. I had play from about 11 to 1 on the steering wheel. Steering box was replaced with a new fast ratio box and my *** was it a difference.

 

I replaced my centerlink, idle, and pitman arm, along with the tie rods and wheel bearings. That alone made my car feel a lot safer/newer! However it still tracks on uneven roads and I figured out why..Worn out ball joints...They have maybe .25" of play when you wiggle the tire

I can't wait to get a tubular frontend setup Goodluck!

 

I agree with MrDude_1, and here's why: My car has 252,800+ miles on it, and I'm on my original steering box. I've never had to mess with that screw, and I don't plan on ever touching it.

Who replaced all those parts 4 weeks ago? Was it you or the alignment shop? If your car was good 2 weeks ago after they did the alignment, and now it's bad, I'd suspect that the shop didn't follow torque spec on something. If you have faith in your alignment shop, go back and complain. If not, go to a dealer or ask around for a reputable shop.

Have you re-checked the wheel bearing's endplay? Wheel bearings that weren't re-adjusted after an initial packing will give a "loose" feel to the front- especially if the person's like me, and packs the hell out of the front bearings (lots of extra grease that squishes out). The procedure's in the GM Service Manual and I think it might even be in the $15 Haynes book.

Oh also guys, he's already replaced all of the linkage:

Xopher, the idler arm and center link are common wear parts on our cars; "wear part" meaning that they wear out no matter how often you grease the joints. If they're the originals, you're probably due for new ones. You can change them yourself but you'll need to get an alignment immediately afterwards.

 

You aren't supposed to touch the screw without adjusting the preload on the worm gear first. That means taking down the steering gear, backing off the pitman load screw completely and adjusting the worm gear preload, then adjusting the pitman preload. Adjusting it incorrectly will wear out your steering gear faster.

I still think the problem is in the linkage. I've not heard of a case where the steering gear has deteriorated to the point where hitting a bump would cause one's direction to change incessantly. That usually occurs from worn/loose linkage parts. In otherwords, your wheels are wobbling as you are traveling down the road. I'd double/triple check everything first, as a steering gear isn't exactly the cheapest thing to replace, about $200+core charge. Checking the linkage yourself is free.

 

I just had this problem with my car. And it did turn out to be my steering box. It was harder to turn to the right than it was to the left. And I did get the bump steer thing all the time.

I replaced the steering gear box and everything seems fine now. It is a time consuming replacement but I got the part for about $70 including shipping did the work with a friends help in a few hours.

 

where did you find the part for 70 bux!?

 

I would say idler arm, thats what my car started doing and I put in an idler arm, it made so much of a difference I decided to replace all the linkages the next week. I also did the gear box b/c it was leaking, although I will probably we swaping it out soon, good ole lifetime waranties, I am getting play in the pitman arm, the box is just not tight anymore.