Anybody have any experience with steering stabilizers for the Chevy Express? By this I mean some sort of shock absorber doo dad to prevent excess play at the steering wheel? I have seen and heard of a similar product for class a's and such.
49 chevy pickup sbc install steering box clearance. I am installing a sbc into a 1949 chevy 3/4 ton pickup with stock steering and suspension, I knew the steering box was going to be a problem just didnt know how bad until I set the engine down between the frame, I was told there is a power steering kit that would solve the problem but.
Just after we bought the van, I had the entire front end checked and had a lifetime alignment program setup. They say the front end is within spec. I asked them about this and they thought it seemed ok, and they didn't notice anything goofy. Today we took a drive on the highway with speeds baring tween 55 - 80 at brief moments, and there seemed to be a lottt of slop in the wheel.
If you are talking about the shock absorber looking device, these are to prevent potholes and whatnot from transmitting wheel torque to the steering components. Any Slop in the steering wheel is not going to be improved by such a device.
The slop can be in the steering gear, the steering column, the steering coupler, the Pitman arm, ball joints, drag link, idler arms, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, tires. Checking for suspension slop is beyond many mechanics abilities, as the weight of the vehicle and the springs can take out any visible slop, so having it checked out does not really mean much. Back before I learned how to do most all my own work, i complained of steering slop, and the mechanics I took it to simply did not want to find anything wrong, or take my money. Granted they are more of a performance oriented shop. When I rebuilt my front suspension myself a year or 2 later, I found out why, the upper ball joints are threaded in and require a special socket, and trememdous torque to unthread, and the lower ball joints are a press fit also requiring some tools and skills. The Shop simply did not want to work on it as they did not have the special socket needed, nor the capability to do an alignment, and the one tech was simply an arrogant ass. I found one upper ball joint was dangerously loose, and was likely dangerous when the shop inspected it and claimed nothing needed replacement.
I do not know how chevy joins the steering wheel to the components, whether it uses a steering gear/box, or rack and pinion. My dodge uses a gear, and had this horribly designed steering coupler from steering column shaft to gear. I replaced the extremely worn unit with a Universal joint eliminating slop between the two, and now all the slop resides in the gear itself, which I also replaced at the same time when I replaced coupler with a U joint, as my previous one was leaking badly. The new one does not leak, but is sloppy.
They can be adjusted, but adjusted only so far before they start binding. Supposedly I can get a much more expensive steering gear from Redhead steering gears that has been rebuilt with much more precision, instead of simply new seals in a worn unit, but they want 450$ + 90$ shipping from Washington state whereas the sloppy rebuilt one I got from Autozone unit was less than 130$. Steering gear slop is pretty easy to identify simply by looking as someone else wiggles the steering wheel, adjusting it tighter is also easy, but can be overtightened easily too, which can/will cause a dangerous failure.
(, 07:19 PM)SternWake Wrote: I do not know how chevy joins the steering wheel to the components, whether it uses a steering gear/box, or rack and pinion. My dodge uses a gear, and had this horribly designed steering coupler from steering column shaft to gear.
I replaced the extremely worn unit with a Universal joint eliminating slop between the two, and now all the slop resides in the gear itself, which I also replaced at the same time when I replaced coupler with a U joint, as my previous one was leaking badly. The new one does not leak, but is sloppy. They can be adjusted, but adjusted only so far before they start binding. Supposedly I can get a much more expensive steering gear from Redhead steering gears that has been rebuilt with much more precision, instead of simply new seals in a worn unit, but they want 450$ + 90$ shipping from Washington state whereas the sloppy rebuilt one I got from Autozone unit was less than 130$.
Steering gear slop is pretty easy to identify simply by looking as someone else wiggles the steering wheel, adjusting it tighter is also easy, but can be overtightened easily too, which can/will cause a dangerous failure. The express/savana vans do use a conventional steering gear.
They also use an unconventional flexible steering shaft in a curved tube to transmit steering input from the steering column to the steering box. You are dead on about the Redhead steering gear, regular rebuilt steering boxes are junk.
The Redhead steering box that I put in my '85 F250 about four years ago is a sweet unit. Huge improvement, after putting in the Redhead box, I took off the steering damper and the truck drove even better. The steering damper was only a lame band-aid for a shot steering gear. First off a steering dampner/shock or what ever you want to call it, ain't going TO FIX SQUAT. If your steering is loose your have a problem. The alignment shop should never have charged you for an alignment if something is lose. They should have told you this or that needs to be fixed before a proper alignment can be done and not have charged you for an alignment.
This pisses me off to no end, alignment shops are notorious for this scam. If your steering box needs rebuilding go to a medium/heavy truck repair shop and ask them where they get their steering boxes rebuilt, then take your box to them. Update: After another highway drive, I decided to start asking some serious questions. I had a friend wiggle the wheel for me while I watched the Pittman arm, and it has a little, slightly at best, for sure wiggle.
The idler arm might have a little also. So I went back to the alignment shop and asked what would it cost to change those out.
He said over 650 bucks, parts and labor. I said I need another opinion. I went to a truck repair place, where they do regular work on semis and such. They put my van up on the rack and checked it alllllll over. This guy thought one of the ball joints may need replacing, but that I should be able to get 50k miles before then.
They felt that no repairs were needed at this time. He suggested that because I'm used to the feel of the accord, I might not even notice the vans steering in a few weeks or months. I guess I drive it for a while and see.