1998 Chevy Tahoe Steering has alot of play and car tends to

ELLIOS

MEMBER
1998 CHEVROLET TAHOE
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
97,000 MILES

The car tends to flote at highway speeds and the steering wheel has alot of play. From what I read I should start looking at the tie rods and the pitman arm. But since i'm new to that area of a car what excatly am I looking to see what is wrong with them. A little info plz on what they should or shouldn't look like. And are there any other steering componets that may cause this.

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 AT 1:43 PM

3 Replies

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

Check for "play" in the ball type joints, shake the tires and watch for up and down movement at the joints...check pitman(steering box) and idler arm(passenger side.)

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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 AT 1:52 PM

ELLIOS

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Ok I replaced the pitman and idler arm. And still have the problem. While I had the car up on jacks the driver side tire wiggled while the steering wheel was locked but it did move when I tried to wiggle it up and down. The passenger side wheel didn't move at all. Any other suggestions would help

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Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 AT 2:25 PM

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

I did say check ball type joints, and if your wheel can be moved in and out, or up and down that is considered "play" either a tie rod or ball joint or both is no good, Most Midas NTB or Sears will inspect for free, decide from there what to do, but if movement of that wheel is evident, you do need parts.

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Thursday, June 25th, 2009 AT 12:48 PM