How to make Truck drive straight???

[Piney]

My truck drove straight as an arrow for 6500 miles and then began to pull slightly to the right. Took it to dealer to have alignment checked, got it back and steering wheel was off center and it still pulled to the right. Rotated front tires (285 BFG KO ATs), adjusted the tire pressure, etc to no avail. Took it back to the dealer...they said they realigned it and centered the wheel. Still pulls and wheel stills seems slightly off. It is hard to accurately describe how the steering feels. The point is that it is different than it was. I used to drive it several hundred miles and the only steering inputs I'd make was to turn left or right. Now, I have to make constant inputs on the same roads to keep it straight. I hate to nit-pick, but I also hate to drive a $42k truck that won't drive straight, but used to. Does anybody have any suggestions??

[ThePend]

Take it to an alignment shop. One with a rack that will hold a crew cab size pick up. I had a problem with my alignment when I took it to the dealer. Found out his rack was too short for my truck. Turned out that the rear wheels were just barely on the rack itself which didnt provide a level surface to align it. Wound up going to Goodyear and they were able to get it right the first time.

Good luck.

[Paintdude]

My guess would be it has a bad steering box..Tell them it is not safe to drive pulling to the right..Make a saftey issue out of it..Then they might go the extra mile to get it fixed for ya..otherwise they will just keep putting you off..FYI..Do it before it gets 7500 miles on it,you will have better luck with GM before 7500 miles on a steering issue in my experiance..

[Piney]

Paintdude,

They ordered a new steering box and were going to put it on today....however, the tech (or somebody) decided that it didn't need it and that if they did replace the box it would make the steering feel tighter for a while and then it would loosen up again just like it is now..... I'm at a loss.

[Paintdude]

Make them put the new steering box on it...Insist on it..Better for awhile is better than it is now,right..Keep after them..Make them put a steering box on it once every 6 months if need be, till Gm gets these steering problems figured out..You will eventually get a good one..

Telling you it wont help and just be as bad in the future is no excuse..Tell them to put the new box on it...be persistant..

It wont fix itself..

[ 02-10-2003: Message edited by: Paintdude ]</p>

[JimWilson]

Really. Who the h$ll does the tech think he is? If it solves the problem at all at least they're on the right track. If not, then they can eliminate that from contention and look for other causes. Keep at them!