Can someone explain this...

[DBear]

Took the 71 4x4 Burb out for a short spin, which was from the exhaust shop to my house, and while driving it down the road, the burb seemed to "walk" or something like it quite a bit. To explain it, when I say walk, I mean it wanted to jerk left or right depending on the condition of the pavement. Can someone tell me what is going on, and if so, what probably will correct it? Thanks in advance

[OhioDan]

Sounds like ya might need a frontend alignment? Sounds like it's trying to climb the rise in the center of the lane you're in? Have you done any work to the front end? Or, something is worn to the point that it's in very bad if not dangerous condition. I'd recommend you take it to an alignment shop to have it checked? Just my $.02 .

[Stocker]

Could be any number of worn steering components..... also, wider tires and wheels with more negative offset will cause tramlining (following pavement irregularities).

[too much stuff]

First thing to check is all of your leaf spring plates and make sure they are tight. I have seen this more than once if they are even a little bit loose things will shift some. Are you running bias-ply tires? Those will also follow any crack in the road.

[dracula4999]

With wider tires a vehicle will walk. It will try to follow grooves, walk a little if you hit a bump just right. If your tires are wide enough that they dont drop in the groves then its not as bad. Best thing to do is get a good steering stabilizer shock set up, make sure all your front end parts are good, and you have a good alignment. You will still have some road walk now and then, but wont be as bad. Of course this is all assuming you have wide tires on it.

[CC69Rat]

You can also lay under the truck and check the toe. (This will get you close, and tell you if an alignment would help )

I usually take a tape measure (and a buddy) to hold the tape on the center line of the front tires and get the measurement in front of the tire (up closer to the front bumper) then behind the front tire ( under the door where it meets the front fender)

This will tell you are the front tires running 'turned in' or 'turned out' It sounds to me like it's toe'd out. In this example, the measurement from center line of the tire in front will be slightly more than the center / center behind the tire.

Pic for example - This will also cause the infamous 'Death Wobble' on 4x4s and is very common after lifting. I used to mess around with Jeeps quite a bit. Steering stabilizer will help a bunch too if you have large tires on it

[MJN]

You should also check the condition of the front axle shaft u-joints. If two or more of the caps are froze up just off center it will make the front end jerk to the left or right since the axle shafts are no longer in line with each other. This happened on my '72 Blazer and it took me forever to figure out what the cause of the sudden wandering was.