Steering puzzle

[72K10]

My 72 K10's steering will pull to the right, then jerk back to the left when I turn pull hard enough. It will begin to pull right, then I'll start to turn the wheel left, and it will get harder, then it will sort of pop free. Sometimes it will "catch" harder, and I'll have to really lean into the steering to get it to go left. Nearly always there is sort of a "pop free" feel, like something was catching, but then with enough force to the left, pops free.

That ain't the hard part. The puzzle comes in because I've replaced every component of the steering I can think of. Both tie rod ends, drag link front and back, pitman arm, steering gear, power steering pump, hoses.

The feel when it pops over is like it was riding on a ridge to the right, then comes off it when I turn left, but it gets hard to turn left.

I thought it might be my tires, so I switched right front with left front. No help. Then I switched rears with front. Same symptoms.

What could it be?

[67sss]

jack up the front end then try it see if it does it with no weight on it.thats a start

[Longhorn Man]

Have you replaced the ball joints? I've seen this description when all the ball joints were shot.

[crazy longhorn]

U joints on the front axle shafts will cause that....crazyL

[Roberty]

My brother-in-law used to have a Lincoln convertible that acted like you describe and it turned out to be the coupling between the steering column and the steering box. It was mostly made of rubber and was coming apart. Chevys use a rag joint though and I've never seen one go bad so this might not be your problem.

[BUXMAN66]

double check your idler arm... didn't see that as one of the parts updated.this would definitely cause this problem,as well as the ball-joints as longhorn said.

[72K10]

Thanks for the replies.

I should mention that the problem is not constant, just intermittent.

I was kinda leaning towards ball joints. But I have jacked up each side and wiggled the wheels up and down and side to side to check for play, and there wasn't much.

The u-joint idea is new. I'll have to check that. Sounds a lot like what it could be.

Rag joint is good. I checked that when I replaced the steering box. It doesn't have an idler arm, as it's a K10. Just pitman arm to drag link front and rear.

Again, thanks for the tips. Any more ideas that I can check on also?

[Long Knight]

I vote for ball joints. Right after I got my truck I had the exact same symptoms. Turned out to be the ball joints. They were so bad that the shop I took it to couldn't believe the wheel didn't pop out.

Also, I don't know if you will notice when you jack up the truck since there is normally most pressure on the upper ball joint and when you jack up the wheel all the pressure goes to the lower ball joint, so it could be decieving. Just an idea.

[crazy longhorn]

Guys.....the K 10 should be a 4 wd. If you jack it up & wiggle the wheels, you should feel the play if its there(no a arms to put pressure on the balljoints). If the U joints on the axle shafts are bad, the 4x4's have a steering problem. They will pull, & as you fight the wheel.....they will break loose, & toss the truck the opposite direction. I went through that on a couple old jeeps, & the fix was u joints(not on the d shaft, but on the front axles) crazyL

[Long Knight]

Missed that, sorry. I would like to change my vote to u-joints!

[72K10]

Thanks much for the replies. I'm going to check the u-joint first and then the ball joints. I'll post the answer. Been frustrating as hell trying to figure this out.

[Jason71k10]

i've yet to change the u-joints in my truck, but I used to have a jeep YJ, and the front axle u-joint got so bad, that at low speeds it actually clunked as the axle rotated.....when i changed it there were no needles bearings left in the cap whatsoever!!...bone dry!
i'd check the u-joint, too. Good luck!

Jason