Alignment Weirdness

[GrimsterGMC]

It's sounding like the steering shaft is slipping in the splines rather than anything further down. Can you turn the wheel as hard as you can while the truck is parked with the engine off and feel it slipping? It's sounds almost like the steering wheel will turn but not the wheels.

 

[Hipster]

Ok , parts like ball joints, tie rod ends, stuff that has a ball socket etc, can get stuck in a worn position. You'll never find it until you climb under there and rap on it. It take's some time to diagnose. The alignment guys should have provided you with before and after alignment numbers, after five times they should have some kind of inkling there's an issue unless you're doing the shop hop. Something is loose if the wheel doesn't return to center, whether it's a torn bushing, rag joint, or other loose component. Rag joints when bad imho, usually create freeplay, never seen one get stuck a quarter turn off. Not to say it can't happen either, but you need to get this checked out. Some stuff is captured but other stuff it not. If something comes loose and you plow into a guardrail or family of 4 in a Civic you'll wish you spent whatever it took to get this diagnosed/fixed.

Last time I had mine aligned it was by a truck shop that did alot of medium duty trucks. Fleet work, tow trucks, county trucks, police, and all the alignments for the bodyshop I worked in. There's alot of alignment guys out there that understand little more about steering and suspension than how to run the machine they're working on. Find someone somewhere that has experience. if you don't let them know there's a problem nobody is looking for one.

 

[JDGMC]

As you can see the contributors to this thread are very concerned about safety. Not knowing if this is a daily driver is a little unsettling. Ruling out what was mentioned in the previous post regarding the steering shaft splines is a must to be safe on the road. Also, check the upper and lower pinch bolts just in case the shaft is not fully seated or loose causing the splines to wear (i.e. move and reseat after you encounter bumps). It’s not hard to do in your driveway and doesn’t take much time assuming you can physically do so. I won’t go into the how in case you or someone else already did that. Otherwise, don’t go to a garage for an alignment. Find
a reputable garage that does collision work and gives them all the details. They will rattle the truck until something makes noise or falls off - making sure the truck is safe.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Not exactly bump steer. The truck isn’t dancing all over the road. It still drives straight, the wheel just is off center. So for example last time I had it aligned I had been driving it a little bit and I started off with the wheel dead center, and by the time I arrived about an hour away the wheel was off 45 degrees about to the left. Truck still drives dead straight with the wheel to the side, even if you let of the wheel entirely, but the wheel is off center. Also to add, most of the time, once the wheel goes off center it will stay there. Like it may end up 45 degrees to the left and it won’t necessarily get worse than that until I have it realigned and try again, at which point it may end up 20 degrees to the right. It’s been different pretty much each time where it ends up, but after it settles on it spot usually within a day, it stays there.

I do stupid stuff, and I wouldn't drive this truck until the root cause is found and fixed. Certainly check your steering splines and make sure they're not slipping. Check that rag joint, and if it's not beautiful, get a kit to eliminate it. If that's all good, how old/bad are the suspension bushings and ball joints? If any of the bushings or ball joints are bad, consider a complete teardown and overhaul. It's actually not too bad, just a lot of wrenching and the end result is well worth it.

I'd also give the rear suspension a thorough check, especially u-bolts and spring mounts.