Refurbishing Sketchy Steering

[Colorado2500]

Well my steering has gotten to the point where it needs some attention since its a handful to drive.

It feels simultaneously loose but almost jerky/wander-ey of that makes sense. It also squeaks super bad whenever I drive I the rain. It already has Energy Poly anti-sway bar bushings, which helped, but still needs more attention.

I'm thinking Moog tie rods, tie rod sleeves, and idler arm to start with, maybe rag joint?
Maybe a new steering box and pitman arm if that's necessary.
The ball joints are still the factory ones as far as I can tell, but they don't have any noticeable play, should I just do them anyways?
What about the control arm bushings, worth it or not for now?
Edit: I'd also like to mention that I sometimes get a weird shake/oscillation at around 30-35mph, kind of like the front end is bouncing slightly, repeatedly. I thought new shocks would fix this, but they did not.

 

[Steve's Chevy]

Your not alone with the sketchy steering, I would change everything under the front and I do mean everything. ... After thanksgiving im on vacation and will be doing the same thing AGAIN.... it's just a crappy design. I'm buying all my parts from Rockauto so I will have everything ready to go...

 

[Colorado2500]

Your not alone with the sketchy steering, I would change everything under the front and I do mean everything. ... After thanksgiving im on vacation and will be doing the same thing AGAIN.... it's just a crappy design. I'm buying all my parts from Rockauto so I will have everything ready to go...

Okay thanks, I see lots on the terrible steering on these trucks haha.
I figure everything under there needs replaced since it has 175k miles on it, but it's not cheap to do.
I can do everything I think except for a new steering box and control arm bushings right now, hopefully that's good enough until I can do those too.

 

[77Impala]

In the last month I have changed everything except the bushings on my truck. I also have the XJ steering shaft upgrade on mine. Made a tremendous difference on mine. It had 335K on all original ball joints and other components. Gear box and hoses were changed as well.

In my opinion if all are changed together it should last quite a while.

 

[Colorado2500]

In the last month I have changed everything except the bushings on my truck. I also have the XJ steering shaft upgrade on mine. Made a tremendous difference on mine. It had 335K on all original ball joints and other components. Gear box and hoses were changed as well.

In my opinion if all are changed together it should last quite a while.

Thanks for the reply.
Yeah I'm sure it will, its just the initial buy-in is quite a bit. I think for now I'll do everything except the control arm bushings and steering box and shaft. How was replacing the pitman? I've heard it's a pain, any advice?

 

[Steve's Chevy]

If you have the puller, the pitman is easy... especially if it's all torn down... I have to replace mine every 2 years it seems like... yes I use Moog parts, although the last 2 sets of lower ball joints failed I went with the house brand and they work great. MOOG IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

 

[77Impala]

Tried to pull the pitman arm from mine and could not get it off of the gear box so I ended up replacing the gear box and the hose nuts stripped on the box but came off of the pump easily. Originally I had not planned on changing the gearbox or hoses but in the end I am glad I did.

 

[Colorado2500]

If you have the puller, the pitman is easy... especially if it's all torn down... I have to replace mine every 2 years it seems like... yes I use Moog parts, although the last 2 sets of lower ball joints failed I went with the house brand and they work great. MOOG IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

Yeah I'll rent a pitman puller, I've heard it still can suck.
I'll still probably go for Moog, their price isn't too bad and the last thing I want to cheap out on is steering parts.

 

[Steve's Chevy]

Yeah I'll rent a pitman puller, I've heard it still can suck.
I'll still probably go for Moog, they're price isn't too bad and the last thing I want to cheap out on is steering parts.

Not sure about b/j's but I will still use Moog for everything else aswell. ..

 

[steampunk1375]

The weird shake/oscillation could be a bad tire or a tire thats not balanced properly. I have the same issue with my summer tire/wheel combo but not my winters.