Steering difference between 2 1999 Suburbans pretty drastic

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98chevy2500SS

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Looks awesome @Eskimomann209, I should try that. I hate my EVO, would like to kill it for good. When wind hits you, it's hard to keep straight, I wish my steering was stiffer.
 

east302

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You may have something else going on with it (steering gear or linkage). I replaced the pump in my Tahoe with a EVO bypass and it was noticeably heavier steering, almost too much so. I went back to the EVO and it’s much better...like the later generation trucks.


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98chevy2500SS

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Yeah I was thinking that might be the case. Darn, those pumps are expensive though!! What you recommend on a K2500? The EVO or EVO bypass? Not sure which would be cheaper.
 

east302

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You cannot get a pump with the EVO fitting anymore, so you have to swap it from your old one.

The Delco reman pump that I bought was defective and was returned. An O’Reilly pump equipped with the bypass worked ok, but it had a differently shimmed internal valve than the stock EVO pump so I transferred it as well when I removed the bypass fitting and replaced it with the EVO.

A new reman steering gear (Blue Top brand) gave the best return. A reman Delco gear had a dead spot that replicated a bad EVO column sensor so it was returned as well. Red Head has a good reputation for gears as well. The Blue Top has a firm feel to it.

Pumps are a crap-shoot which is all the more irritating. I’d have just rebuilt my old leaking one in hindsight. But that EVO fitting is prone to leaking, so a new o-ring on it would probably be a good thing if you swap.

If your truck acts like it’s hitting a patch of ice while taking moderate curves in the road, I’d look at the sensor on the column first.




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98chevy2500SS

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That must have been frustrating for you with those different steering pumps.

Well it doesn't act like I hit patch of ice taking curves. It's takes curves good. The steering just feels soft at high speeds. Even though I have a recent alignment (and it's straight), I still have to have the steering wheel clocked 35-45 degrees to the left. I don't know if that's something with the pump or not. It just feels loose at high speeds, I don't know if tightening my pump steering gear a tiny, tiny bit would help or not.
 

east302

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I’d suspect something in the tires or steering then, but would think a (good) alignment shop would point out anything that looked amiss.

Jack it up one side at a time and see if you can move the tire by pushing at 3/9 and 12/6 o’clock. There shouldn’t be much, if any, play.


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98chevy2500SS

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Ok, I will have to check that on Monday then and get back to you. Thanks for your help man! I really appreciate it! :D
 

df2x4

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That must have been frustrating for you with those different steering pumps.

Well it doesn't act like I hit patch of ice taking curves. It's takes curves good. The steering just feels soft at high speeds. Even though I have a recent alignment (and it's straight), I still have to have the steering wheel clocked 35-45 degrees to the left. I don't know if that's something with the pump or not. It just feels loose at high speeds, I don't know if tightening my pump steering gear a tiny, tiny bit would help or not.

I'd bet all the money in my pocket that your loose steering issue is still the EVO sensor on the column. I've had a ton of them fail. Sometimes they do the intermittent "patch of ice" failure, and sometimes they just go into full boost permanently. The latter sounds like what you're experiencing.

Not sure about having to hold the wheel crooked to go straight, though...
 
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