Tires dragging when turning at full lock

[Chewy1576]

Hey all,

I have a steering problem with my 1997 K3500 CCLB w/ ProComp 6” lift. When turning left or right at full lock, the inside tire seems to over-turn and starts sliding on the outside edge instead of rotating normally, and starts hopping. Also they want to stay turned and it takes quite a bit of effort with the steering wheel to get them to come back to center. When it does start to come out of it, there is usually some kind of pop in the suspension on the passenger side but I haven’t found what it is yet. What could be causing this? Worn ball joints or control arm bushings? Could the lift brackets be coming loose and shifting around?

 

[Jack Schneider]

To me sounds like a ball joint popping in and out...

 

[Chewy1576]

I was leaning that way also. I have ball joints and control arm bushings in my shopping cart on Rock Auto but I wanted some other opinions. I have to do front wheel hubs and the steering box also. Might as well do pitman and idler arms too while it’s all blown apart.

 

[smdk2500]

Could also be a cv axle problem. The joint at the wheel might be binding up at full lock instead of turning like it is supposted to. We had a GMT-800 at work that was doing the same thing and that was what was wrong.

 

[Chewy1576]

Could also be a cv axle problem. The joint at the wheel might be binding up at full lock instead of turning like it is supposed to. We had a GMT-800 at work that was doing the same thing and that was what was wrong.

Didn't even think about that. I guess I can look at doing those while it's blown apart for the ball joints.

 

[smdk2500]

Didn't even think about that. I guess I can look at doing those while it's blown apart for the ball joints.

That would be a good time to do it. The only thing we could see visually on it was it had a torn cv boot. I can't remember how we figured out the joint was bad. If i remember right when the front axle was engaged when you turned the wheel it would clatter like one with a broken joint. But don't quote me on how we figured it out that was a year ago and many other truck/other work related repairs.

 

[Chewy1576]

That would be a good time to do it. The only thing we could see visually on it was it had a torn cv boot. I can't remember how we figured out the joint was bad. If i remember right when the front axle was engaged when you turned the wheel it would clatter like one with a broken joint. But don't quote me on how we figured it out that was a year ago and many other truck/other work related repairs.

I’m thinking I’ll have my wife slowly drive in as tight of a circle as possible in our cul de sac and try to see what’s shifting or binding up. There is noticeable wear on the outer edge of both front tires.

 

[Chewy1576]

So I did some looking at the front end today. The lower ball joints could be gone, the boots are pretty mangled and there is grease everywhere. The upper ball joints and CV axles actually look ok. Then I measured the distance between the top of the tire and the fender. The passenger side was a full inch higher than the driver side! I started tweaking the torsion bars so now they fairly close to the same. Took it for a test drive, and it actually seems to be better. The passenger side doesn’t pop anymore and it doesn’t take nearly as much force to turn when coming out of full lock. Now that it is sitting somewhat level, there is quite a bit of angle difference between the torsion keys so maybe the bars are wearing out?

 

[CrustyJunker]

Just speculation, I don't have a lift kit or a 3500. It's possible your torsion bars might be a little tired...But I also know a full tank of gas makes my truck sit lower on the driver side. So the spring rate might be the same side-to-side, just might have more weight on one side.

Were aftermarket keys installed by chance? Maybe one could be clocked wrong?