Handling issues

[AKty92]

Hello everyone , I'm new here , I'm normally a turbo buick guy and I'm looking at buying a 92 typhoon , Very clean ,never been wrecked , awsome paint(white on white) about 80,000 miles , Nice leather interior , motor runs awsome .....
I'm picking it up for around $11,000 , I'm ready to buy but when I test drove it , It pulls and wanders real bad , the owner paid for an alignment new ball joints and tie rod ends , new tires(factory size)I dont know about idler arms, steering box,steering shaft ,etc.... everything seems tight though , It is perfect besides the handling issues ...
I'll probably still buy it but I'm trying to get a head start on figuring things out early..
Any help would be greatly appreciated .....
Thanks in advance ...

 

[Timbo]

Re: Handling issues

It's hard to say without driving the truck, but a good bit of pulling/wandering is normal. The wide tires grab ruts in the road like nothing else.

 

[AKty92]

Re: Handling issues

You know I kind of figured that ,, My buick pulls real bad but thats because its airbagged and if you dont get that ride height set just right it will handle like crap untill you tweak it a little ...

Thankd imbo ,, check you PM's
Jon

 

[myclone]

Re: Handling issues

To add to what was mentioned by Timbo a worn idler arm can cause sloppy steering and wandering. Its a common wear part on S trucks so if the previous owner didnt have it replaced that could be part of the problem.

Steering boxes do wear out and coupled with the AWD, age, and the wide tires its common to get some slop in the steering box too. Add that to a possible worn idler arm and it can make for some really sloppy steering.

The rag joint in the steering shaft can get sloppy as well with age and there were a couple of ppl on this forum selling replacement steering shafts with U joints instead of the factory rag joint but right off I dunno who those ppl are. If memory serves me correctly though everyone Ive heard from that put one of the updated steering shafts in said it made a huge difference in their trucks.

The steering stuff is fairly cheap and easy to fix though so anyone with some mechanical ability and common sense should be able to take care of any of the issues you mentioned without much hassle.

 

[Zewerr]

Re: Handling issues

When I bought my truck, it did the same thing. Reason? Loose pitman arm, loose idler arm, and play in the steering shaft. All three of those are common to go bad. Those could easily be the problem. Might have a bad box too though, but I wouldn't let it scare you too much.

 

[AKty92]

Re: Handling issues

I had plans to go through everything on this baby , Its definitely worth spending the money .. I've seen a few threads on aftermarket tubular control arms and coil over conversions , I know its probably big bucks but do they improve the handling (tighter more controlled) for thier cost .. I'll probably dump major cash into this ride just like my GN ... BTW thanks for the many replys on this issue , I'll definitley check All those parts for wear ..

Jon