If so many steering parts wear out on GM trucks there has to be something wrong. It seems the drag/center link sits high compared to the knuckles. In other words it's my opinion that the drag/center link should be lower which would transfer forces in a straight line instead of an angle. The force expressed on either wheel while steering puts lift on the drag/center link which transfers to the idler and pitman arms. This is what constantly blows out the idlers and creates the slop in the steering box as well.
It just seems the tie rods are at a fairly steep angle. I promise I'm not smoking anything but it just seems like it would be worthwhile to find a drag/center link that drops lower at the ends.
I just want to get this out there in case anyone cares to look into it. I'm sure there is a thread about it already.

 

Yup Iv put my share of hours on these trucks and made more than a few laps of autoX in a Gen1 V8. And done more than my share on gen2. The prob is not tiie rod angle per se, but its angle relitive to the LCA.. First get the LCA level and set the camber to-.5* if you turn the wheel a lot and -.3* if you dont. Now look at your tie rod angle; it needs to be lower at the center link by between .5 and .625. You cant do this by lowering the whole link because it will foul that ski on the cross member. You could raise the outer end of the tie rod with longer ball studs or bending the steering knuckle (not recomended). Im in the process of manufacturing a few sets of billet center links with lower holes for the tierods as soon as I settle on tie rod length. So basically your on the right track, Bird, keep the thought process going Its good for your brain

 

You know,now that I am on my second (and last one of these) over the course of 8 years,I have always been suspect of this design! Even the Moog parts don't seen to go more than 80-90k even with constant lube. I also feel this design is part of this units terrible instability in windy conditions! I am moving on to a more antiquated vehicle that is inherently more issue free than the 2nd gen S series,I already have my Lincoln & Ford wagon so I am looking into older Chev/Buick/Pont/Olds sedans. I will also keep my 91 K2500 Sub running and my 66 C1404! But I am impressed by your Moxie to solve this issue!

 

LeWhite, it would seem that lowering the vehicle like you said would help correct the problem. I understand what you are saying but unfortunately I'm dealing with a 4WD general purpose vehicle with 31" tires. I just don't understand how we as vehicle owners can install the best replacement idler arm, keep it clean and lubricated but it will not last as long as the cheapest neglected arm on just about any other vehicle.

Perhaps it takes something similar to what is used on the Dodge Ram to correct their steering box issue. They add a bracket with a pillow bearing to support the end of the steering box shaft below the pitman arm. What if a similar brace/bracket was made and use a second pitman arm as the idler arm? This way it can be fully supported above and below the arm on either side of the center link.
A picture would probably say a thousand words for what I'm trying to describe. While I have the steering box out this spring I'll see if I can draw something up. Just has to fit and work as a bolt-on package.

I'll keep this thread bookmarked so I don't forget and we'll see what turns up.

 

i dont know what your talking about, i have no idler arm, and my drag link is straight across. you mean all s10s are not as simplistic like this?

 

A SAS is probably the only way around the problem but why not make a bolt on setup that can correct the problem? There are enough S10s and vehicles with an S10 frame that it could help a lot of people.

 

SAS has no camber; no camber gain curve; poor bump steer; a roll center that is way too high, but very good for sloshing around in the mud as pictured or on a bus. The best fix that I can vision is rack&pinion, but the tie rods need to be about 12in apart and would have to go right thru the frame rail!

 

Well I found a pair of 1.5" drop tie rod ends. This would decrease the angle at which the tie rods would intersect the center link. It's $50 for the pair but I don't need any at the moment. The only issue I did not consider is bump steer. I'm guessing that as long as the old and new rods are the same length it would be fine?

 

The front suspension on the 2wds is basically a '50s design, and nothing special even then. Smooth for sure, but trashes tires and handles...well like an old Cadillac. The 4wd seems to be a 'just make it fit' design that works, but had no real design thought put into it. Putting in the SAS I was able to eliminate my tire scrub by correcting the Ackerman angle, set, and hold my caster angle for the size of tires I'm running, and camber gain is not nessesary on a beam axle. That said, a beam axle makes it much harder to keep tires planted because a single bump upsets both tires on the beam, and they're heavy and require more clearance. I have also had zero maintenance issues with the SAS either mind you. No ball joints, TREs or wheel bearings.

 

Smiles and memories about straight front axles! Just out of high school a guy in the group of non jocks got a 40 Ford coupe with a straight axle. So the only logical place to go was the drag strip. At that time none of us knew a thing about akerman bump steer camber gain, nothing! But we did know how to put a 392 Chrysler hemi between the frame rails with n acetylene tourch. The car went well. The driver knew he had to yank the wheel hard to the right to launch in order to keep the paint off the guard rail and hard to the left at the finish to keep the car right side up. As crew I did due diligence to minimise that problem. Research showed the rear end to be crooked, which was rectifyed on the spot with a borrowed comealong and a bfh. At the end of one particularly successful event he was driving the car back to the start tower to pick up the trophy and winnings. I guess enthusiasm of winning caused him to punch that chrysler on the return road before picking up his time slip. He prolly yanked the wheel as he was trained, except that return road had no traction thus no suspension raise. Well he crashed into the ticket booth totaling it (the track owners daughter running for her life) and pretty much incapacitating the ambulance slash fire truck in the process. But he won the race fair and square so they had to pay him. He got his trophy and went for winners pictures. You will never guess who was the trophy girl.
Thaddius and I talk about that night 40 years later. I really wanted to know about her front end geometry. The main thing he remembers was she had some really chapped lips.