My 04 Blazer two door, rear drive LS model has always had a loose front end. I recently upgraded my tires to 18", the largest radius allowed by GM. With the tires I feel every bump and pot hole I come near. Which I expected as they are wider and have more pressure. What I really noticed the pull of the steering wheel as the wheel grip more. The sloppy steering is nothing new. It has always had a clunking sound when I turn sharp in or out of a parking space which is one issue. The steering shaft has a noticeable amount of play. When I change the plugs I notice that. I have some pics of the intermediate coupling. I didn't know about the lower coupling until I opened my GM Service Manual. I will be checking that shortly. Although I do have the GM repair manual I am having a hard time with a simplified checklist of do's and don'ts. I checked ball joints, tie rods, shocks, control arms . and by checked I mean looked for tore boots, looseness, bent or damaged parts and greased all fittings. Did check wheels for toe in and out as well as tie rod play.

So I know that I need to do some more inspection like wheel load test and bearing inspections while I'm into this as well. But I know that steering shaft is very suspect.

Should I adjust the steering box like all the youtube channels advise?

I was wondering about converting the original lower coupling with a solid u-joint as well?

The power steering pump is bad and I will be replacing it. I'm sure that is causing issues as well.

There are things like Trim Height Inspection and other tests I just don't understand and do I need to perform.

The tires on the front are 235 and I think that back are 260 not much different but it is higher a bit I doubt that has anything to do with it but that's why I reach out to the heros of shade tree mechanics

I'm sorry if I forgot to mention vital details. I am going out now to get on with it so I will report what I find.

Thank you, all of you who take time out of your lives to help people like myself.

Zell

 

The bolt and lock nut on the steering gear is not the way to adjust it. Your manual will describe the proper method which I think has to be done on a bench.

If your rag-joint is loose and worn, replacing it should help. You can go with the u-joint, but that is only necessary if you want to strengthen it, e.g., because you go off road.

You should never hear clunks from the front end. If you do, you likely have a bad ball joint or control arm bushing. The last time had a clunk when going over bumps it was because of a bad upper ball joint.

The idler arms on our trucks are notorious for wearing out fast. To check it, follow the directions in the service manual. If you do it incorrectly, you can get a false positive diagnosis of a bad idler arm. If you need to replace it use a Moog one.

Have you checked the front wheel bearings? Don't forget to do that.

Finally, you might have a worn out steering gear. If you plan to keep your Blazer for a while, consider getting a rebuilt one from Red Head or Blue Top. Their rebuilding process is better than the standard rebuilders, but it does cost.

 

Thank you for the solid information about adjusting the steering box.

Today I went out for awhile and I was floored. The steering was tight and when backing out of tight parking spaces there was no clunk. Now I didn't get on the highway but I was very impressed.

The only thing I did was greased every nipple i seen and they all needed grease. Fortunately the rubber was in good on all as well.

The lower coupling looked free from defects. I might install better shocks and go with go with it.

 

That is good news. Best thing to do is keep an eye on it and see get on top of any issues as they pop up.