[:@]! K, Hello all! I am running Bridgestone Dueler's from sears on my 96 s-10 blazer 4x4, 4dr., 4.3.... I have changed all the front end parts, I.E. ball joints, tie rods, idler arm, sway bar links, and i have had an alignment done, the problem is, after about a week of having the alignment done, the truck starts to sway back and forth like the wind is blowing the truck.... After the first alignment, hell, i was doing 85 and didnt even know it, now i am nervous to do 65 for fear of being "blown" off the road! Just took it back to Sears for an alignment recheck, and everything is just how it was a month ago, Dead on! Any ides??

Also, is there a way to tighten the steering gear box to eliminate some of the steering wheel play, it has always been there since i have owned it so i dont believe that it pertains to the above issue! Thanks Again!

 

be careful with the dueler AT's... they put them on silverados from the factory and have had a problem with the tread falling off of them.... they dub it as "stonechipping" and give you a discount on a new set of tires.... I have known several people to only get about 15,000 miles out of these tires until this starts happening... however, all of thme do not do it.... my dad just got 65,000miles out of his dueler at's with no problems.... they dont have very strong sidewalls though.... 300-400lbs in the bed of a truck will cause the sidewalls to squat..... we found this out the hard way.... makes them sort of unstable..... oh well, we still hauled 2100 lbs of landscaping blocks in the bed of a Z71....... thought the duelers were gonna exploed.. hahaha

 

just kinda pulling stuff out my butt here...

tread squirm (unless you are very sensitive to movement, I doubt that is what it is)
control arm bushings
wheel bearings
some weird brake sticking issue

 

What kind of tire pressure are you running in the tires?

 

I just checked that today also, and they are all at 34 psi, i would rather run at 40 but they tell me not too.... Someone mentioned maybe a broken belt in the tires but, i just had them rotated also, and it still does exactly the same thing...

 

you could have one or more worn shock absorbers.

 

all four been replaced allready, both rear and front... like i said, i'm completely baffled!!! lol

 

i agree with the brake issue, if perhaps your rotors are warped, or they are sticking it might pull you around a bit. Check the E-brake too.

 

yeah... i didnt think about the rotors... come to think of it, the front rotors warped on dads silverado... when you hit about 55-65 it would sway a bit and then shimmy..... it sucked...... check your rotors.....

 

If it was ok for a week and then suddenly developed this problem, I would suggest having everything that was just done re-checked.
If sears did the work and sears checked it again and said it's ok, I would go somewhere else for a second opinion.
If all the parts are tight and the alignment is good, then you are probably looking at tire tread separation.

I would recommend getting your "swaying" problem fixed before attempting a steering box adjustment. The steering box is adjustable, but it's sensitive and must be done with the steering box at dead center. If it's overadjusted (to tight) it will create more problems and wear out very fast.