I have an 83 K5 Blazer 4WD 305CID engine. There is no lift as far as I can tell.

The front end likes to wander around when I am driving. Mostly it is annoying to fight the steering wheel in both directions, but sometimes, I feel like the truck has a mind of its own going left and right. It happens mostly when the car hits a bump in the road which only affects one tire. It also happens when I am steering around a curve in the road. The steering wheel is pointed to 12:30-1 normally. But I would say that I am between 11 and 2:30 trying to keep it driving (although I will check this later to make sure I am not exaggerating).

My mechanic replaced the gearbox which only helped a little. I looked at the ragjoint and there is not play in it. I took it to an alignment shop and they said I need new front leaf springs. Also, the sway bar is missing the bolt on the drivers side. They also said that might not be the cause of the wandering but I need them anyway. I will try to post pics of them later.

The front ones look like they are upside down. I guess they have settled a wee bit!

 

Here are some pics of the front leafs.

Driver Front Leaf (frontal view)
Driver Front Leaf (rear view)
Passenger Front Leaf (frontal view)
Passenger Front Leaf (rear view)

 

Your leaves look like they have definatley seen better days and may be contributing to your issue. I would be looking at the tie rods and pitman/idler arms myself. Any where in those parts can cause a lot of wander as well.

 

these trucks have issues with the u joints at the steering knuckles locking up causing the truck to pull. a easy way to check is jack the front end off the ground, lock the hubs, and cut the wheel all the way one way and try spinning the tire, it should spin with little resistance. if one doesnt spin then theres your problem. seen it on a bunch of older trucks

no idea how you would do this with auto hubs, maybe stick a pry bar at the u joint and try to slightly turn it.

 

Wouldn't auto hubs be disconnected as long as the stick selector is on 2WD? I am new to 4x4 in case you can't tell!

 

Is this the right part for the front leaf springs?

1973-1987 Chevy / GMC Blazer, Jimmy 4wd - Leaf Spring (Front - 2 Leaves) - 22-400 | $128.95

And is this a good company to buy from? Should the shackles be replaced also at the same time?

Also, it appears that with this company, I have to press the bushings in. Is that a real pain in the rear?

 

IDK about K5's but thats the very exact thing my 01 did till I changed the idler arm. You can do a rough check by trying to wiggle both ends of center link and then try checking the tie rods by wiggling the tie rod sleeves near the tie rods, check for any popping or wiggle. Then again the K5 is a different beast..

You might be able to press the bushings in with a C clamp and soap and running a small bolt through so you dont have to put the c clamp on the actual bushing, and I've heard "second" hand of people putting bushings in their freezer to slightly shrink them before install never done it and never seen any of my friends do it.

 

I don't think my truck has an idler arm. Maybe because it is a 4WD?

It has the center link, the tie rod ends, and from the steering box/pitman arm is an arm that runs rearward (parallel to wheel) and connects to the rear of the left front wheel which causes the wheel to turn. This can be seen in the photo #1. I believe it is called a drag link. (I know the center link is also sometimes called the drag link, but my Chilton's manual labels this arm as the drag link and the center link as the center link).

 

The pitman arm is the arm that connects to the center link from the steering box, the idler arm is the arm that connects to the other end of the center link to give the centerlink more support, it attachs just from the frame. I don't know anything about k5's so I couldn't tell you if you have one. If you can wiggle your center link you probably have a problem somewhere in that area.

 

i think authubs will engage if you start spinning the wheel off the ground really quick but not sure, i always get rid of those things.

you can probably still jack the front end up turn the wheels all the way left and right and just try to turn the u joints behind the wheel with a big screw driver, they should have some resistance but if they bind up and lock up that could be your problem.

also make sure your front steering stabilizer shock isnt blown up (leaking) either