Steering wheel constantly shifting center?

Uniball upper and lower control arms. 2 years on the uniball arms with the original FK uni's. I have had this issue for a long time and am quite sick of it. All front bushings are polyurethane, the lower control arm bushings are delrin. Tie rods are tight and wheel bearings are solid. Steering rack bushings are poly as well. Alignment was done to have wheel straight.

I have an issue where I will be driving down the highway or even a road, and the steering wheel will be cocked hard to the right in order to keep the truck straight, I could hit a bump or just something random on the road and then suddenly the steering wheel will be center to keep me driving straight. Later on with the driving, it will cock itself hard left to keep me straight, but there is never one singular steering wheel position that keeps me driving straight for very long. Could my uniballs be shot and causing my steering wheel to constantly shift? It's been pissing me off for a long long time.

 

It may not be your front suspension / steering at all - especially if you've gone over the front as well as it sounds - it could be the rear. Have you checked for loose u-bolts, worn spring eye bushings, broken upper leaf...

 

My steering wheel would do this until we heimed the steering instead of ball joint tie rods.

 

My 2015 does the SAME thing!

 

check steering linkage .. also is the steering rack good, no leaks?

Also .. I would check the rear like @landphil said

 

I actually had the packs out recently to replace the center pins on them. Everything on the packs themselves were cherry. The packs are also not worn out. I have put 20K or so on the front uniballs and when the control arms were new I was having an issue with the axle boots. They kept spewing crap out and it would land all over the LCA uniballs. I would consistently clean them until I would finally correct the boot issue, when I turn the front wheel I also hear little pops like something is binding. LCA cam bolts are tight also.

I just did the rack bushings and when I did that the exterior linkage was fine. Now the interior linkage. That's a different story as I have never really touched it. The rack is also, like the rear, cherry. No leaks and new tie rod ends.

 

Bro with the way you drive it like you stole it you could easily have knocked a tooth or two off the gears in the steering rack. My right front got tapped in an accident last year and that is exactly what happened the wheel would be straight but if I took a few turns the wheel would slip to the right...then take some left turns and it would go back the other way because it kept hopping over the broken teeth.

 

You mean the internal gearing in the rack? So how would you know if you got a broken tooth or whatever? If memory serves me correctly, I was dealing with this issue shortly after axle boots busted. And were constantly spewing grease all over the uni's on the lowers.

 

Yes internal, it is a common problem from impact...and we'll look at your build link photo You would have to open up the rack to diagnose it but at that point I'm guessing the repair ( and time ) would cost more than a new/reman rack. Look at the basic logic here...tie rod ends will not cause that, you could have slop in the steering from bad ends but that you could easily feel by just jacking it up and wiggling the tire with your hands. Inners will not cause that either eye are either there or not there unless some how they were stripped out and slipping in the TRE's which is impossible...the only possible culprits are :

1. Your steering wheel is about to fall off....unlikely.

2. Your steering shaft collar that you can see in the drivers side front wheel well just above the frame is falling off or stripped out...unlikely.

3. The u joint or collar where there steering shaft connects to the steering rack is stripped out....unlikely.

4. Your rack is bad...ding ding we have a winner

If you do get a reman rack hit it with some self etching primer and good rattle can paint before you install it. The body shop installed mine and swapped over my poly bushings but that rack was just raw un coated steel apparently because it turned to solid rust in about 2 weeks...in San Diego...with no rain...no humidity

 

An interesting thought about the rack. So what about the uniballs? Could those cause the steering wheel to be constantly be shifting around if they are sloppy from being worn out?

 

Explain to me how a uniball would possibly affect your steering ?

 

Dude I turn the wheel and I literally feel and hear metallic popping coming from the uni's. That can't be good. I can see them totally binding. No amount of teflon lube will quiet them or keep them from binding either.

 

Well they are just worn out then, guys that run hard replace them every season...but I still can't imagine mechanically how that would make your steering wheel slip crooked ? The only thing that makes sense is internal rack damage like I had. Everything in your steering system from the steering wheel itself, the shaft, the collar, the lower shaft, the connection to the rack have splines if one of those was stripped in theory it could slip and hop a spline BUT the collar that connects the upper and lower steering shafts is both splined and grooved where the bolts go through it...it ain't gonna slip. Same for the connection to the rack ...so it really only leaves internal rack damage if your steering wheel is slipping crooked while the wheels are still straight etc.

 

Why did you ask for opinions if you are just going to argue that you know it's the uniballs?

Listening from the drivers seat that noise could be coming from the neighbors lawnmower for all you know. Your symptoms point to a problem with the rack, have it checked.

 

Okay, I got a genuine question for you. You probably know anyways. Which of the two connecting spindle points are the load bearing ones on this truck? The upper or lowers? I'm going to imagine it is the lowers right?

I gotta go with what is obvious. It's just a question of determining whether or not the uppers or the lowers or all four points are mucked up.

You may be right about the steering rack, but I need to take this thing in strides. My steering column shaft does not have any clunking play in it either, so that's a good thing so far.

 

I'm not really arguing it. I'm perfectly ready to accept the rack could be internally shot. And for all I know it probably is. I've got clunking as well and that clunking upon inspection leads me towards the uni's. You gotta take care of the obvious issue first and then go from there do you not?

 

This thread is what is leading me to believe it is them causing my headache. I could very well be wrong though.

 

Update: replaced both bad uniballs at the bottom AND replaced the steering rack with a rebuilt Maval unit. No slop whatsoever in the tie rods innor or outer, uniballs are known good, and the steering rack is ruled out. This freaking thing is STILL doing it. I feel like burning this damn truck down to the ground!

There is virtually no slop in the front yet the wheel keeps shifting 45* left, then center, then 45* right without a cause and it does it suddenly too. For no apparent reason. Linkage has been checked and is known good as well. I mean what could really be left?

On a positive note, the steering rack tightened up my turning radius by A LOT. the OE rack must had been sloppy or something.

 

Judging by the way you wheel it...have you checked for a cracked frame or cross member. Especially check near your steering rack mounting points.

 

This, and check the rack bolts for tightness, again, since I'm sure you already did. All the stuff @Evenflow listed off is good, and as unlikely as it may be, I'd check it. You could have bumped a tooth off the steering wheel splines or the steering shaft sleeve. Sleeve could also be loose enough on one end to jump if you hit something hard enough, but tight enough to grip. Have you tried having someone turn it while you watch?

Hit me up if you need an extra set of hands or eyes, I'm in Alameda so it's a quick-ish drive.