My suburban has some play in the steering system. Not so surprising after 119,000 miles. The tie rods need to be replaced, the pitman arm has play in it as does the idler arm.

My biggest concern is the movement in the pitman arm. I didn't get a real close look at it, but with the movement that I saw, I think the power steering box is worn. Is that something that anyone here has had to replace? What are the tolerances for wear on them? If I do have to replace the box, should I also replace the pump and the brake booster since they are all on the same system?

Also, are there any steering parts upgrades for our trucks? Or should I just go to Napa for the rod ends, sleeves and all that?

I would stick with Moog parts but chances are the pitman and idler are worn at this point so changing it all makes sense. GM says less than .25 in of movement up and down on the idler and pitman arms.

Thanks Joey. It's more than 1/4":cool:

I had to replace the Pittman arm and a tie rod earlier this year. But in my ignorance and haste, before I did that, I tried tightening up the steering gear box and replacing the steering damper. Steering damper really helped the smoothness and feel. If yours is worn, it's worth replacing. As for the Steering gear box, tightening it is worth doing, but take it slowly. All you have to do is loosen the nut on top, and tighten with an allen key inside the nut. I would tighten it a 1/2 turn at a time, test drive it and tighten again until you are comfortable. I over tightened mine and now the steering is too twitchy. The problem is you CAN'T LOOSEN the Gear adjustment. Once you tighten it , it won't come back. I now have to wait for my gear box to wear back in, and slowly, it is.

I just completed this job. I ended up replacing the idler arm and mount, pitman arm, steering stabilizer, inner and outer tie rod ends and adjustment sleeves, upper and lower ball joints, shocks, tires, front rotors and pads, rear wheel cylinder and shoes.

Steering was loose before, but after all this, it steers like a dream.

I chose Napa chasis Parts (NCP....), because they were beefier than the factory parts on the vehicle. I figure if at 135K the factory parts sufficed, then these beefier than factory parts will get me at least another 135K.

I did the rotors, shocks, and front brakes in one day, the entire front suspension the other. The third day I used for removing the rear drums and doing the cylinders and shoes.

I would go with the suspension parts and see what that does for you before you mess with the steering box.

I just did my pitman and ideler with a new bracket Wednesday. I have never seen a pitman stuck like this one. I have two good pullers, niether could get the thing loose. I wound up slipping the steering box out and using an angle grinder to slowly split the back of the pitman arm while the puller was attached. I was careful not to heat it up too much and destroy any seals or grooves.

Most of the GM front ends with under 150K on them only need the idler arm and pitman arm, and I do the idler arm bracket as well. These parts can be had at autozone for around $70 and takes about 2 hours to change out. Many people assume the ball joints and tie-rods are bad and replace everything, most of them aren't. Get you a helper, big pair of channel locks, a floor jack and a BIG pry bar and you can check everything in the front end.

Many people assume the ball joints and tie-rods are bad and replace everything, most of them aren't.

Good point. Check all these parts before replacing.

Unfortunately for me, one of my ball joints had the cover where the grease zerk ripped half off (I have no idea how) and that led to greasings every 500 miles to prevent excessive squeaking.