Hey there...I hit a curb yesterday with my front passenger side tire...i was just pulling up along the side of it and this curb was about 8-10inches tall. so the curb stuck out a little bit and i think my rim hit it cuz when the truck hit i flew into the steering wheel and honked the horn with my chest...now when i am travelling straight down the road my steering wheel is facing like i was turning left about about 20-30 degrees.

what do you think is bent/broken? Do i possibly just need an allingment?

Thanks
John

Yup, somthins bent, arm, knuckle, tie-rod, etc. need to have it checked out, theres somtin tweaked and an alignment won't be the cure!

If you didn't hit it that hard, i would say you just need an allingment

Yup, somthins bent, arm, knuckle, tie-rod, etc. need to have it checked out, theres somtin tweaked and an alignment won't be the cure!

Not necessarily. An alignment cured a 120deg misalignment for me.

Not necessarily. An alignment cured a 120deg misalignment for me.

It can but i would still recommend inspecting it for safty sake! If anything is tweaked enough it will likly be spotted upon alignment by any reputabe shop. Don't want any safty issues, if for nothing else. Just my .02:D

ok thanks for the replies ill take it in to tires plus on thursday as that's my day off.

do any of you have any other recommendations for alingment shops?

maybe the dealership? Suburban Chevrolet in eden Prairie, MN is where I bought the truck but am not sure if they do it.

I have heard tires plus is good and they get 89.99 for a 4 wheel drive truck.

any recommendations?

I go to Sears because they're the only shop in my area that will align 20s. With tax about $70.00

fool32696- thanks for the reply...ill call them tomorrow morning and see what they charger otherwise i guess tiresplus in town has the best work from what i have heard.

ok truck went in on saturday and with in 5 minutes of me leaving i had a phone call saying we wont allign it because your idler arm has a lot of play...well to tell you the truth i dont think the truck ever left there parking lot and went in the shop. But i went underneeth the truck and noticed the the outer tie rod end on the driver side is looking pretty nasty...

would hitting the passenger side have an effect on the driver side tie rods?

One of two things happened when you hit the curb at a slow speed.

1) the drivers tie rod bent itself slightly

2) the passenger tierod got stretched with the force of pulling on it so hard.

If Tires Plus says that they cant align it because of play in the idler arm, they are right. They could get it close, but no cigar. Replace the idler and check the pitman, if bad replace both yourself and then buy a brace set for the pair and you wont run into that problem again. You cound also install the tie rod sleeves and have that done to protect the fragile rod legnths on these trucks.

I cant understand GM's thinking on the tie rods, 7200# truck with tie rods that are no larger than those on a Cavalier? I mean come on guys, did they really think these trucks werent going to get worked out? O'well, atleast we have the best engine/trans combo that I have seen.

Tony

Forget Sears and other shops like theirs. Take it to a shop that specializes in TRUCKS and does frame straightening and alignment. It sounds like you (at the very least) bent the tie-rod on the side you hit. If you have excessive play in the idler or pitman arms or the inner or outer tie-rod ends, replace them first. I worked in a body shop for years and it's not unusual to find a bent spindle assembly or upper or lower control arm from such an impact. Also, Chevy has had a history of internal damage and even external cracking of steering gear boxes from side hits like you are describing. Take it to a shop that KNOWS their SHIT! In the long run it will be cheaper than replacing tires every few hundred miles.

Does anyone know of any deals on the idler/pitman arms? along with both inner and outer tie rods? I just totalled all that up on merchants site and lookin at 524.22 with out shipping.