[aimee235]

Was looking to buy this for $300, but how much would it cost to diy fix it?

1986 chevy s10 blazer
2.8L engine
year old clutch and tires
4wd but needs work
Steering loose, not sure whats wrong
runs good

 

[ThaLadyPit]

Loose steering, as in there's a lot of play in the steering wheel? Idk exactly what it would cost to fix it.. if that's what you're referring to.. sorry Aimee.. I'm of no help here.

 

[cEElint]

hmm..could be worn out bushings or a bad steering rack

 

[aimee235]

Thanks.

I don't know exactly. They said they'd recommend towing it out. So I guess it's pretty bad.

 

[aimee235]

Ok. So it seems to be the front passenger tie rod end thingie. lol. It drove home fine Bobby said it only had a problem with one sharp turn and that was out of their driveway. I ordered them and they will be in the store tomorrow. I am replacing all 4 of them for about $55. I figure I can get the more expensive ones later.

 

[OldFortKennels]

Might want to check the tie rods, ball joints, pittman arm and idler arm while you are at it. Just have someone look at it and they can tell you.

 

[Wingman]

Okay there are many things it can be like OFK said. I'll tell you how to diagnose and figure out what the problem could be.
First start by jacking the front of the truck up on the driver side.

Now that you have the tires off the the ground, grab one of the tires at 12 and 6, and see if you rock the tire back and forth. If the tire moves and feel like it's rather loose when you do that, then you probably have a bad ball joint.

Now grab the tire and 3 and 9, and repeat the process trying to rock the tire. If the tire moves a lot in that direction, then you probably have a bad tire rod end.

Another thing to do is crack the tires all the way to one side, and visually inspect all the bushings on the A arm. If you see any metal on metal contact then you need to replace that bushing.

The odds are that it's either the ball joint, or tie rod end causing the issue. There is a chance that it's your steering rack and pinion, but it's probably something simpler than that.

Once you get the vehicle you can more easily diagnose the problem buy pulling off the tire and yanking out the tie rod end and seeing how loose it is...and can look at hte ball joint more closely.

Hope this helped!

 

[aimee235]

I jacked up the car. The tire moves front to back on both front wheels. A lot worse on the passenger side I can see the ends moving in and out of each other. I don't see the bellow boot thing they are talking about on videos though.

 

[Wingman]

It's probably you're Tie rod ends then, which is a simple fix. You just pull one nut off, pop the tie rod out, then twist the tie rod off. Then twist the new one back on. Be sure to make the location from which you removed the original so you don't mess up your alignment too badly. I do however recommend getting an alignment as soon as you replace your tie rods.

 

[aimee235]

Ok. It's been fixed. It was the adjustment sleeve in between the tie rods. It was stripped. We replaced all the tie rods and both sleeves.Thanks everyone.

 

[American_Pit13]

Good as new

 

[ThaLadyPit]

Man! I wish I could be so lucky to find a steal of a deal like that on a vehicle!! We so need a second vehicle.. fighting over the one when we both have things to do is getting old, lol. Great to hear that you fixed the problem though! I'm so happy for you!

 

[aimee235]

Thanks. You can find them. Most people overprice there cars in the first place. The car was listed on craigslist for $500. I only had $300. lol. so I just called to see who would take $300 then narrowed it down from there.

 

[ThaLadyPit]

Lol! Thanks.. I'll have to check it out then.. I don't normally go to CL.. but this may be an exception.