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Chevy Uplander Steering

4 messages,  Last post on Oct 24, 2008 at 9:29 AM

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#1 of 4 Steering wheel shimmy when turning left at low speeds by uplanderguy Sep 28, 2008 (10:38 am)
My Uplander has had a new rack put in 12K miles ago, and a new LF wheel bearing at the same time. I recently have noticed that if you turn left at low speeds, the steering wheel shimmies back and forth some when it returns back to the 'center' position. This doesn't happen in a right turn. No obvious front-end noises. Any idea from anybody what this might be?   Thanks, Bill Replies to this message: genmtrfan (Oct 13, 2008 10:08 am) uplanderguy (Oct 14, 2008 2:18 pm) genmtrfan (Oct 24, 2008 9:29 am)
#2 of 4 Re: Steering wheel shimmy when turning left at low speeds [uplanderguy] by genmtrfan Oct 13, 2008 (10:08 am)
Replying to: uplanderguy (Sep 28, 2008 10:38 am) Bill is your Uplander AWD? I've heard about more issues like this from AWD. Also, have you noticed if the steering wheel does this while braking as well? I had an Impala once that did this and it was the intermediate steering shaft. I greased mine and it went away. I think some Uplanders have had this issue as well, although mine has not. At 58K, the only suspension/steering issues I've had are replacing the front sway bar links.   BTW, I think we had a side discussion about tires one time. I switched to Yokahoma Avid TRZ and was very impressed for about 35K, but then they started dry-rotting prematurely. The company did reimburse me partially. Now I have Kumoh Solus tires and think they have a fantastic, quiet ride. Too early to tell about treadwear or anything else. Replies to this message: uplanderguy (Oct 14, 2008 2:18 pm) genmtrfan (Oct 24, 2008 9:29 am)
#3 of 4 Re: Steering wheel shimmy when turning left at low speeds [genmtrfan] by uplanderguy Oct 14, 2008 (2:18 pm)
Replying to: genmtrfan (Oct 13, 2008 10:08 am) My Uplander is FWD. Dealer suggested a new serpentine belt and tensioner, which cost over a couple hundred bucks. I can't say I've seen much improvement in the left-turn-only steering wheel shimmy when returning. There is no clunking or 'feel' in the column like I hear about with the intermediate shaft...maybe that's next.   I'm a Chevy guy, but this van has been disappointing. Brake rotors, side moldings, steering rack, wheel bearing, all under warranty (even after 36K miles, thankfully; I have a great dealer service dept. nearby), but I've had to have the cruise control fixed and the high-mounted stop light lens replaced ($88 for this!) out-of-pocket. I've seen photos of other Uplanders where the stop light lens broke on the left side. There's no gasket behind it as in Ventures...another cost-cutting move.   My power sliding door was beginning to get erratic a few months ago--not shutting on the first try--but my dealer used a Dremel tool to 'sand' the gold-colored contacts on the body and it has been much better. The dealer did this for free too. They are really good guys.   I'm on my third gold bowtie up front, and ready for my third in the back. I paid for the new one up front, last time. What's up with that??   Tires--at 20K it sounded like a monster truck. Got Goodyear to pitch in on new Integritys. At 16K they sounded as bad. This, with religious rotation as per the owner's manual. At 36K I bought Yokohamas. They're better, but at 52K I think they are now noisy too...just not as bad as the Goodyears.   My FM1 band of the radio, on one preset station, is very static-y. I got around this by using the FM2 band.   The light on the right-hand visor vanity mirror will only come on if you manually hold the lid up.   The vinyl bolsters of the seats looked like leather when I bought it new, but are now worn shiny and look and sound like flimsy plastic when you move around on the seats. In fact, on the driver's seat, there is a one-inch section worn through, not even on a seam, on the side of the seat...apparently from sliding in.   The two little jump seats in the second row are useless for an adult, and the lack of armrests is just dumb. Shame on me for not getting the second-row captain's chairs.   Just lots of dopey stuff.   Bill Replies to this message: genmtrfan (Oct 24, 2008 9:29 am)
#4 of 4 Re: Steering wheel shimmy when turning left at low speeds [uplanderguy] by genmtrfan Oct 24, 2008 (9:29 am)
Replying to: uplanderguy (Oct 14, 2008 2:18 pm) Bill,   Replacing the serpantine belt is an odd suggestion for a turning issue, but what do I know? Do you hear a whiring noise as you turn the wheel? Ours has done that for a while. I assume that air has gotten in the system or the pump is weak. But it doesn't affect performance and it's only noticable in a parking lot.   Brakes- You'll never believe this, but with over 60 we're still on the original rotors and pads. I have no idea why. The rotors have been turned twice, though.   Automatic Sliding Doors- One time a seatbelt got caught in it and after that it wouldn't close without help. There is an adjustment on the door that I adjusted and that fixed the problem in about 15 minutes. That's the only issue we've had with them.   All of the electronics still work perfectly, but we too have a bit of a tear in the driver's side seat. At this point it's small.   No engine or transmission problems to date.   Glad you got better tires, my Yoko AVID TRZ's never did get noisy (just dry-rotted). Love the Kumos so far and they were about $100 each installed.   Knock on wood, I'm still very glad we bought it. For the money it's an excellent ride and we just got 25.1 mpg on a trip to Virginia. I think the ride itself is super comfortable on trips. We've only put $75 into repairs and at 60,000 miles you can't really knock that. We'll see how the next 40 go.

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