The only two vehicles I've owned that had rack&pinion steering were the 02 Envoy and 07 Colorado. Those were also the only two vehicles I've ever owned that actually steered precisely, didn't have excessive play in the steering, and/or wandered on the highway. My Crown Vic drives horribly because it's all over the place, even after replacing the gearbox (which the shop said was bad, causing the play). My 99 Suburban had some play which I never tried to fix. Had a 95 Suburban I threw so much money at that trying to get the steering "like new" and it was never "right"... 2x gearboxes, all new pitman/idler arms, tie rods, ball joints...
What do I need to do to get the steering right on a gearbox system? I mean surely these vehicles didn't all leave the factory driving this badly. Is it bad installation? All the front end/steering work mentioned above was done by the same shop, except for the gearbox in the crown vic which I did myself. Or am I simply getting bad gearboxes? All of them have rebuilds, ACDelco, Napa, Cardone, MasterPro... whatever brands were available. I can't imagine they were all trash?
Any input appreciated because this is driving me nuts. I literally hate driving my car.
What do I need to do to get the steering right on a gearbox system? I mean surely these vehicles didn't all leave the factory driving this badly. Is it bad installation? All the front end/steering work mentioned above was done by the same shop, except for the gearbox in the crown vic which I did myself. Or am I simply getting bad gearboxes? All of them have rebuilds, ACDelco, Napa, Cardone, MasterPro... whatever brands were available. I can't imagine they were all trash?
Any input appreciated because this is driving me nuts. I literally hate driving my car.