steering imbalance
 

Hi all, I've got a 2006 H2 with a steering imbalance. It takes more effort to steer right than to steer left. This is true whether moving or parked. In my opinion, the boost feels too great to the left, and too little to the right. Very subjective, as I don't have a reference H2 to compare with.

She also wants to wander left gradually when moving, which I believe is due to this issue. I just replaced the wheels and tires and had an alignment with no change. The fact that I feel this imbalance when parked makes me think it's a steering issue.

Any ideas?

RE: steering imbalance
 

Could the steering damper cause this?

RE: steering imbalance
 

Steering damper is exonerated. Going to focus on the steering gear now. I'm going to try and coast down a hill with the engine (and power steering pump) off and see if the steering effort equalizes.

Anyone listening or am I talking to myself?

RE: steering imbalance
 

i'd like to know how you made out, mine likes to pull to the right, but mine has that bullcrap hydraboost,i've tried everything to correct it, and just guess i'll have to learn to live with it.

RE: steering imbalance
 

that would sound like the valving inside the gear..... sometimes you can get a simlar effect from a u-joint in the steering not being greased..... might wanna look at that too....

RE: steering imbalance
 

I tried the simple experiment of shutting the vehicle off while coasting downhill. Just put it in neutral and turned the ignition off. The pull to the left went away! The steering immediately became neutral, albeit heavy. Left effort = right effort. I'm very glad I tried this simple experiment.

What I found even more interesting is that, after one of my coasting runs, I started back up while still coasting. There was an immediate brief jolt to the left, almost like someone jerked the wheel in that direction. This only lasted an instant as the power steering pressure stabilized; then it went back to the more subtle pull to the left. I was surprised to feel such a strong jolt like this; I feel like this really points to an internal issue with the steering gear (though I suppose it could be some natural start-up transient).

YellowH2, any chance you can try this and see if you get a spike to the right on re-start?

One note on my "test". Of course, the brakes go manual as well with the engine off. It takes some pretty good pedal force to slow things down. If you re-start the vehicle in the midst of braking like this, you're in for quite a jolt when the power brakes suddenly kick back in! Better to stop completely before re-starting.

So my conclusion is that there is an issue with my steering gear internals, and that a new assembly is in order. I'm not aware of any simple adjustments or rebuild to correct this. Looks like the steering box is the same as that in the Silverado, which makes it easier to find. Comments anyone?

RE: steering imbalance
 

the steering gear in aH2 is similar to that of a Silverado, but you have to be careful as to which one you pcik up... there is a LD and a HD varient as well as a Utility varient.... Schrams auto might have a take-out one for you.... or Scot @ sax-express could probably hook you up as well...

RE: steering imbalance
 

Thanks for the heads-up on the different Silverado versions. Any idea which one to look for? Sewell Hummer gives me a GM p/n of 15783374 for my H2.