Chevy & GMC Vans

So, my van (4" lift, big tires) - when I turn the wheels to the left on a flat surface, the front right actually seems to squat. Turn the wheels to the right and the front left squats. Is this an illusion, or is it really doing this? Does it happen to you? I think that this would explain part of the diving I feel when I swerve left or right (changing lanes) and the van really dives in the opposite direction.

What do you say?

I've had five of these vans so far and I've never noticed anything like that.

Yes, my van does this too but i think it could be from the bad shocks i have, and because my tires are halfway flat.

Well, my tires aren't flat and my shocks are good. I've only had the Rancho 5000's on there for about a year.

I assume that this is related to the lift...wonder what it will take to correct that.

Any explanation for why it does this?

Betz why do you think your steering wheel centers it self?This might lead you to your squatting.

Of the 5 Alignment angles, Camber, Caster, Toe, Steering axis inclination (SAI) and Toe out on turns. All 5 traditional angles are directional angles, meaning that they affect the direction the car moves. A 4 wheel Alignment also checks Camber and Toe but also Thrust angle and Setback

kamenz wrote:Betz why do you think your steering wheel centers it self?This might lead you to your squatting.

Positive Caster, squatting on one side when bump stop is the least of Your worrys.

mikedamech,
reword your last post...or add some words to it. I don't understand it as is, but I bet that its valuable.

Kamenz,
What about the steering wheel centering itself?

Positive Caster is what brings the steering wheel back to straight, the more positive the better the return but the harder it is to steer. When one wheel turns more than the other the van dips, it's normal. Wandering at speed is not. Good luck

You say "When one wheel turns more than the other the van dips, it's normal"; by turn do you mean rotate, or literally turn from left to right. If you mean from left to right, does this mean that one wheel is turning (left, per se) farther than the other, and my alignment is completely whack? I did notice that when the alignment shop was putting the new BFGs on, and the front end was jacked up in the air, the drivers wheel was almost straight, and the passenger's wheel was turned pretty far out (to the right). I asked the mechanic if the alignment was screwy, and he said "It has to be like that because of the lift". Now, what the heck does that mean? And is he right? I also must say that when the van is on the ground, the wheels look normal, but up in the air, there was a big difference.

Toe out on turns occurs when the wheel at the outside of a turn does not turn as far as the wheel at the inside of the turn. Since the outside wheel has to drive in a wider curve than the inside one, it must be aimed for that different curve. Otherwise, the outside tire would scuff as it tried to turn in a sharper curve than the cornering angle would allow.

The Alignment won't change with the lift as long as the van is level. If the back is higher or lower than the front that will change the dynamics of the angles.

So, you're saying that the alignment and the "shifting of weight" or "squatting" of the van is normal, right?

Yes.

Does your steering wheel return after a turn??.Caster is the main reason it would.Ok-look,Look for common problems and NOT weird things.LOL- it ant a NASCAR car. "it's loose coming into the corner and tight coming out of it!!!!!!!."