Chevy & GMC Vans

I spoke with a tire shop mechanic today and he told me he worked on a lifted astro that was squirrely on the road, in fact, it was all over the road and they couldn't get it right. Anyone else have this problem?

Mine has a bit of wander, but it has 230,000 mile on the original suspension, but overall, it tracks down the road just fine.

The combination of lift and larger tires will tend to exaggerate any looseness in the rest of the system.

Sounds like that other Astro had serious problems...

Most of the guys here with the 4" lift will tell you when the steering parts are tight, the van is actually more stable on the road. The combination of new shocks and stiffer suspension make it ride perfect in my opinion.

I have body + suspension lift and no squirrel issues. More aggressive handling on road.
Make sure you align suspension to fix the negative camber. You may need to knock out control arm guides.

AstroWyo wrote:I spoke with a tire shop mechanic today and he told me he worked on a lifted astro that was squirrely on the road, in fact, it was all over the road and they couldn't get it right. Anyone else have this problem?

I've heard similar BS stories.
My lifted vans ride great as long as the steering and suspension components are not worn out.
Any van with worn out steering & suspension will ride and steer like a POS, and if a tire shop mechanic cant fix that, finding a smarter mechanic is how I would fix that problem.

I'm glad to hear that general confirmation of bs. I have been on this site for a long time and anything I've read has confirmed what you are saying. I was gonna argue with the guy but he had made up his mind already. Maybe, once it's lifted, I'll pull in with some other store's tires on it. Now, I've just got to get it lifted already.nn

If it was a home made lift and they didn't change the pitman arm on the steering or if the tierod angles were weird it could get ugly. Ever seen someone bend a tierod to clear a knuckle. Trust me that will give some bad driving dynamics.

There is a reason people buy lift kits off the shelf it solves all the driveability issues.
If your going to put that much work into a lift I just don't know why people don't want to spend the money to buy the parts to do it right the first time.

AstroWyo wrote:I spoke with a tire shop mechanic today and he told me he worked on a lifted astro that was squirrely on the road, in fact, it was all over the road and they couldn't get it right. Anyone else have this problem?

My van is a little squirrely at times. It has a 4 -5" lift and 31" tires. I bought it that way. Ebay damn Everything in the front end is new including steering box. I am going to try more air pressure.

I didn't build it but, it is an Overland lift and Rancho shocks.

i had that problem when i first did my lift then go it "properly" aligned and the problem went away, the problem that i have now is when it gets windy i get pushed all over the road, then again driving a big box on wheels they are not made to be aerodynamic..

Ummmm..... more importantly.....you have a big ass lifted van with a gnarly roof rack.... where the hell are the pix!!!!!? Post up the van porn!

How is it that the previous owner wasn't a member here?

Any lifted vehicle will feel a little awkward. I have a 3" wider stance than most which makes me feel very well planted but there's other issues like ball joints only lasting a year, etc. It will require routine maintainence on the front end components. Put the front end frame on jackstands every now and then and check for loose linkages and wobbly wheels. Sometimes you just need to lube the joints. You might want to take a close look at the steering column shaft too if you have a body lift.....make sure the telescoping sleeves are not about to separate! You'll see this right next to the PCM box under the hood. Look inside the boot where the shaft comes though the firewall and make sure that shaft isn't too loose.

That's an awesome van!

Dwanker wrote:My van is a little squirrely at times. It has a 4 -5" lift and 31" tires. I bought it that way. Ebay damn Everything in the front end is new including steering box. I am going to try more air pressure.

I didn't build it but, it is an Overland lift and Rancho shocks.

What brand and model tires are you running? I know on my 2003 Ram 2500, if I run an aggressive A/T tire it wanders all over the place. I went back to stock tires and it is much better. I replaced the steering box 2 times, checked all tie rods and drag links many times and had an alignment done...all to no avail. The only thing for me to check is the link from steering wheel to box. Gotta pull it to check properly. With your van being a 95, it should have had a longer steering shaft placed when lifted. Maybe they skipped that part and are just using the stock one. It may be extended too far and has play in it.