1989 Chevy Pickup Steering Problem

Most likely worn ball joints or steering gear. Ball joints can be replaced. Steering gear can be adjusted.

You should buy a repair manual and read it.

You may be able to do the ball joints yourself. Regardless of what it is, even if you can fix it yourself, you're going to have to pay for a front end alignment when your done.

I would take it to a reputable shop and get it diagnosed if it's not something obvious.

Talking from experience here. The adjustments on the front end are very precise. If you tear into it yourself, you may well find that it isn't drivable when you're done......you will have to get it towed to a shop to get it fixed. Find someone local with a good reputation and let them do it.

PS- This is most likely your tie rod ends being worn. If you decide to do it yourself, get OEM parts, and definitely get a manual. Getting the exact same tie rod ends is imperative. Get a manual and triple check the thread count before you take them apart.

You might want to further explain, " triple check the thread count before you take them apart."

That will be explained in the manual. If he doesn't get a manual, and follow it, he's screwed anyway.

My wife's brother is a master at taking things apart on his truck, and calling me when he can't remember how they were in there.

note that when you unscrew the ball joint from the tie rod if you count thread turns you can get it close. At least close enough to get to a shop for proper front end alignment.

I didn't want him to try to do it without the manual. People don't realize how squirrelly that front end can get if it's not done right. Even with the manual, he needs to test drive it on a back road before he jumps on the highway.

I miss my 72 Chevy half ton. Straight 6 and three on the tree. She was a good old truck.

Well could have said use a straight edge across the outer edge of the tires. With the tires on the ground. And measure the toe in. But that usually gets you close and there is nothing like doing it on a machine.

You got that right! I was dumb enough to think I could do my own alignment many years ago. It didn't work very well.

"The pickup wanders side to side ..."

Sounds like a good rig to take rabbit hunting!

More than likely, components of your steering and front suspension system are excessively worn and need replacement.

However, if the components do not show excessive wear it could be excessive play in the worm gear of your power steering gear box.

The 1989 Chevy pick-up truck steering gear boxes have a worm gear adjustment which will tighten up the wandering.

Before trying any adjustments, I MUST CAUTION YOU as Lyn and others have mentioned, get yourself a reliable repair manual. At best, a Chevrolet Mechanics repair manual and at least a Chilton's.

The power steering system when operating, involves very high pressures and is capable of releasing very high levels of energy.

I helped a buddy of mine eliminate the slop and left hand pull in the steering of his 1983 Dodge Diplomat.

The procedure to eliminate the pull involved loosening the metering ball valve housing on top of the gear box and gently tapping it with a hammer while the engine is running to center the ball within the valve.

I was sitting behind the steering wheel feeling for pull while my buddy began to "tap" on the ball housing.

My buddy though "tap" meant ""slam it as hard as you can". The ball valve was knocked out of alignment past the "assist" circuit detent within the housing and in an instant, the steering wheel became a high speed hydraulic drive.

The wheel spun so rapidly and with such force to the left hand stop that if my arm (or any other appendage) had been between the wheel spokes, it would have most certainly snapped my arm (or any other appendage) in two.

We did end up correcting the steering but only after we changed our working positions

And they call it a Pitman Arm, simple job really no thread counts required. Maybe ball joints, tie-rod ends or steering box adjustment. It maybe just me but I've never no not ever been able to successfully correct a worn steering box by adjustment; seems when they're so far gone the slack is noticeable in the drivers seat the damage is done. I'm likely not cheering you up. Scary version you attempt to fix with advise from forum not knowing enough yourself to understand some directions. Take course in auto repair or pay to have done if not buying a manual.

Take it to a garage and have it diagnosed. Most repair shops will do this without charge or a nominal charge. Once you know, then decide if you want to do it yourself following the good advice given by many above or may be let the repair shop do it.

Steering system is one thing that you dont mess with if you do not have the experience or supervision of an experienced person. The causes of the symptoms have been well covered by comments above. My 2 cents : don't mess with it unless you are sure and have the right tools.

I'm also a 1989 K1500 Chevy truck owner. In addition, I worked as a front end alignment mechanic in my father's shop from the age of 16 years old until I graduated college with a E.E.B.S. The first thing to check is the Alignment. If the front tires are "Toed out" the truck will wander. Typically the front tires need to be towed in something like a 1/16 of a degree to avoid following ruts in the road. If the problem is that your steering wheel is lose i.e. moves up and down and side to side relative to the column, then there is a common known problem with 4 torque screws coming loose. I just went through the issue and it's very complicated to get to the 4 torque screws and requires special tools that can be borrowed from Checker Auto parts. There are also great video's on youtube, " Part-1 S10 Loose Tilt Steering Repair Project 5 Chevy" which show how to do it. If there is to much slop in the steering wheel when turning left to right then tightening the worm gear is a simple procedure. Just make sure you don't tighten it to tight or you will wear your worm get out. My recommendation is to get the truck aligned by a reputable mechanic. Before he aligns it he will check the quality of the components and make recommendations if any need to be changed. Don't do this work yourself because if any parts are changed the truck will need to be realigned before it can be driven. Front end Alignment requires a special rack to perform. Good luck

It is Chinese Car Chevy? How much for Chinse Car and how about it's fucntion?