Hello all,
First let me say how much I appreciate all of your input through this forum. It,and yinz Rock!
As my title states. It's the dreaded state inspection and here is my problem.
I have a 99 4x4 5.4, xlt with no air suspension. Last year I replaced both lower ball joints,upper control arms, outer and inner tie rods and sleeves,shocks all around,idler arm, and end links. I did not replace the pitman arm. I bought a new pitman arm and have been researching the procedure. That is not my problem. I have noticed a wobble sound when I am turning right and left. Kinda like the sound a cv joint makes when it goes bad. You can feel the pulsing through the steering wheel, but it does not shake the wheel vigorously(i.e. I'm not fighting the wheel). It is more pronounced at highway speeds. There is a slight hump on the freeway and it is on a curve. When I hit this hump going 60 I feel the weight coming off of the suspension and the noise goes away for that brief second, comes back as the suspension compresses. On the slight rebound after compression the truck bounces slightly as everything settles and the noise/vibration coincides with the bouncing.

What does that sound like to you guys? My power steering pump is 3 years old and the fluid is not leaking from the steering box. I initially thought pitman arm but now I am beginning to think of steering shaft. I dunno? I guess I'm gonna have to dive in. Any direction of what to look for would be appreciated.
Thanks again for your help.

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing/hub to me.

 

Right on the money again Alloro! I jacked up the front end the right wheel bearing is shot. So off to get a new hub. The procedure looks pretty straight forward. My only concern is the o-ring. How hard is it to install/take out? Will where it goes be obvious? I haven't yet bought a new one yet so I hope these questions may be answered then. Once again thanks and I'll keep yinz posted.

 

See step 8 under removal, and step 1 under installation in the attached PDF.

 

Thanks Alloro! You the man. That pdf was exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately I dont have the items described to re-insert the seal. Are they completely neccesarry or is there another way to install the seal. I once did this on an old buick century and messed it up. I didn't install the seal proplerly and I may have over torqued it. Two days later the tranny blew(it was going anyway) and I don't want to mess up my Expy. Thanks for all of your help.

 

You know expydaddy,
One time I changed my radiator hoses out and go figure... my rear end seals blew out.
I knew I should have left all well alone.

 

I've used a hammer and block of wood when no seal insertion tool was handy. Just keep working your way around the seal until it is seated all the way around.

 

That's what I was thinking too. I went out and bought the replacement part today. Overpaid a little but I want to do this tomorrow. It did not come with a replacement seal.

 

Alas, no success just yet. Everything was going smoothly until I tried to remove the caliper carrier bolts. I have been soaking them in pb blaster for 2 days now. It wouldn't budge. I went to get my other jack to jack up the breaker bar so it would bust the rust and noticed It had bust a seal over the winter. Fluid everywhere. So I borrow my neighbors jack. With a small chunk of wood we manage to finangle them out. (2+ hrs.)
Now the rotor will not budge! After numerous whacks and still nothing, I remembered something I saw on utube. The jamb nut method. Having no jamb nuts I borrow a car and go the hardware store. Retrieve nuts and get home. Watched the video twice to verify. It worked! (2+ hrs.)
Now for the nitty gritty, and I mean gritty. I remove the wheel hub bolts and the wheel hub will not budge one iota. Nothing. Rust bound. Stuck on good. So I re-assembled. (3+ hrs.)
This is where I sit now. I think a slide hammer should work to bust the rust and remove the hub. My neighbor thinks I should use the jamb nut method.
Any suggestions?

 

The jamb nut method is for popping the rotors off, not the hub.

Do you have access to air tools?

 

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. To answer your question Alloro. No I do not have or access to air tools. But the good news is We Have Success! I rented a slide hammer and axle puller attachment. With the help of a friend we alternated banging it out. All that accomplished was to seperate the bearing with the front part still frozen to the steering knuckle.. Plus the rest of the bearing was still in the knuckle. We now proceeded to beat/heat/pb blast/repeat. After a while we managed to move it. I then inserted a metal wedge and pounded it into the crack and applied percussive maintenence. That worked. Cleaned it out and inserted the hub assmbly. Drives awesome now. Just dropped it off at the mechanic to, hopefully, get my sticker. Thanks for everybody's help!