92 3.8 SE pulling right under accelleration, then left if I lift off..

I have a condition that began to happen recently on my 92 Pontiac Transport 3.8 SE. If you leave from a dead stop (traffic light or whatnot) and you accellerate hard to moderately hard the van will pull to the right. More than the normal torque steer of a front drive vehicle. Also, if you suddenly lift off the accellerator, the van will veer sharply left. I know this is some sort of front suspension issue, but not sure what.

I did just replace the left outer tie rod which was obviously past due. (Car was doing the veering before and still does after.) I read in another thread about the ball joints. I'm going to have a look at those next. There is still a slight clunk if you turn the steering wheel back and forth rapidly. Any hints or suggestions greatly appreciated.

...Kevin
1992 Pontiac Transport SE - 168k miles

Kevin,

Have a good look at the ball joints...espeacially the lowers.

Steve

Kevin,

Have a good look at the ball joints...espeacially the lowers.

Steve
Absolutely!

i had the same problem as u explained kevin it would pull to the right the snap back straight and it was py passeneger side ball it would also clunk when u cut the wheel and when i replaced the ball joint it came out in 2 pieces not good i know

You have torque steer and I have had this problem several times on the transport van. It is a broken bolt on the sub frame, it holds the engine cradle to the body of the van. Put the van in gear (brake on) lean out and look under as you press the gas brake on, tourque up the van against the brake and you will see the cradle member separtate from the frame where the bolt has broken. There is a recall campain for this failure and is in effect for the life of the van so when you take it to be fixed DO NOT let the dealer tell you the recall has expired if I can find the papers which I keep I will give you the recall number or call GM and check the recall web site. Twice the dealer tried to screw me for 7 hours labour and when GM told them to cover the job it only took 3 hours to fix MMmmmmm, customer screwing again. They will cut through the floor of the van and install new bolt ass'y.

nope i never had tougue steer mine was just the ball joint i changed the ball joint and worrks great now but kevins might be tourque steer

Ok, I know that I have a bad driver's side ball joint. Could be there are other problems too, but I know this one is bad. It's the original and the van won round 1 last night. I have the lower heads of the rivets removed (drilled out). How do I get the ball joint out? Seems like it's rusted in place. Do I need a press or something?


Kevin,

Have a good look at the ball joints...espeacially the lowers.

Steve

How do I get the ball joint out? Seems like it's rusted in place. Do I need a press or something?

No they are not pressed in. Once the rivets are ground out with a buffer or drilled out, dislodge the ball joint with hammer blows . That is all you need to break the rust that holds it in place. The most difficult is to convince the rivets to let go. In fact, since the joint must go down and you say you are drilling the rivets from the bottom, you will have to drill them out completely otherwise you would try to slide the ball joint down against the rivets..they are very tight in the joint. I used to drill them from the top, so the joint goes down with the rivets....

I do not know how you have dislodged the steering knuckle from the joint, but since you are already at the rivets, I suspect it is done.....there have been 3 different ways suggested in this forum....but one of them is valid only when replacing an already bolted on replacement....