I will be purchasing my first ever Chevy truck on Thursday.
I am in need of this boards expert advice. Thanks in advance.
Truck info: 98 Silverado Z 71. 71k miles. The tires are BFGR TAs abd have decent meat left on them. Don't know when the last alignment and balance was accomplished. The truck has been sitting for a couple of months in the dealer showroom...could the tires have taken a "set"?? Like flat spot?
During the road test I could feel a steering shimmy. I could also see it in the steering wheel. The truck does track straight down the road though. The shimmy occurs at any speed. About 45mph the ocillation seems to be the worst. The steering also feels a little "vague". Is this a characteristic of this truck? One last thing: Is there any other common issues I should look out for with this model. Thanks again for the help>

Check the front end for loose parts such as ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm & support bracket. Check the tires for broken belts and cupping. Of course check for leaks, and you might want to check the glove box for RPO code G80 which is a gov-lock differential that will probably blow up on you, so either be careful with it or put in a good limited slip or locker.

MSF,
thanks for the input. Dude your freakin' me out!! Whata mean the diff is gonna blow up!! Don't tell me that... I haven't even picked up the truck yet! Seriously though I don't know squat about Chevy's and modern type trucks. My present vehicle is a 86 F250 XLT. No diagnostics in the glove box on that one!! Forgive my ignorance...there is a code display in the glove box?? Once again thanks for the info.

in the glovebox there is a big list of codes. they are the RPO codes (retail production option) basically all of those codes tell you what the vehicle has. like leather steering wheel, color, cloth/leather seats...etc. G80 is ythe code for the limited slip rear diffreential thatcan cause probolems if you're hard on the truck and off-road and stuff like that. it has some flaws in its design. i had one break apart on me and it wasnt good. most people dont havea problem with it. people here do though ciz this is an off-road board.
as for teh vibration you're gfeeling it could be anything in the front end, warped rotors, steering componbents tires...etc. if you're buying it from a dealer, ask them to fix it before you buy it.

By blowing up he means you you put 35" tires or bigger and give your truck hell all the time then the 10 bolt may give you a few problems. But dont worry about it much if you are keeping it pretty much stock.

Don't worry it wont blow up... It might if you do like they said, big tires or being rough on it.... im rough with mine and I have not broke it yet lol

knock on wood... [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

On my '98 Z-71 the shimmy only occurs on the freeway (if this is what you're talking about), and with that damned grooved and sections highway. If feels like the middle is going to buck up every second.

About the BFG's. The only tires that really "set" with a flat spot on BFG's are the Baja Terrains. It's the type of rubber that makes them flatten out overnight. Once you get the tire heated up though it should be fine.

As for other things to look out for on the '98:

Check the battery and cables regularly. For some reason, and so far this has happened twice in as many '98 Chevy's, the battery cables end up corroding and this last time the terminal came out of the battery!

Fuel pump. Might go out on you -- might not! If you get a warranty option then take it.

Intake manifold gasket. Check to make sure that the dealer already replaced it with the newer type. Otherwise take it in the first moment you smell anti-freeze during driving.

EVO Steering sensor. These have a tendancy to go out. Doesn't really "hurt" anything, but you'll notice that it's not easy to turn at low speeds (5-10 mph) and not more difficult to turn at higher speeds.

"Other than that", '98 seems to be a good year for the truck! I'm actually quite happy with mine, aside from the fact that it's black and it only stays beautifully clean for abut 15 minutes...

Thanks for the input guys. The dealer fixed the shimmy problem. Thet rebalanced and rotated the wheels. As for the other items JR noted: The fuel pump...I do hear a slight whine coming from the fuel pump. I have read that is "normal". If not I guess I am in for that soon. Also the EVO sensor. I can feel the steering is a little "wierd" at slow speeds. But nothing alarming.
As foer the intake manifold gasket. I will deal with that when and if it comes up.
J.R. my truck is black also. Right now it looks great. But snow tonight and a big mess tomorrow. Oh well...lol.
Once again thanks for the input and I will probably be picking your brains again at some point.

No problem. There are a bunch of knowledgable people on this board!

As for the whine, yah, it's normal. I'd like to think it's an indicator that things are working. You don't hear it, then you got problems! [img]images/graemlins/40BEER.gif[/img]