Loose Front End

[trenchwarfare]

My pinion angle is off so it shakes the **** out of my truck. I finally bought wedges and will hopefully put them in the weekend.
My question is very general, but it's worth a shot. This has caused a lot of things to become lose.
Every time I slow down and brake my front end shakes rally badly. I put a new caliper, tie rod, and pads on not to long ago. I also have a bad power steering leak I haven't been able to find, even though I replaced both hoses. Any idea what this would be? Maybe the front brakes are doing all the work and my shoes are shot?

2WD 90 suburban

[85Bowtie]

I think the shaking you're experiencing is from warped rotors most likely. Those will give it a "shimmy" pretty good when you hit your brakes.

One thing I've done in the past to seal a P/S leak, other than just replace seals, is to add a few ounces of brake fluid to the P/S resovoir. It expands the seals and will almost every time stop the leak. Some people think this is terrible, but I've done it in vehicles and drove them for several years like that with no problems, doing it to my old Diplomat cop car right now.

[89 crew]

The reason people think adding brake fluid to power steering is a bad idea is the seals are made of a substance that the brake fluid will dissolve! On older cars and trucks with leather seals it works great! The leather absorbs the brake fluid and swells. On the trucks with neoprene seals, it will dissolve the seals and make it leak from EVERY seal. What do you want to fix, one seal or ALL seals? If you don't believe me, go to the auto parts store and buy a seal for your truck, put it in brake fluid and see for yourself. The longer it it is in contact the more damage it does.

[trenchwarfare]

The rotors were my first idea, it just seems to violent. It has been getting progressively worse for a while though.

[89 crew]

How old is the stabilizer shock on the front axle? Is it worse up to 45 mph? Does the peddle pump under your foot when you push on the brakes? Is there anything loose on the front axle? I know you are trying to be general but more details are needed to help.

[heavychevy79]

Dollar store Golden State motor oil is the best power steering stop leak on the planet, just don't put it in your engine.

A bad upper controll arm bushing can cause a bad shake.

[trenchwarfare]

Well, she's a 1/2 ton 2WD. The only time it shakes is when it's nearly stopped. From 20mph to rest. The brake pedal does take a bit of effort to get down, but I think that's mainly worn brake shoes.