Alignement nightmares, Chevy 1995 G30 van. Having issues getting it to not wander on highway it just does not like to hold straight and if any even slight headwinds it is hard to keep in land. It is no longer fun to drive. it use to be much better. I think maybe this issue was always slightly there but not bad. Now I used to drive it many years across country and it would be a little sloppy before but it was never tiring or hard to drive but in very high winds i wanted more stability. So I added lots of parts see below. The problem got worse right after adding new redwing steering box and new control arms, upper and lower and new tie rods idler and pitman arm. but in this last upgrade I did not think to get new tie rod sleeves, I deal with not the best shops down here in NM so I buy the parts and they throw it in and then they tell me to go down the block to get alignment at a tire shop. Maybe that was not so great alignment shop (but the only place in the area). then I was on a 600 mile trip that was a nightmare, 200 miles down the road it was so bad I barely could keep her on the road on a windy day. It sunday in northern new mexico but I found one tire shop that did aliments and they said one the Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeve were not tight only hand tight. So they did another alignment and it was a little better at least safe to drive at 60 mph but still not perfect It would get worse as I go faster. So I found another shop an hour away and they did an alignment and adjusting the caster for positive but said there is only so much adjustment and on these older vans sometimes because the frames can slightly bend over time to make there be less ability to adjust the camber? not sure what they said. roadtrek rv van so sometimes carrying water in the tanks makes the van heavy. right now I have the tanks empty. After this last alignment it is a little better but still not that great. At this point speed over 50 mph it just does not hold straight as it should especially with the slightest headwind. I drove it 50 miles yesterday into a headwind of only 7mph and then going back with a tailwind. There was a big difference in stability but even so it takes a lot more concentration to drive it at hwy speeds at all times constantly having to center the van. For some reason, driving it now I think now that they adjusted the caster, the camber is slightly not right? and in addition to just trying to hold it steady changing lanes also seems a little sketchy sometimes i think when changing lanes from left land to right it very sensitive to jump further right so I have to very gently change lanes. At the same time at lower speed the van handles great around curves and it very stable in terms of body roll. See below i have many aftermarket airbags. I think these 1 ton chevy vans us shims for alignment so aftermarket alignment bolt kits do not work. After a lot of work put in this van I am kinda crushed by having no luck in getting it aligned. I just ordered two MOOG ES2004S Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeves since I think if I try another alignment shop I will ask them to replace the sleeves. Maybe the sleeves in the van now are still the original and not holding tight? Any experiences appreciated. I know the G30 1 ton is similar to the G20 but the control arms were a different part so maybe this problem is specific to g30s? I know it is the front end causing this issue and not the rear. Please help.
Van has new redwing steering box.
New upper and lower control arms that came with new upper and lower ball joints
New tie rod ends
new idler and pitman arm
new stabilizer bar bushings
new rear leaf springs.
Front (inside the coil) and rear airbags (these were put in a few years ago with the new rear leaf spring and if I air them down totally it makes no difference with this problem and so the problem having now is really bad after recent new control arms. Before I used to drive many miles on the airbags and adjust them if i am towing or something and it was not a pain to drive like it is now.)
Aftermarket Rear Stabilizer bar.

Below is a pic of the last aliments adjusted specs where they tried to increase positive caster. but someone else messaged me they can push the caster up to 10 degrees so what they are telling you is BS. specs should be .5 pos camber and 5 deg pos caster 1/8 total toe in. Camber can be pushed up to 1 to help wandering.


Thank you!!!!

 

I think you need to narrow it down to is there slop or if it's just not tracking straight. Different cures. Not tracking could even be tire related. Slop is at least easy to check for when stationary. Just get someone to turn the steering back and forth while you look and feel for slop in every joint along the way from steering wheel to tires.