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Member
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
Posts: 210
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
Posts: 210
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I would look at the tires, the tire wear, and brake pad thickness. A sticking brake part such as a caliper or pin can cause drag and even smoking on that side. If that's the case, fix it quickly because it'll destroy the brake system if the fluid gets hot enough to boil. Which in the case of stuck calipers, it sometimes does. If that's the case, you'll likely see a big difference in the amount of wear from an inner pad to an outer pad, or from the left pads to the right pads rather than relatively even wear across all four front pads. Some variation is normal, but nothing drastic or there's an issue.
It could be a number of things though. I would check the condition of tires, potentially swapping front left to the right and front right to the left. It could be an alignment issue. An alignment won't help you very much if other suspension parts are worn out though. Lift the front and shake the wheel from side to side and up and down. see if there is any play in the wheel. If so, is it from the tie rods, or from the bearing, or even from the bushing holding the passenger side of the steering rack? Are the shocks in good condition? When you push down on the corner of the truck and let go, does the truck bounce a few times up and down or does it pretty much immediately go back to resting position?
I don't think the overdue oil change has anything to do with anything other than potentially being the cause of the smoke if it's leaking oil onto something hot. As for the swaying and drifting, I'd check the things above. Good move by fixing the sway bar too, always fix the obvious first. I hope you figure some things out with it.
Last edited by sterbenlicht; 07-29-2014 at 10:15 PM.
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