general problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Silverado

I bought this used 2013 truck in late Nov 2015. When making (usually) a right turn at low speed, especially from a stop like entering traffic from an inclined access driveway, occasionally (maybe 3 times per month) there is a sudden and total failure of power assist in steering, making the turn extremely difficult and unable to keep from drifting out of the intended lane of travel. Collisions were avoided several times by (thankfully) oncoming traffic veering out of the way. This sudden loss of steering control particularly at this unexpected time while accelerating to negotiate a traffic entry is extremely dangerous. This one-ton truck is not like a subcompact that is easy to turn 90 degrees without power steering, believe me. If my wife were driving, the truck would surely go completely across all lanes of oncoming traffic. After completing the turn, the power steering returns to normal, however the power assist steering on this 2013 truck has always been far less effective than my previous identical model, but 8 years older chevy diesel one-ton truck.

We have many problems with our truck. I dont remember all the dates so I am starting with the most recent and will work back. On 7/17/14 I was driving down the highway when the steering wheel of my truck locked up on me and the truck would no longer accelerate. I could no longer steer. Had I not been trying to make a lane change when it happened, I would have been ran over by 2 semis who then had to scramble to avoid hitting me. One took the turn lane while the other almost ran a car off the road to get around me. Everything else on the truck was still working, lights, ac, radio, windows, everything, just not steering. One time I turned on my truck and could not switch through the gears so that I could drive and the dash had no information on it (no compass, temp reading, mileage). It would move through the gears but it wouldn't drive. I had to turn my truck on and off 3 times before I could drive. Our driver side window no longer auto rolls down, our bumper is falling apart and we have never been in an accident, the drivers door leaks when it rains, and our door locks will occasionally not disengage so when we go to shut the door it just bounces of the latch. This has caused one of our doors to come off the hinges and almost fall off our truck. We have had all 4 door locks replaced and they are still doing it.

Traveling at 55 mph steering locked up and was unable to steer the vehicle. 15 minutes later did the same thing at 45 mph during busy traffic and again approximately 10 minutes later at 45 mph.

The problem I have been having has been going on for almost a year. The steering wheel seems to have a "dead spot" in it when the steering wheel is turned 3/4 turn to 1 complete turn. You can feel the slack in the steering box when making a turn(left or right)the steering wheel will have up to 2 1/2 inches of "free play" when turning(there is no "free play" when driving straight) it has been doing this since the day I bought the pickup new off of the lot. I have had it looked at since then and been told by gm mechanics that it is the steering gear. If you tighten up the steering gear it will take the "free play" out, but the steering will be more sensitive when driving down the road. So tightening up the steering gear solves one problem but causes problems elsewhere??? according to the federal motor carrier safety administration(fmcsa) section 393. 209 steering wheel systems. That(depending on the size of steering wheel) the steering wheel lash shall not exceed 14 degrees angular rotation for manual steering or 30 degrees angular rotation for power steering systems at any given position of the steering wheel. With rules and regulations like that on commercial vehicles, how is my personal vehicle considered "safe" with 2 1/2 inches of "free play" in the steering wheel???.

Traveling 70 mph on freeway, naturally veering left to right went to correct to the right and steering wheel locked up. I could turn to the left more but could not correct back to the right. Had to slow down to about 35 mph nearly causing someone to rear-end me, then it finally broke loose. The entire ordeal lasted aprox. 12 seconds before it was corrected.