Need Help Please!

[DDGTAO]

Guys,

Active duty military here and time and money are both in short commodity... I recently noticed that my truck has started to make one single clunk/popping sound (Almost like I ran ovover a stone and it was popping out from under the tire) when making sharp turns... more so when going right than left. I do not feel anything in the steering. I had a friend say that he thought that the rack and pinion was going bad. I know that its really hard to diagnose via a forum post but what can I look at to see if it is the rack and pinion?

 

What would the symptoms of a bad rack and pinion be? I did check for movement in the tires while it was on a lift and I cant budge either of the front tires so thinking this noise is not from tie rods. There is some play in the steering wheel but only about 5-10 degrees if I try to turn the wheel with the engine off. I do notice a clunking sound at the end of the free travel but it doesnt sound like the noise I hear when making the sharp turns. Any advice or suggestions that you all may have will be greatly appreciated.

 

I have a 2004 Silverado 1500 crew cab 5.3 with 114k miles on it. The truck has stock suspension, meaning that it is not raised or lowered. Again thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.

 

Respectfully

[ujtruck]

simple thing first,

1). check swaybar bushing and links, you may have a broken one

2). then put the front end on jack stands

3). turn steering wheel all the way to both side - see if you can notice anything

4). now apply pressure under each tire using floor jack and follow step 3

 

and keep an eye on struts mount as well - I hope this will help you.

[DDGTAO]

Thanks for the quick response! I will try that out this weekend and let you know!

[Prokopchuk_9]

Also jack the front up one side at a time, grab a small chunk of 2x4 place it so you can pry up on the edge of the tire with a pry bar. Any side play means you may have a bad ball joint.

 

Take a good look at your cv boots too, look for cracking or tearing. If you see any holes you may have a bad cv. Defiantly make noise.

[ujtruck]

Also jack the front up one side at a time, grab a small chunk of 2x4 place it so you can pry up on the edge of the tire with a pry bar. Any side play means you may have a bad ball joint.

 

Take a good look at your cv boots too, look for cracking or tearing. If you see any holes you may have a bad cv. Defiantly make noise.

 

 

+1

[DDGTAO]

Well, I finally found out what the problem was... body mounts! The body mounts on the right side were loose and once tightened back to where they are supposed to be, the problem went away. Thanks for all that gave responses and offered advice! Sorry for the long delay but life / job have a way of getting in the way of ones plans sometimes.