How-To: Fix Your GMT800 Steering Shaft Clunk.

[kstruckcountry]

A while ago, the intermediate steering shaft on my 2006 began to rattle, along with the brake pedal. I decided to do 3 items at once: The shaft itself, the shaft bearing, and the brake pedal bushing. Doing all 3 at once makes things easier.

 

This is the only bolt under the hood that needs to be removed, nut and bolt are 15mm.

 

First, I removed the pushrod and pressure sensor from the brake pedal. With the brake pedal free, it's much easier to get under the dash to do everything else. You can see the clip that holds it together here. I used a small flathead and popped up the tab, then just pushed it off. Rod and sensor slide off.

 

Here is what the clip looks like.

 

Pedal can be moved forward, out of the way.

 

With the pedal unhooked, you can get in and remove the interior bolt from the shaft. It is right underneath the white plastic bearing. Bolt is 13mm, nut is 15mm

 

With the bolts removed, the shaft can be slid down, and then back up into the cab. It will be easiest to fish it out if it's fully collapsed. I moved the shaft up into the hollow spot by the console to get it out of the dash, it takes some trial and error to get it.

 

After the shaft is removed, the bearing can be pulled down and off the steering column. Then it'll look like this.

 

With the shaft and bearing out, it's easy to access the brake pedal bolt seen here. Both nut and bolt are 18mm.

 

With the pedal out, it's easy to push in the tabs and remove the old bushing, then put in the new one. My old bushing was beat up, old vs new.

 

Then the brake pedal can be bolted back in. After that, the new bearing can be pushed onto the shaft, it'll be a very snug fit. Then, finagle the new shaft into place and through the firewall. The rubber boot under the hood may need to be held to the side to get the shaft though at an angle. Finally, insert the bolt under the hood, then pull the shaft into place under the dash and bolt it. Both bolts need to be torqued to 37 ft*lbs. Then, reconnect the brake pedal to the pushrod and sensor. The finished product:

 

It's not a hard job, but if you're a wide shouldered guy it'll be a tight fit under the dash. Now that the replacements are in, there is no clunking or rattle of any kind. Very glad I did it!

[txab]