Steering pop felt through steering wheel?

ridethedesert · March 7, 2017

So I have been messing around with the front end of the truck checking every bolt trying to figure out what it was. I think I got it.

On top of the shock body there's a nut for the shaft. Both of mine were finger loose. I tightened them both down and we will see if that fixes the problem.

I have the Fox 2.0 shocks on it so maybe they didn't come torqued properly from Fox or they have loosened over time from driving through the desert.

I also torqued the u-bolt nuts on the rear axle as other members mentioned. All of those were fairly loose, meaning I could easily move them with my ratchet without much resistance. I tightened them down till they felt good to me. Not sure the torque specs on those but I shouldn't have been able to move them so freely.

I'll report back in a couple days if I don't feel the pop. It was a daily occurrence so I should know right away.

Broadh2o · March 9, 2017

Ok everyone sorry I haven't been back in awhile. The dealership had me go for a ride after the steering shaft install to duplicate the problem. After duplicating the problem the tech said the rack and pinion is bad. Later that day I showed my coworkers the issue! We are all mechanics by the way. The one coworker said your steering shaft is bent. So I ran the truck back up to the dealership and showed them. They told me to wait until the put the rack in to check if it would straighten out. Fast forward to yesterday. They replaced rack and I check shaft before I left. It seemed fine to me. So I left drove And thought everything was good then it started happening again. The intermittent pop! I'm so frustrated I'm at a loss for words. like I stated before it isn't like it's the worst pop in the world. But man is it annoying having it happen every time you drive it! 48k dollar truck, two years old and having this happen. I don't want to try to fix it myself. But it might come down to this?

Broadh2o · March 9, 2017

Oh and about the rear leaf springs. I had that happen on a Ford F-150 I had and this is nothing to do with the rear I believe. You hear it at the column and feel it in the steering wheel.

2strokesmoke · March 9, 2017

Ok everyone sorry I haven't been back in awhile. The dealership had me go for a ride after the steering shaft install to duplicate the problem. After duplicating the problem the tech said the rack and pinion is bad. Later that day I showed my coworkers the issue! We are all mechanics by the way. The one coworker said your steering shaft is bent. So I ran the truck back up to the dealership and showed them. They told me to wait until the put the rack in to check if it would straighten out. Fast forward to yesterday. They replaced rack and I check shaft before I left. It seemed fine to me. So I left drove And thought everything was good then it started happening again. The intermittent pop! I'm so frustrated I'm at a loss for words. like I stated before it isn't like it's the worst pop in the world. But man is it annoying having it happen every time you drive it! 48k dollar truck, two years old and having this happen. I don't want to try to fix it myself. But it might come down to this

Check the 3x nuts 15mm on top of each strut/coil for proper torque. They may be loose causing movement and the pop noise. That is the only thing I can think of without having the vehicle in front of me.

Thxs

Broadh2o · March 15, 2017

I checked all front end bolts and it still did the same pop feel. I took it to another dealership and they looked at it twice heard and get the pop. They replaced the lower steering shaft again. I was on my way home and believe I felt it twice. I will know more tomorrow on my drive to work. But I don't think the feel/noise is gone. The only other thing would be the steering column? I can push and pull while alternating and I can her the noise. Plus the wheel feels kind of loose. Can someone try this out to see if theirs is solid?