Noisy steering column

Schmidty · October 12, 2020

Mine is a bit different than that "rattle" but rather a "gap" in the hydraulic activation that creates a "knocking" when going side to side. It happens at lower speeds. See video. Is anyone having an issue similar to this? *turn up the volume*

I just put a lift and tires on it, but this was there before the lift was ever installed!

MTU Alum · October 12, 2020

If it knocks when turning the wheel back and forth at idle or slow speeds, the upper ishaft is bad. Big issue with these trucks right now, unfortunately.

#iworkforGM

Larryjr3 · October 13, 2020

I have the exact same "knock" turning the wheel from left to right. Also the knock turns to a rattle at high speed, 80mph.

rialbh · October 13, 2020

I thought I would share an update on my issue so far, as I can imagine everyone on here is as frustrated as me. The initial dealership that I brought the truck to, did the following work so far:

- Replaced the steering shaft (1st visit)

- Replaced the entire steering column (2nd visit)

The steering shaft replacement helped the loose/wobbly feeling in the wheel, but perhaps they were just tightening things up, so I am not totally sure what solved that problem. As for the rattle when turning at low speeds, none of this work helped at all and I'm getting told that these replacements would run well over $5,000. So that was a waste of money for someone. The second dealership I went to suspected that it was the steering box or the intermediate shaft. I suspected the intermediate shaft, as I was able to reach under the dash and hold the upper portion of the intermediate shaft and create the rattle somewhat with some firm jiggling. The second dealership ended up looking at it and said they went through everything and it was all fine. They said they checked and everything was tight, but that he did grease up a few parts to see if it would help. He then said that they tested it and couldn't hear the rattle. When I picked it up, I was able to hear the rattle as it was before I brought it in there. I am just at a loss for what to do next, as the steering column and shaft have been fully replaced and it did nothing to help. I even shared this forum with some of the dealerships, as I keep getting talked to like I am the only one having this issue and they look at me like I am crazy, as they claim they can't hear the noise. Finally this morning, one of the managers at the initial dealership txt me and said that another person brought in a truck and it is having the same issue. I absolutely love my truck, but if I had known these trucks were having these issues and the dealerships couldn't fix it, I never would have bought it. I will keep you all posted, as I am too stubborn to leave this alone, but I please keep me posted on your experiences as well.

Cheers

Shawn H · October 14, 2020

Just put mine in the shop October 12th same issue. The tech ordered a upper intermediate shaft for replacement. at 2700 miles. 2020 2500 AT4. Said part will be in 3 to 4 days. Waiting to see will update when new information is available. Just wanted to add my truck and presence to this issue as well. Truck was manufactured July 2020 as well.

bh069me1 · October 14, 2020

Taking mine in next Monday..2020 trailboss lt 980 miles on it same issue

maynard9089 · October 14, 2020

Dealership ordered an upper intermediate shaft for mine last Thursday. Will post here if it helps.

Landon T · October 16, 2020

Guys I hate to say it but I've got the same issues. Ive brought mine into the local dealer where I bought it with plenty of video evidence of what was happening. The first trip in they replaced just the intermediate shaft...as that is the easiest and most cost effective attempt to fix the issue. It did nothing. I took even more video of the issues and sent them into the service manager and he advised to bring it back in once again. Naturally the tech said he could only duplicate the noise once after driving 20 miles , ( this is not straight line problem, only a turning problem). This time they replaced the steering gear and said the intermediate shaft had "frozen" up and was defective, so they kept the truck another 2 weeks and replaced these parts once again. As soon as I picked it up, the knocking and rattling was worse than ever. I can say it almost feels like theres little rocks or marbles bouncing/rolling around in the column. This is extremely apparent whenever you make slower speed turns going into a parking lot for instance. If you make a complete turn and do a circle in the parking lot, it will rattle through every rotation of the steering wheel. This to me does not sound like a knocking sound(what the intermediate shaft sounds like), but rather a low rattle as if you put marbles in a tupper ware bowl and rolled them around. ITS INFURIATING! Where in the world is the quality control!!! To top this off, if you make that same turn driving on a gravel or rock road, this problem is exacerbated tremendously. It feels also like its losing power steering sporadically throughout the turn(will jerk your hand left and right). Same thing happens turning into a parking lot for instance with a concrete lip of a couple inches. It will literally hit that, and feel as though the power steering cuts out. Its the best way I can describe it. I have forwarded this exact thread to the service manager(nice guy by the way), and he says if this many people are having issues, GM will issue a bulletin. We shall see. As of right now, I don't see it happening. My father bought the same exact truck the week after i got mine and his is having exactly the same issues. This is not all the problems either.

1. Engine light came on for whatever reason(They fixed this)

2. DEF system issues(They fixed this)

3. Hill start assist comes on for no apparent reason and completely stops the truck (at a stop sign or red light with no incline). Almost been rear ended to to the truck doing this suddenly.(They said this was normal)

4. Electronic parking brake turns on and off by itself(They said this was normal, lol)

5. Does not recognize saved or new trailers most of the time, says no trailer detected when you hook up.(They said normal)

6. XM radio always says searching for signal, lost satellite reception right in town. Have to turn off for at least an hour to reset that one.(They said GM is aware of the issue, and is working on it)

7. A/C blows very irregular . Blows strong then weak, strong then weak. No, its not on auto and am not on a call. Its as if its getting irregular voltage. Weird for sure(They said normal)

8. Android auto is essentially inoperable (They said GM is aware of this issue, and is woking on it)

9. The brake pedal half the time is depressed when I get in to start the truck( no travel left). Also has vibration type feeling while depressing it coming to a stop, or stop in go traffic.( They said normal)

10. Power steering doesn't always start working immediately . Sometimes its hard to turn right as you pull away. (They said they couldn't duplicate, naturally)

11. Brakes have been squealing since new, truck has ten thousand miles now.

12. Truck dash rattles in cold on start up.

Besides all of this, its nice and I think its a beautiful truck, . Even though my Denali lost most all the luxury features my 15 had (adjustable pedals, adjustable seatbelt strap, turn signals in side mirrors, lumbar functions in the seat, CD player (yes i still use cds), way less customization in the digital cluster, less plush steering wheel, etc., C'mon GM, DO BETTER! I truly hope they can resolve this.

kylant · October 16, 2020

for the first time yesterday, my column had a tick, tick, tick rattle noise from it while turning the wheel in both directions. this was first thing in the morning, about 35* over night. this was just pulling out of my driveway. so basically turning almost lock to lock. by the time i was 20 feet down the road, the tick was gone. it did not come back the rest of the day.

thoughts?

Edited October 16, 2020 by kylant

Shawn H · October 18, 2020

Picked my truck up on Friday after the dealership replaced upper intermediate shaft. It seems to have fixed the problem. Time will tell if it comes back in a few months or a few thousand miles. Will update if the problem comes back again.

Schmidty · October 20, 2020

On 10/18/2020 at 10:40 AM, Shawn H said:

Picked my truck up on Friday after the dealership replaced upper intermediate shaft. It seems to have fixed the problem. Time will tell if it comes back in a few months or a few thousand miles. Will update if the problem comes back again.

Did they cover it under warranty, no issue? Would love to see what sort of documentation they have to support this repair, so I could share with my dealership if it came to it.

bh069me1 · October 20, 2020

Update.

Just received a call from my dealership, and guess what...could not duplicate...imagine that.

Is there anyone on here that can direct to some kind of gm tech help or support ?

This is just totally ridiculous.

CRApex · October 20, 2020

On 10/15/2020 at 11:06 PM, Landon T said:

Guys I hate to say it but I've got the same issues. Ive brought mine into the local dealer where I bought it with plenty of video evidence of what was happening. The first trip in they replaced just the intermediate shaft...as that is the easiest and most cost effective attempt to fix the issue. It did nothing. I took even more video of the issues and sent them into the service manager and he advised to bring it back in once again. Naturally the tech said he could only duplicate the noise once after driving 20 miles , ( this is not straight line problem, only a turning problem). This time they replaced the steering gear and said the intermediate shaft had "frozen" up and was defective, so they kept the truck another 2 weeks and replaced these parts once again. As soon as I picked it up, the knocking and rattling was worse than ever. I can say it almost feels like theres little rocks or marbles bouncing/rolling around in the column. This is extremely apparent whenever you make slower speed turns going into a parking lot for instance. If you make a complete turn and do a circle in the parking lot, it will rattle through every rotation of the steering wheel. This to me does not sound like a knocking sound(what the intermediate shaft sounds like), but rather a low rattle as if you put marbles in a tupper ware bowl and rolled them around. ITS INFURIATING! Where in the world is the quality control!!! To top this off, if you make that same turn driving on a gravel or rock road, this problem is exacerbated tremendously. It feels also like its losing power steering sporadically throughout the turn(will jerk your hand left and right). Same thing happens turning into a parking lot for instance with a concrete lip of a couple inches. It will literally hit that, and feel as though the power steering cuts out. Its the best way I can describe it. I have forwarded this exact thread to the service manager(nice guy by the way), and he says if this many people are having issues, GM will issue a bulletin. We shall see. As of right now, I don't see it happening. My father bought the same exact truck the week after i got mine and his is having exactly the same issues. This is not all the problems either.

1. Engine light came on for whatever reason(They fixed this)

2. DEF system issues(They fixed this)

3. Hill start assist comes on for no apparent reason and completely stops the truck (at a stop sign or red light with no incline). Almost been rear ended to to the truck doing this suddenly.(They said this was normal)

4. Electronic parking brake turns on and off by itself(They said this was normal, lol)

5. Does not recognize saved or new trailers most of the time, says no trailer detected when you hook up.(They said normal)

6. XM radio always says searching for signal, lost satellite reception right in town. Have to turn off for at least an hour to reset that one.(They said GM is aware of the issue, and is working on it)

7. A/C blows very irregular . Blows strong then weak, strong then weak. No, its not on auto and am not on a call. Its as if its getting irregular voltage. Weird for sure(They said normal)

8. Android auto is essentially inoperable (They said GM is aware of this issue, and is woking on it)

9. The brake pedal half the time is depressed when I get in to start the truck( no travel left). Also has vibration type feeling while depressing it coming to a stop, or stop in go traffic.( They said normal)

10. Power steering doesn't always start working immediately . Sometimes its hard to turn right as you pull away. (They said they couldn't duplicate, naturally)

11. Brakes have been squealing since new, truck has ten thousand miles now.

12. Truck dash rattles in cold on start up.

Besides all of this, its nice and I think its a beautiful truck, . Even though my Denali lost most all the luxury features my 15 had (adjustable pedals, adjustable seatbelt strap, turn signals in side mirrors, lumbar functions in the seat, CD player (yes i still use cds), way less customization in the digital cluster, less plush steering wheel, etc., C'mon GM, DO BETTER! I truly hope they can resolve this.

Sounds like you got a lemon. Removing the signal light from the mirror glass was the best addition by subtraction on the entire truck IMO..Those things were blinding at night.

st24 · October 20, 2020

On 10/12/2020 at 4:44 PM, MTU Alum said:

If it knocks when turning the wheel back and forth at idle or slow speeds, the upper ishaft is bad. Big issue with these trucks right now, unfortunately.

#iworkforGM

Clearly a big issue! Most dealers don't seem to have a clue about this and GM needs a service bulletin for this soon.

Cdcd5252 · October 20, 2020

On 10/16/2020 at 9:01 AM, kylant said:

for the first time yesterday, my column had a tick, tick, tick rattle noise from it while turning the wheel in both directions. this was first thing in the morning, about 35* over night. this was just pulling out of my driveway. so basically turning almost lock to lock. by the time i was 20 feet down the road, the tick was gone. it did not come back the rest of the day.

thoughts?

I have the same issue, noticed it leaving subdivision, then stopped. 1,500 miles on it. There is a noticeable cluck/click/whatever you want to call it when you go to full lock on steering travel too. Only does it once in either direction though, then nothing. Weird for sure.