02 Sierra Steering Noise

[mjribeiro]

Hi guys - I have an 02 Sierra extra cab 4x4 with a 5.3, 40,000 miles. It has new tires, shocks, and I've performed the mid shaft fix to eliminate the steering 'clunk' noise. The vehicle has always had a faint moan, groan, etc - when turning the wheel to the left more than 3/4 wheel rotation. This doesn't happen with normal left turns where you barely turn the wheel, and doesn't happen at all spinning the wheel to the right. You mostly notice it at slow speed parking manuevers.

Any Ideas? I read somewhere that this may also be a midshaft problem, but I can't see why I wouldn't hear it when I rotated the midshaft to the same point when turning right.

I have allihnment turntables - I was thinking about running the front up on them and trying to recreate the noise. My thought is that this would take some of the load of the pump and gear. If the noise goes away its likely the gear, since the pump should make noise in every direction... Thanks for your input.....