Created on: 2020-03-23
In this video, Andy points you in the right direction to solve the knocking, clunking noise coming from your GM's steering!
Do you have a GM truck or SUV that's making a clunking noise that you can feel in the steering wheel? There we go. That's what we're going to talk about in this video, and I'm going to tell you what it is.
Driving around in this Yukon, which, a lot of these GM vehicles do the same, whether it's a Yukon or a pickup, when you're driving and you go over bumps and you have the steering wheel about a quarter turned, you feel a lot of knocking in the steering, and you can actually hear it. And when you actually turn the wheel you can hear it a little bit. What it is, is your steering intermediate shaft.
The steering intermediate shaft is located right here. What it's going to do is, it's going to connect the steering box to another shaft, and then it goes to the intermediate shaft, which is going to connect to the base of the steering column. Now, the intermediate shaft telescopes in and out, and with the column attached to the body and the steering box connected to the frame, there's going to be a little flex, and what you're hearing is that flex.
So, that noise is coming from the intermediate shaft, and a lot of times, there's grease in there, and it dries out, and that's what's causing it. What you can do is take the intermediate shaft out and re-grease it, but a lot of times, that's only a temporary fix, and what you want to do is replace that shaft. That shaft shouldn't be making that kind of noise. And sometimes, when they get older, there's too much play in there, and that causes the noise.
On the inside of the cab, it's located right here. There is a universal joint attached to it. A lot of times, you want to check if this is making noise. Just grab this, try to rock it up and down. Sometimes, the shaft bearing at the base of the column is bad, but that's pretty rare. Most of the time, it's just the intermediate shaft.
To perform this job, you want to make sure the steering wheel's straight, and you want to lock the steering wheel so it doesn't spin, so you don't break the clock spring while you're doing it. Take this nut off, and then the bolt out up top, and then take the nut and bolt out from down below. And you should be able to telescope it down, and then it's going to slide out inside the cab. Take the new one, slide it back the way the old one came out.
So, if you have a steering clunk in your GM vehicle, whether it's an SUV, a pickup truck, and even some of the cars, chances are you need an upper intermediate shaft, and we actually sell it at 1aauto.com.
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Turn the steering wheel around. There we go.