My girlfriends 1990 Silverado is making a bad clunking sound when we turn the wheel

[Jason]

Hey guys, I haven't been on this site in a while, but the last time I was you all helped me out a lot, and this time I need a little help again!

I'll post a video soon of what I'm referring to, but she drove it to work this morning, and made a right turn, and suddenly this horrible clunking sound begin to happen. It only happens when she makes a left or right turn. I drove it home for her real slow and carefully. When I got it home I looked under the hood and noticed the intermediate steering column looked loose. I could wiggle the whole thing back and forth like a doorknob turning and the clanking sound was audible in the steering box.


I made a video and I'll post it to YouTube and post the link here in a little bit. Just curious if anyone can chime in on this before I spend all day tomorrow working on it for her. Thanks guys!

 

[Jason]

http://youtu.be/UZu_7YYrG5o

Hopefully the video helps out

 

[Nathaniel2g]

Does the wheel still turn fully? Based on what you've shown the best I can guess would be a failure in one of the retainers or joints of the intermediate shaft. Probably where it attaches to the steering box.

 

[Jason]

Yeah the wheel still turns fully, it just makes that terrible clunking sound whenever she makes a turn. Is it difficult to replace or take out the intermediate shaft?

 

[LSUfan71]

Is it difficult to replace or take out the intermediate shaft?

Not too bad. And it's an opportunity to get rid of the rag joint. Replace yours with one from a mid-90's Jeep Cherokee. It's a drop-in replacement with just a touch of grinding at the connection to shaft at the firewall. The Jeep shaft uses U-joints and eliminates lots of looseness in the steering.

I wonder if it's a problem inside the gear box...

 

[df2x4]

Not too bad. And it's an opportunity to get rid of the rag joint. Replace yours with one from a mid-90's Jeep Cherokee. It's a drop-in replacement with just a touch of grinding at the connection to shaft at the firewall. The Jeep shaft uses U-joints and eliminates lots of looseness in the steering.

I'd think twice about doing this, especially if you're running headers. There have been some failures of those Jeep shafts on these trucks.

http://www.gmt400.com/forum/showthread.php?12087-XJ-Steering-Shaft-Upgrade-%2888-96-Trucks%29/page28

 

[Jason]

Quick update guys. I really need advice lol. It's not the steering column or anything like that. Everything checked out okay when I worked on it Sunday. Even checked the driveshaft. Took it out and everything looked okay. Although when I pulled it out of the transmission, no fluid leaked out. My girlfriend said she hadn't put any fluid in her truck except oil. So I'm curious if no transmission fluid could have done damage. When I took out the driveshaft, I turned her real wheels by hand. I could hear a noise similar to that clunk sound, but it only happened every once in a while. I'm wondering if it's something in the axle now

 

[Jason]

I would hate to have her take this to a mechanic. I've worked on cars since I was 5. But mainly hot rods and 50's cars. I have a Silverado of my own but sometimes I just can't figure out the problem. She barley makes minimum wage and I know how a mechanic can be pricey. I'll help her out with the bill but I would much rather get this fixed myself before she digs a hole in her wallet

 

[Jason]

This is a video I found on YouTube and the sound is identical to this

http://youtu.be/EHlEMmkUg7w

 

[Jason]

The comments on that suggest a bad cv joint, but on her Silverado 2wd, she doesn't have that