- Jul 1, 2013
- 749
I've noticed for some time now a slight rattling coming from what seems to be under my dash on the driver's side when driving on rough city streets or doing something like going over speed bumps, but lately it has gotten worse. I can now feel whatever this is in the wheel much more, and it is starting to rattle more and more, it is also showing up in how the steering of the vehicle feels. It seems to want to wander sometimes, much like Mom's Envoy did when the tie rod went out, but not as bad as the old farm truck with a zillion miles and shot tie rods. I initially laid the wandering off on my crappy worn out tires, but I recently got new tires and the wandering is as bad as ever, along with the rattling and the feeling in the wheel that accompanies the rattling. I have checked the tie rods, ball joints, and sway links all thoroughly, and they all check out nice and tight, no play that I can find. When checking the ball joints with the prybar under the jacked up front tires method, I also watched and listened to the struts and they seem to be fine as well, I have read that this has caused rattling of this type before. Is there a definitive test for a bad intermediate shaft, or maybe the steering gearbox? That's the only two things I can think of that would cause this.
Dad's 06 Silverado had a factory recall on the intermediate shaft about a year after it was new. I remember it making the same noise my Envoy is now because of the slop in the shaft, it went away after the dealership put in a new one. Has anyone experienced this before? I've been wrenching on cars since I was old enough to start handing Dad tools, this one's got me a little confused though. I don't want to go throwing money away by shotgunning the fix, especially when the parts are expensive and a pain to mess with like these ones are. Any help is appreciated.
Dad's 06 Silverado had a factory recall on the intermediate shaft about a year after it was new. I remember it making the same noise my Envoy is now because of the slop in the shaft, it went away after the dealership put in a new one. Has anyone experienced this before? I've been wrenching on cars since I was old enough to start handing Dad tools, this one's got me a little confused though. I don't want to go throwing money away by shotgunning the fix, especially when the parts are expensive and a pain to mess with like these ones are. Any help is appreciated.