97 grand cherokee steering rattle

[jgentil]

My grand cherokee experiences a rattle in the steering wheel when going over bumps. The vehicle has new sway bar links and bushings, new lower control arm bushings and front bearings. The steeing column was inspected and appeared to be good. Also, on inspection the steering links appeared to be good. Any thoughts on this problem are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[JDPascal]

Welcome to AF jgentil...

Is the rattle a noise or a "feel"??

A rattle noise can come from the front brake pads. With miles, the pad ears wear into the caliper supports and then bang up and down against it when you hit a bump.

There are shims available to reduce the clearance between the pad ears and the support. They generally only come in replacement pad sets tho.....

If it is more of a feel, get a friend to move the wheel back and forth with the engine off and use your hand on all the pivot and attaching points to detect any play in the system.

JD

[jgentil]

Thanks JD.

The rattle is definetly a "feel". I will give it a try.

[jgentil]

Originally Posted by jgentil

Thanks JD.

The rattle is definetly a "feel". I will give it a try.

JD,
Following your advise... it appears a shaft in the steering gear box is loose. To repair the problem, is it possible to rebuild the gear box or should I replace with a reman one. Thanks.

[JDPascal]

Which shaft is "loose"?? The input shaft (worm shaft) on top or the output (sector shaft) underneath??

If the steering box truely is the cause of the problem then I would go with a reman or a low mileage used box from a wrecker/recycler.

Most people don't have the tools to work on these correctly and the power steering valve at the top of the worm shaft adds another dimension to the job that even most techs dislike.

JD

[jgentil]

JD,

The input shaft has "play" in it. Thanks.