Front end rattle on 2000 Silverado

[shaf327]

I have a 2000 Silverado with an odd rattle in the front end. When I am turning the wheel (in either direction) and going over some rough terrrain such as a back road or even the "fine" highways here in Pennsylvania somwthing rattles up front. I can only slightly hear it but it's more of a feeling, almost like something is hitting off the steering column. I've had the truck looked at by a mechanic and he says everything is fine - tie rods, ball joints, bushings, bearings. I know of three other trucks that seem to have the same problem ans none of us can figure it out. Anybody out there had the same thing with any better luck finding what it is?

[Jimmiz71]

I have experienced the Same thing in mine here and there, I talked to a mechanic friend of mine and he told me to upgrade my shocks and steering stabilizer, I plan on using the new edelbrock Performer shocks and maybee a Ran

[Jimmiz71]

cut off again,,, Maybee a Rancho stabilizer, My buddy said that the stabilizers wear out and that might be the cause.. hopefully I will get around to replacing them this month and I will let you know if it has made an improvement..
-Jimmy

[desertmike1]

Your problem is most likely the stearing wheel intermediate shaft, this is a common problem and there is a service bulliten fix!
Go see your local chevy dealer.

[jjtotten]

Originally Posted by desertmike1

Your problem is most likely the stearing wheel intermediate shaft, this is a common problem and there is a service bulliten fix!
Go see your local chevy dealer.

I have a 2004 and had a rattle in the front end. Nothing to do with the steering in my case. Found that all the bolts holding the bumper were loose. Hope yours is as simple as that.

[snagelpuss]

Here is how to fix the problem. I did this myself on my 1999 silverado and it fixed it up like a dream. Basically all you do is buy the kit. Just a tube of grease and use the following instructions to fix it.
Here is your GM part # 26098419 i think it cost me 9 bucks.I actually got off my lazy butt today and fixed the rattle in the fiance's truck.If you crawl under the dashboard you will see a 15mm nut and bolt..Remove nut and slide shaft towords engine compartment.Open hood and look at the sterring shaft about half way up..you will see another 15mm nut and bolt..Remove that nutt.Right next to the power brake booster you will see three 10mm nuts..Remove the three nuts holding the rubber insultator.Now the shaft should be free,remove shaft from truck.Just follow the directions that come with the kit and you will be rattle free good luck

Frgot to mention..This job only takes about 15 minutes..Peice of cake

[shaf327]

I talked to my local GM garage. They told me about the grease idea or I could by a new shaft for about $70 bucks but they said it is most likely the rattle would come back. Basically they said GM has a screwed up design on the shaft and it is actually bottoming out. The only thing the grease does is deadin the noise (probably until all the grease runs out again cuz after taking the shaft out I found there is really nothing to hold the grease in).

This is what I did. I removed the shaft, and if you pull it out from the inside you don't have to work around the master cylinder to remove the boot. I noticed on the shaft that slides inside the outer tube that there is a step in shaft diameter up towards the u-joint. This step was hitting against the outer tube when compressed so I "trimmed" it just a little with a grinder. I filled the other end (which is the end outside the cab under the hood) with regular old grease from my grease gun (.99 a tube instead of $9 for a little packet of grease) a re-installed the shaft. So far there has been no more rattle.

[shaf327]

Just wanted to say THANKS to everyone who helped out in this. I can't stand having a rattle or noise that you don't know where it's coming from.

[desertmike1]

shaf327,
Did I understand you correctly in that (all) the work was performed from inside the cab.

This would be great!

-Mike

[shaf327]

Mike

No, I had to remove the shaft completely from the truck but I pulled it out through the cab instead of having to remove the boot behind the master cylinder and taking it out from under the hood. If you take yours out and make the same mods. be carefull putting the shaft back in the truck. When I filled my shaft with grease it was fully extended, to get it back under the dash and through the hole you have to compress it some which of coarse pushes some of the grease out - almost made a mess on my carpet. Also, with the shaft removed the steering wheel can rotate freely. It might be a good idea to tie it off to keep the alignment correct with the wheels before removing it. There is also a sticker on the shaft itself that cautions about rotating the shaft or steering wheel or something like that because it could mess up the air bag. I don't understand how really but I just made sure everything was in the same position from start to end.

James