anyone elses steering rack take a dump?

[paroxysym]

so i pull up to my house tonight and im checking how close to the curb i am so i turn my wheels back and forth. upon doing so i hear a pronounced thud/pop on the drivers side. i can feel it in my steering wheel and through the pedals. i turned them back and forth twice and it did it both times while in drive. i threw it in park, opened the door and it didnt make that loud of a thud/pop. i did alittle search and it sounds like the tell tale signs of the rack going bad on my jeep.

what pisses me off is i never wheel her, she has 73k on her, and i have replaced all the components in the front end for the most part- shocks, swaybar, swaybar bushings, swabar links and bushings... just adding this to the reasons im considering going back to stock. anyone else have this?

[superacerc]

Ewww, I just started getting a pop when turning and the tires are aired down. I just assumed out was the tie rod joints going bad. I hope it's not the steering rack. It doesn't do it with the tires pumped up tight. Less friction equals no noise.

[Matt]

I can get mine to make the same noise.... almost sounds/feels like a joint in the steering culumn is binding/popping. I don't think its the rack.... ill have to have my wife turn the steering wheel tonight while I probe around and find out where the noise is coming from.


.... and I only have 37,000 miles. So quite yur whining. :p

[BonesWK]

I also get a noise similar to what you all are describing. 92k on it.. I figured it was tie rod or cv joint? or just the jeep being a jeep...

[LWM]

I have the same sound and 23,000 miles. Just assumed it was a normal noise from the front end.

[BonesWK]

I have the same sound and 23,000 miles. Just assumed it was a normal noise from the front end.

Dang dude 23k.. do you ever drive that thing? Mint! Well done

[LWM]

Dang dude 23k.. do you ever drive that thing? Mint! Well done

50% of those miles are off-road or driving to off-road events :)

[superacerc]

glad To see I'm not the only one. I was thinking ball joints on tie rods.

[Matt]

My balljoints and tierods are in good shape. I'm guessing joint/bushing in steering column or steering rack bushings. The increased tierod angles make the steering rack work harder to turn the tires so there are higher side loads and there's also a "new" vertical force acting on the rack as well. I haven't checked yet to see if we have serviceable bushings.... I need someone to turn my wheel so I can troubleshoot...

[LWM]

Is the rack one of the covered components in the powertrain warranty?

[Matt]

I don't think so..... but don't quote me on that.

[cico7]

Four-Wheel Drive (4X4): transfer case and all internal parts; transfer case control module
and shift mode motor assembly; axle housing and all internal parts; axle shafts; axle shaft
bearings; drive shafts assemblies (front and rear); drive shaft center bearings;
universal joints and yokes; disconnect housing assembly; seals and gaskets
for the listed components only. Could it fall in here?

[Matt]

No, the steering rack does not fall into any of those categories.

[07JeepXK]

No problems so far with my steering rack and im sitting at 95,000 miles. I bought my Jeep brand new and it had like 6 or 8 miles on the odometer when i took it for the test drive. I do a fair amount of off roading to and im not talking about driving on the grass in my back yard...lol

[Sal-XK]

No issues with mine I'm at about 77K right now and off road a lot but I drive like an old man on the road. I think hard street driving is way harder on a jeep then crawling rocks :)

[Matt]

The next time you park your car, turn the steering wheel left and right a few times when you're sitting still. That's what I get the pop sound.

Driving around normally there's absolutely no issue or noise.

[BonesWK]

The next time you park your car, turn the steering wheel left and right a few times when you're sitting still. That's what I get the pop sound.

Driving around normally there's absolutely no issue or noise.
Right there with you man.

Except my shocks are going and I get some funny noises driving down the road. 92k on the stock shocks with a lift lol.

[Sal-XK]

The next time you park your car, turn the steering wheel left and right a few times when you're sitting still. That's what I get the pop sound.

Driving around normally there's absolutely no issue or noise.\

Ok tried it and nothing no noise popping or anything. I tried it in park and in drive while holding the brake. Knock on wood!!

[Holaday07 4.7]

I am at 98,900 and cant get that poping noise either. I see it as a weak point in the XK, but it will be addressed when it dies completly

[superacerc]

If my tires are pumped up nice and tight i don't get the noise. If they are down a bit at a nice comfy level i start to notice it only when sitting still and turning side to side a few times. It's quite a decent pop so it's not something you would overlook if you were paying attention to it. I first noticed it when at big bend and my tires were at 17psi or so. At 50 ish nothing. low 40s i get it.

[criket]

Mine does it sometimes. It did it when I left work this evening. I even felt my steering wheel bump to the left, lol.

It would be cool to put hydro assist on it in addition to the power steering pump already there. You could probably turn it with a pinky, lol.

[paroxysym]

The next time you park your car, turn the steering wheel left and right a few times when you're sitting still. That's what I get the pop sound.

Driving around normally there's absolutely no issue or noise.

same here.. its a pretty loud pop.

[BonesWK]

just to make sure, this pop is different than the pop/sound you get when your sway bar bushing go bad?

Change the bushing, and or end links and see if that stops the popping. Fairly cheap items to have change or change yourself. Good place to start IMO

[Matt]

If the popping sound is like mine and does not do it at all while driving but can be repeated while sitting still and just turning the steering wheel (ie the sway bar is not moving), then its not the sway bar.

Also, if it can be repeated while sitting still and turning the steering wheel, there's an even cheaper method to diagnose the issue rather than throwing parts at it...... have someone turn the steering wheel while you track down the origin of the noise and then replace the part that's actually popping. (That's what ill do when I get some time anyway)

[robby]

I believe every poster here that can hear/feel this is actually feeling a bind/slip in the steering column at the steering u joint.
Very common, not just to Jeep.....just about every manufacturer has had issues with this design.
As most have noted, the feeling is worse with the engine off because there is no assist.....the steering shaft is really being loaded hard with the engine off.
Some of us that have been on the various forums from the XK's beginnings should remember this issue when these things were only a year old.
Many of us had the dealer replace the shaft under warranty, only to find the sound/feel had returned in just a few months.

Anyways, highly unlikely this is a rack problem.

Rob

[Matt]

Yup... very common issue with GM trucks as well and they even came out with a new design to try and correct it.

[jrabenaldt]

I noticed that sound twice just after I installed the lift. That was before the alignment and not a sound out of it since then. And that is with almost 97K on it.