The rack and pinion and the tie rods are weak. I have a friend trying a rack swap, a 2500 into a 1500. email me and I will let you know how it goes. kevin@radymotorsports.com

 

Its not the tie rod ends or rack and pinion. I have narrowed it down to something in the steering shaft or possibly inside the cab.

 

I have that problem on my 05. There is a plastic bushing under the dash and it sits around the shaft. When I hit bumps, it rattles and annoys the crap out of me. All I did was put a bead of epoxy around it securing it better to the shaft. Haven't heard it since!

 

I had the same problem with my 2001 in 02. It was replaced under warranty. Here is a site with some information about it. http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4284

 

I had the same problem on my 2005 Silverado and 2003 Yukon, the local Chevy dealer called it a "I shaft" cost about $130 for parts a labor.

 

Had a 03 that had I believe the same problem as you guys have, at first it was a clunking when I turned to the left, the dealer put a grease kit in the steering shaft which lasted for less than a year, after that it was done I believe 3 (grease kits, they cost $35 plus labor, I had warranty) more times. Just as the 3/36,000 warranty runs out I have this kit done once more, did not help for long. A short time later I get this satisfaction survey in the mail from Chevrolet, well I wrote the entire history of this problem and my frustration with the dealer and mailed it back. A very short time after this I get a call from the dealership saying they are going to make it right with me, they changed out the steering box and never had the problem back. Should have done this right out the gate. Any way some food for thought with some of you guys because I do know it can be very frustrating. Tim

 

If you had it fixed under warranty and its the same proble, I believe that it still is covered, just tell the dealership that it is still faulty and that the original problem is still happening. Thats what I was told at the dealership I go to, they've fixed things out of warranty for me for free as long as it was a preexisting *documented* problem when the warranty was still good.

 

is your problem manifesting itself at: taking off; stopping; hitting a pothole/bump; sometimes turning and hitting a bump? and it feels exactly in the steering wheel and annoys the hack out of you?

then you have infamous intermediate steering shaft disease. it's so common on silverados and their suv brethren that i am amazed chevy was not sued yet, as it runs virtually on any truck make from mid 90s to present day.

silverado has 2 steering shafts: upper and lower. stealerships used to "exercise" upper shaft and lube it with chevy magic grease with PTFE, which lasted about few weeks. as of several yrs they quit doing this and now should replace it with "redesigned" steering shaft.

i had mine replaced about a mth ago. it is around $100 part from stealership and about 15 min job, involving upside down crawling underneath the dashboard.

also, gm extended their coverage for those parts, and now they "participate" in repair costs up to 70K miles, which means - they will not replace it under warrenty, they will knock off some of the cost, more miles = less discount.