Steering wheel clunk

Hello Everyone.

Got a little problem i was hoping someone could help provide insight on.
Truck was driving fine and I went out to a gravel pit with my dad and upon leaving i could hear and feel a clunk in the steering. I first thought it was a sway bar link as they are the facory links with nearly 120000K on the truck. Upon driving it to get new links I noticed the clunking in the parking lot and it went away within a few seconds. I started fiddling with the adjustable steering wheel and noticed when extending it the clunk comes back for a second and i can feel a little play in the steering wheel when almost fully extended. Put it all the way in and no problems. Im fairly certain that its gotta be something loose along the column. Anyone deal with this before? Also how urgent would this be to fix as im currently 1600km from home.

 

a knuckle maybe on steering line?

 

Welcome from OKC! Have someone steer it both ways while someone else watches the rack itself for slop. The rack bushings are a somewhat weak link in the system. Don't seem like your problem, but might be and easy enough to check. Keep us updated on this thread, it may help the next guy. TIA!

 

Ok so I checked it out with a suspicion of the steering shaft and that seems to be the issue.
Rack and pinion has zero movement, tie rods outer is new and inner are still good.
Problem occurs when first turning the truck on and the steering wheel and seat both move to the set position.

Behind the steering wheel you got that first U joint that then goes through the floor. When the steering wheel moves in and out it usually stays put but sometimes having the wheel move closer to the seat pulls that shaft with it when that happens the play returns and when grabbing the shaft I can wiggle it. Upon pushing the shaft back down its firm again.

I noticed a metal clip in the middle of the shaft after the U joint closer to the wheel just sitting there. I suspect its there to stop this from happening so I pushed it back closer to the wheel but after a bunch of actuations it still ended up working its way back down. As a temporary fix I greased the slip joints, moved that clip up and then as any self respecting mechanic would do used a shit ton of zip ties. The shaft stays put now and steering is firm. Probably going to replace both steering shaft parts when I get home though.

It aint a pretty fix. But it will do.

 

Yay, truck has a band aid! Now, you really need to find ya one of those female companion things to grab and wiggle your shaft. Also applying a bunch of tight zip ties to one's shaft may have some unwanted consequences!

 

Seriously, pull the fuse or relay that activates the column actuator so it isn't trying to move.

 

@2mchfun Lol ill have to tell my Girlfriend that one. Tell her shes supposed to hold the ole shaft so I dont have to use zipties .

And I just changed the settings so the wheel stays pushed in to the dash. I got long arms so driving like that isnt a problem.

 

Quite a screen name for a guy with a shaft issue...

 

@2mchfun it's why the ladies love me lol.

Serious note though. Is there supposed to be this much movement in the shaft?

 

Sorry, I wouldn't know the answer to that question, never worked on one. However, there must be a way for the telescopic portion to move and lock into a fixed position somehow. I'm just glad you got things snugged up to get you home for now. Pretty sure you could find one in salvage to examine or even ask another owner if they will let you take a gander at their steering mechanism. Someone else may chime in with more knowledge too. @empty_lord, maybe you can advise?