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Steering shaft?


Jonmalibuss

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I am making this a sticky so everyone can see this because I just found this out today, I had recently installed the aftermarket Borgeson steering shaft and the "noise or clunk" if you will got worse which tells me yes the stock one was loose. But it got worse because I took up that slack with the new one and the steering shaft might have been part of the problem but from what I found not the major part of the problem...

 

Here's the real update!

 

Well I decided I was going to check everything because I had a looseness after changing the shaft to the aftermarket Borgeson steering shaft like you wouldn't believe. It felt like the damn wheels were gonna fly off at any time. So I took the wheels off after I checked the torque to make sure they weren't loose. I then checked all suspension bolts shock bolts the engine mount bolts the trans mount bolts crossmember bolts rear suspension bolts, hanger bolts, ect... Anything I could check that could cause a looseness and I came up with nothing. I then went on to check the brakes and all bolts holding them on and all was good. I checked the hubs to besure they weren't going away and they felt nice and tight. I then removed the bolt that holds the two halfs of the steering shafts together the aftermarket Borgeson one and the factory piece going to the steering box and I still couldn't get the borgeson shaft to slide by hand which IMO is a good thing because that tells me it isn't loose like someone else here stated it gets. I then put that bolt back in and tightended it down and put my hand around the steering shaft and rotated it very slightly in either dirrection quickly which caused a clunking I then grabbed it and shook it which also caused the clunking, but it's not the steering shaft it self it's the shaft going into the gearbox. I decided to adjust the sector shaft to see if I could tighten up the mesh in the gear box. If anyone has had any experience rebuilding a saginaw style gear box you will understand what I am talking about here... there is a spec. for checking the play in the gear box but the easiest way to check it is to break the lock nut loose that holds the adjuster screw for the sector shaft and tightening it untill you have a slight stiff area right in the middle of your steering or where your wheels are straight. This is supposed to be this way to help keep the vehicle from wanting to wander and keep the wheel from having a loosness while going straight. I'm not talking a stiffness to where it takes effort to move the wheel but while under the hood adjusting the screw grab hold of the steering shaft with the front end off the ground and the wheels and tires off to make it easier to move then adjust the screw in untill you just feel a slight stiffness then tighten the nut back down and you should be good to go! I will see if I can find some good pics to show exactly what I am talking about.

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Wow, so it's the box itself. That is pretty crazy! You still have play when you drive, or feel any vibration now?

Hardly at all I could probably have gone a bit tighter with the sector screw and may do so if I feel I need to but for now it's about 95% better. I will ultimately replace the box with a 12:1 AGR gear box anyways and eliminate that flimsy ass section of the shaft that meets the borgeson shaft and the stock box.

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The last time I took my truck into the shop for the clunk, they replaced my steering gearbox, shaft, intermediate link for the second time and the Pitman and tie rod ends.

 

My service manager told me the gearbox wasn't up to the task of controlling 20" rims and tires and they put a heavier box on my not of the head office or something like that.

I haven't noticed any noises out of it since. The popping noise it was making was very unnerving to say the least, but it's gone now.

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I've gotten some info about the quicker box too with John's help. I'd love to go the a 12:1 box... AGR sttering box

 

I haven't had any problems with the stock box, but I have done a rebuild on my old manual steering box on my '70 vette I used to have. Simple adjustments make a HUGE difference in how much you have to "chase" the car when going down the highway!!! :eek:

Edited by SS_bnoon_SS (see edit history)
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is there a TSB for this?

i dont have a warranty, and would love to have the chevy place fix that clunking that my 2003 SSS does.!

a 3/16" allen wrench and a 5/8" combo wrench and you can do it your self in a very short period of time. It will get rid of most of it but not all because in my case anyways it seems as if the bushing or bearing whatever they are using to support the input shaft in the gear box is also way lose and the only way to fix that would be to replace that bushing or bearing in there. Grab hold of that shaft where the ujoint connects to the gear box and wiggle it up and down and you will most likely feel play there. Also id you have the front end off the ground and it's fairly quiet out and you quickly move it back and forth (rotating) and you will hear the sector shaft clunking because it's not meshed close enough.

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I've gotten some info about the quicker box too with John's help. I'd love to go the a 12:1 box... AGR sttering box

What the EVO they mention there? It states (W/O EVO)

 

You know, I never did ask them what EVO stood for. I just emailed their tech line and he said it would be no problem to build me a box. He said all I had to do was disassemble the box from the pitman arm to let them know the output shaft style (3 or 4 slot). He said that the piston style was smaller from 2wd and 4wd, and that they only had the small piston design available in quicker ratios. I'd imagine it would last quite a long time with the SS viscous coupling though instead of the dead lock regular 4wd style transfer case (plus I run smaller tires anyway).

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