Anyone ever change out their steering rack bushings?

[Jamminator]

Has anyone changed out their steering rack bushings? The only replacement GM offers is the sleeve bushing (22960484) and Dorman makes one for the two press fit bushings (523267). If I wiggle the rack there's a very small amount of play in the sleeve bushing, but I'm not sure if that would be enough to cause a rattle. I've also read worn rack bushings can cause uneven tire wear because the rack shifts under load.

I've completely rebuilt the entire front end and I still get a minor rattle/clunk over bumps at slow speeds from the front. I've replaced upper/lower control arms, wheel bearings, sway bar bushings, inner/outer tie rod ends, struts, upper/lower ball joints, and driver side engine mount. I've also rechecked everything for play.

Just curious if anyone else has changed their steering rack bushing(s) and what was the result?

 

[mikez71]

I had a little clunk, and a new rack bushing took care of it.
In my case I could whack that end of the rack with my palm and re-create the clunk.

Oddly, the new OEM bushing wasn't noticeably tighter than the old one, but somehow it worked..

 

[Jamminator]

I had a little clunk, and a new rack bushing took care of it.
In my case I could whack that end of the rack with my palm and re-create the clunk.

Oddly, the new OEM bushing wasn't noticeably tighter than the old one, but somehow it worked..

Thank you. I assume you replaced the larger one at the end and not the two pressfit ones? Maybe it has to do with the rubber drying out.

I was thinking of doing all three at once, but maybe I'll just start with the larger one and go from there since it's a 20 minute job versus half day job of taking the rack out.

 

[mikez71]

exactly. and that was my thinking as well.

my rack now leaks a little so I'll probably throw a new rack in eventually, that comes with new pressed bushings anyway.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I can't see what truck you have, but your clunk may be coming from your front differential bushings.

 

[Jamminator]

exactly. and that was my thinking as well.

my rack now leaks a little so I'll probably throw a new rack in eventually, that comes with new pressed bushings anyway.

Thanks. New bushing gets here tomorrow, so I'll swap it sometime in the next few days and report back.

I can't see what truck you have, but your clunk may be coming from your front differential bushings.

2009 Suburban LTZ with 4WD. I have never considered the front diff bushings. I will check them out when I swap the steering rack bushing.

I don't know if it would matter, but it does have the slight clunk over low speed bumps in 2WD, 4WD, or even Neutral. The truck basically lived in 2WD its whole life, so I'm not sure how much the mounts would have ever been abused aside from age, and if just the weight of the front diff/axles alone would be enough to clunk it.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Thanks. New bushing gets here tomorrow, so I'll swap it sometime in the next few days and report back.



2009 Suburban LTZ with 4WD. I have never considered the front diff bushings. I will check them out when I swap the steering rack bushing.

I don't know if it would matter, but it does have the slight clunk over low speed bumps in 2WD, 4WD, or even Neutral. The truck basically lived in 2WD its whole life, so I'm not sure how much the mounts would have ever been abused aside from age, and if just the weight of the front diff/axles alone would be enough to clunk it.

Just check them out and see. Perhaps, they are good, parhaps they aren'y. If they aren't, they will clunk. Fairly common issue with these trucks as they age.

 

[Jamminator]

I had a little clunk, and a new rack bushing took care of it.
In my case I could whack that end of the rack with my palm and re-create the clunk.

Oddly, the new OEM bushing wasn't noticeably tighter than the old one, but somehow it worked..

Swapped bushing and it appears the low speed clunking/rattle sound is gone based on an evening of driving. I'll know for sure on Tuesday, because there is one area I drive that really exacerbated the noise.

It is pretty interesting because the old one was still intact and somewhat pliable, just hardened up. I also looked at the two pressfit bushings and saw no cracking, so don't think it's worth changing those out.

Just check them out and see. Perhaps, they are good, parhaps they aren'y. If they aren't, they will clunk. Fairly common issue with these trucks as they age.

All four mounts were in pretty good shape. I lifted up vertically on each mount and there was no play, so I took a prybar to all four mounts and no play either:

On an different topic, I stumbled upon a video a couple nights ago... The 20:02 mark of this video:

Here are my CV Axles doing the exact same thing:

To be fair, I've known my CV's have done that forever. I bet 9/10 4WD GMT900/K2XX's (same CV axles) make that noise. An easy troubleshoot to see how much noise the CV's are contributing would be just remove them and go for a test drive (as the front diff is external flange, you're not going to damage anything taking them out). I looked up replacement CV's and it seems like a surprising lack of options. Either genuine GM at $700/pair or no-name Chinese.

 

[91RS]

Yes, I used a ball joint press with whatever other various things worked to get them in and out. I did the updated gel filled bushings for the vibration issues on the K2 trucks on my 13 and then used the Energy Suspension polyurethane bushing on the right side. I put the full ES kit in my 08. I am happy with both but I’d just do the ES kit since it’s easier to install. A new OEM rubber bushing for the right side had more play than my original one.

I need to figure out how to get the control arm bushings out so I can try the Nolathane polyurethane bushings.

 

[mikez71]

My CV's do that too.. but are we sure new ones don't have that play?

As the suspension moves up and down, wouldn't an axle/cv that has no end play bind?
I know the upper arm and lower arm will also arc similarly, but with pivots EXACTLY aligned?

With the amount of movement there is currently, I don't think it would have been zero movement when new..

 

[petethepug]

BTW, what year and model truck do you have?

I’ve found that by the time the rack bushings start to go, the rack itself should be replaced. I was planning on going all in with a GM rebuild rack but all the ones I found were questionable for the price and seller history.

I rolled the dice on a super inexpensive rack from Detroit Axle. About $125 shipped, no core charge, lifetime warranty. I did not get the warranty since I kept my old OEM rack for rebuilding.

It’s been almost 2 years now and it’s been flawless. It also cleaned up all the slop in the steering.