Something interesting is occurring with my steering. At certain times (Im not sure if it speed related or road conditions) my steering wheel clatters left and right like those wind up gag teeth. Any ideas what could cause this? Is a rag joint going out? The steering wheel itself isn't loose, the wheel just clatters intermittently.

Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Thanx in advance.

 

No one? Could it be tires?? This problem is getting worse.

 

It could be MANY things.

Jack your car up and see what is loose.

or

Have someone move the wheel back and forth and you look and whats loose under the car.

Really hard to guess but when your checking things don't forget to look at your wheel bearings to make sure they are still tight.

 

Like rawley said, could be many things. Another thing to check is to see if a wheel weight has fallen off, that would cause the tires to become out of balance and could cause steering wheel vibration.

 

Definately something is severely worn in the front suspension pivots or bushings. Either a ball joint or a strut mount that will aloow the wheel to wobble violently. When the wheel wobbles, it sends the vibration through the steering linkage assembly and thus up through the steering shaft to the wheel.

 

The intermediate steering shaft has some play in it. I am going to do the Cherokee shaft swap tonight (I know the Astro is better, but the Cherokee requires no specialized modification). It is going in tommorrow for new tires, balancing, alignment, etc. We will see.

 

Before you pay for an alignment, request they check your strutmount bushings and balljoints, basically give the car a quick lookover underneatht he front ot see it it even warrants a gauranteed alignment. If they do the alignment and something is worn, it will still not matter and you will be out the money.

 

The alignment is a package deal with the tires. But, I will have them check it out anyways. Got the Cherokee steering shaft in, went around the block, BIG difference. Hopefully tires will clear up everything else.