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Creakin Steerin

jeepnuts311

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Hey all,

Hopefully you can help with this problem.
A few days ago, my steering started creaking real bad when driving slow and turning the wheels. (pulling in parkin spots, etc), so i re-torqued my steering box bolts, checked everything and added the steering box brace that was lying around my garage, just cuz i thought it might help, but the noise is still there. i had not wheeled or anything in a while so i didnt expect noises.

i was hesistant to drown everything in grease just because i didnt want to mask the noise, i want to be able to track it down. my brother turned the wheels and i could not pinpoint the noise like i could when my trackbar bolt was loose, instead, it was a general creaking like a haunted house, coming from everywhere.

here is what all is new, replaced in october last year.
steering gear box, ball joints, TREs, power steering hoses, all bushings in the front end, trackbar, and trackbar bracket was reinforced with 1/4" steel plate.

any help or leads would be appreciated,

-Tim
 
i had a loud creaking noise in my steering for a while. when i finally tracked it down, it that the passenger side TRE in the knucke. it had actually opened up the tapered hole and was moving around when turning. The TRE was good, the tapered hole int he knuckle was not anymore.

Just something to look at
 
IntrepidXJ said:
i had a loud creaking noise in my steering for a while. when i finally tracked it down, it that the passenger side TRE in the knucke. it had actually opened up the tapered hole and was moving around when turning. The TRE was good, the tapered hole int he knuckle was not anymore.

Just something to look at

Do they make stronger after market d30 knuckles?
 
My 91 was doing the same creaking noise; it turned out to be a bad lower ball joint.

Try jacking up the front end so the tires are off the ground, but support the weight of the truck on the front axle with jackstands, see if it still makes the creaking noise.
 
Possibilities include:

Track bar
Track bar bracket (#1 problem I had)
LCAs
UCAs
Unibody cracking at steering box (VERY COMMON)
Do you have a aftermarket heavy duty bumper? Then your unibody spot welds may be breaking like mine did ;)


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And my favorite AFTER I fixed all the others
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I'd suggest getting a steering box inner and outer reinforcement plates (C-ROK) and also a steering brace (MORE or other places sell them) if you are running big tires because the sub frame will crack around the steering box bolts and other places. Creaking steering could be a lot, but make sure you are not going to lose your steering box due to a sub frame failure.
 
Big Red said:
I'd suggest getting a steering box inner and outer reinforcement plates (C-ROK) and also a steering brace (MORE or other places sell them) if you are running big tires because the sub frame will crack around the steering box bolts and other places. Creaking steering could be a lot, but make sure you are not going to lose your steering box due to a sub frame failure.

i have rustys steering box brace, which was a very tight fit, and it seemed to pull the steering box to the passenger side rather than brace it, and i have thought about getting the C-ROK reinforcement plates as well just to be safe. i read on another thread just an hour ago that aftermarket bumpers and frame stiffeners may be bad for the subframe.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=63133&page=2&highlight=steering+creak

i dont know how much validity that carries, considering how many folks run these reinforcement plates, but the brace that rustys makes seems to just pull in the opposite direction. which is just as bad


thoughts?
-TIm
 
jeepnuts311 said:
i have rustys steering box brace, which was a very tight fit, and it seemed to pull the steering box to the passenger side rather than brace it, and i have thought about getting the C-ROK reinforcement plates as well just to be safe. i read on another thread just an hour ago that aftermarket bumpers and frame stiffeners may be bad for the subframe.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=63133&page=2&highlight=steering+creak

i dont know how much validity that carries, considering how many folks run these reinforcement plates, but the brace that rustys makes seems to just pull in the opposite direction. which is just as bad


thoughts?
-TIm

:laugh: Good job searching. That is my thread. You see all the beautiful cracks.

I don't know how you wheel but I can tell you that I like to wheel hard and my driving style sucks donkey balls.

I welded in on both sides all those JKS reinforcement plates and they didn't do much but transfer the stresses down the unibody. My front bumper is extremely heavy duty and allows ZERO flex so when the unibody flexed out the bumper AND the reinforcement plates DO NOT flex, the unibody would just crack at the leveraged point which was the end of the re-inforcement plates (the track bar bracket area).

Since then I have plated the hell out of my unibody and my problems, so far, have subsided. Even Goat was shocked at my intensly plated frame and I did it on BOTH sides of the unibody.

What does this mean to you? I have no clue. I don't even know how, what or even if you wheel. I would suggest frame stiffeners and an internal cage for starters. It significantly stiffens us the whole chassis and does NOT allow it to flex as easily. This IN CONJUNCTION with Big Reds suggestions of reinforcement plates will SLOW DOWN the inevitable process of the unibody cracking and make a nice noticable difference in ride quality.

Aftermarket bumpers and frame stiffeners are necessary in addition to steering box plates, track bar bracket braces, and steering box braces. They all have to work together to keep your junk together.

All my cracking started with 33s and went ape $hit when I was on 35s. I am now on 37s and it is a LOT better.
 
Last edited:
ok, here is the breakdown on the noises after doing some tests.
the verdict: I'm retarded.

i have had swaybar issues in the past (keep bending it) so i took it off, there were still noises.

my first plan was to wash it and grease everything because they havent been greased since i replaced them. so after 30 mins at the pay'N'spray car wash i could seee my frame again and everything looked shiny and brand new, now i could see what i was doing a lot better. drove it home NO more noises. WTF.

so i greased everything anyways and drove it around the block a few times and there are still no noises.

so, i will wait a few days to see if the noises come back, but so far all it needed was a good bath.

-tim
 
Hey,
Sorry to bump this BTT, but the noises are back, and i am confused.

like i mentioned before, after pressure steam washing the underside very well all the noises went away, but they came back about a day later.

the only moving part on the front axle that hasnt been replaced are the knuckles, could they be making the noises?

the noise seems to be coming from the area near the left tire. i have replaced teh steering stab, reinforced the trackbar mount, new control arms (RE) and ball joints and TREs.

-Tim
 
jeepnuts311 said:
Hey,
Sorry to bump this BTT, but the noises are back, and i am confused.

like i mentioned before, after pressure steam washing the underside very well all the noises went away, but they came back about a day later.

the only moving part on the front axle that hasnt been replaced are the knuckles, could they be making the noises?

the noise seems to be coming from the area near the left tire. i have replaced teh steering stab, reinforced the trackbar mount, new control arms (RE) and ball joints and TREs.

-Tim
.

Do you have an aftermarket bumper?
 
cracker said:
.

Do you have an aftermarket bumper?

not yet. currently i have rustys tow hook brackets and the stock XJ bumper with a hilift jack mounted on it. i am waiting on my JCR stage 2 winch bumper to come, should be here next week (with unibody tie ins)

no visible cracks in my unibody

thanks for the help, cracker

-Tim

if it helps, i ran with no bumper and just the tow hook brackets for about a year
 
stethoscope and start probing. Maybe something will pop up. In a pinch, even a long screwdriver can serve as a stethoscope.
edit: I admit it: I saw it on Trucks! once.
 
Last edited:
jeepnuts311 said:
not yet. currently i have rustys tow hook brackets and the stock XJ bumper with a hilift jack mounted on it. i am waiting on my JCR stage 2 winch bumper to come, should be here next week (with unibody tie ins)

no visible cracks in my unibody

thanks for the help, cracker

-Tim

if it helps, i ran with no bumper and just the tow hook brackets for about a year

Tim,

Can you remove your track bar bracket? Clean and inspect the area (including the bracket itself). Before re-installing move the vehicle for and aft and see if the noise is present while turning (a little is fine at low low speed) to see if the noise disapears. Then grease the bracket a little and re-install. It should take you no more than 30 minutes.

Let us know

Thanks

-Avery
 
cracker said:
Tim,

Can you remove your track bar bracket? Clean and inspect the area (including the bracket itself). Before re-installing move the vehicle for and aft and see if the noise is present while turning (a little is fine at low low speed) to see if the noise disapears. Then grease the bracket a little and re-install. It should take you no more than 30 minutes.

Let us know

Thanks

-Avery

hey, are you talking about the track bar bracket at the frame? i could do that. the part i have reinforced with 1/4" plate is the axle end of the bracket which was wallowed out.

-Tim
 
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