I finally figured out the weird noise on that 2018 Silverado

Last Thursday, a customer brought in his truck saying there was a rattle from the front end only when turning left. I put it on the lift in my bay in Cincinnati and couldn't see anything loose. I was about to call it a bad wheel bearing, but I decided to check the intermediate steering shaft. Sure enough, after I disconnected it and gave it a wiggle, I felt a tiny bit of play. It wasn't the bearing at all. I greased the splines with some white lithium and re-torqued the pinch bolt to 35 ft-lbs. The noise was gone. It's easy to miss because the play is so small. Has anyone else had a Silverado with a rattle that only shows up on one side?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonf1726d ago

My buddy's 2017 had the same exact thing. That intermediate shaft play is so small you can barely feel it.

the_kim26d ago

Disagree completely, that tiny bit of play is a huge red flag. On my old truck, a similar wobble in the shaft led to a full transfer case rebuild. You can't ignore even the smallest movement in those parts.

spencer826d ago

Yeah, that "barely feel it" play is the worst. I mean, my old car had a tiny bit of slack in a linkage and it drove me nuts for months before it finally went. Idk, maybe it's just me but I start noticing every little noise after that.