steering rack pop??

so a week or so ago i notice a popping noise coming from the front end of my truck. I notice it most often when turning and the suspension flexes. very seldom it will pop under acceleration from a stop. it is only a single pop. when going straight over bumps or speed bumps, it doesn't make any noise. all ball joints are tight, sway bar is taken off, suspension is still pretty new (6k miles on it), but i do have play in my steering rack bushings. could this cause a 'pop' noise? If it were control arm bushings would it pop like this, or make several pops?

 

anyone??

here is a video of my steering rack movement. i understand i could use new bushings, but would it take care of the 'pop' noise?

http://youtu.be/B70z8RA9bt0

 

I'm surprised no-one has responded who has gone thru this. So far, I don't have experience with what you have described, but that video looks scary. Pretty sure its not normal. I'm going to check if mine does the same thing.

Those rack bushings likely need to be replaced, but I'm no expert here. I'd have them done regardless. If the tre's are original, you might as well replace those at the same time.

I hate rack&pinion steering on a truck. OK on cars, but a big mistake by the TRUCK designers. My old 4runner had the old 'steering box' type. Very strong, and never gave any trouble at all for 250k miles. Rack problems are now common and expensive issues.

 

yea ive checked for play in the bushings with the wheels off the ground, but videoing it like this with the wheels on the ground shows a lot more play than i noticed before. so ill be changing the bushings pretty soon

back to my original question tho, would this cause a pop noise? Id prefer not to throw money into things if it won't help my issue

 

Does it do it more often when backing and turning or sometimes just turning going forward? I have a pop too sounds similar but havent T/S it or really looked into it..lol

 

seems like both forward and reverse. i have a curbed driveway and sometimes when i turn to back out, it will pop. most curbed entrances going forward and turning in, it will pop.
basically its most often when I'm turned, and the suspension flexes enough. i get no noise when going straight over bumps/curbs

 

Are you sure its not your cv axle

 

cv's are only 3 months old with just a couple thousand miles on them. no grease coming out either. unless they were installed incorrectly I wouldn't think thats the issue. maybe i could have them checked by the shop that installed them

 

Mine didn't have any grease leaking out either, but mine would pop when I slight turned

 

I'm second gen, but I just had a similar problem. I would get a loud pop when taking a quicker turn or many short pops when making a slow turn. Have you had an alignment recently? Turns out one of my alignment cam bolts was barely more than finger tight causing the lca to shift around in its bracket and make the popping noise. Check out the video on post 12 of this thread: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/241798-loud-clunk-when-steering.html


Anyway, just a thought.

 

The movement of your rack will definitely be significantly tamed with poly mount bushings and really improve handling. The probability of the worn OEM bushings causing a "pop" is not very high. Of course your definition of a "pop" may be different then mine.

Here is a yet to be mentioned, quick thing to check .
The slip joint in that thread can act like a wrench getting stuck on a fastener head then "popping" loose when the wrench is turned the other way.

 

the pop your talking about isnt from the cv axle. if it was the cv axle it would be a constant clicking noise, and happen alot more than once every time.

LCA bushings or rack bushings.

 

Mine has popped for about 2 years....usually backing. I just put new poly bushings on the steering rack and it still pops. About to do tie rods and lower ball joints so I'll see if it stops then...

 

Do you have a diff drop and a skid plate?

 

yep. diff drop and factory skid

ill get a more thorough look this evening and make sure my LCA bushings are ok.

also the sound seems to be coming from the center/drivers side

 

Ok. Does at any point your diff come in contact with your front skid plate?

 

i dont think it does. but ill remove the skid and see if there are any wear marks or just take it off temporarily to drive and see if it does. i havent thought about that

 

My skid plate is well abused and now touches my diff ever so slightly and started making that exact same popping noise. Rolling over curbed sidewalks and even going from reverse to drive and turning the wheels as you would if you backed out a parking stall, made the noise happen. I cut a nice 3x3" square of thin rubber from a floor mat and placed it under the diff where it hits the skid. Problem solved. Haven't popped since. Have to keep in mind that EVERYTHING under the truck has some minor minor movements. Even the front diff. And even more so with the steering rack bushings like yours. I'd drop in a set of the poly ones! It made a world of a difference when I did mine. It hardly moves anymore.

Hope this helps ya! Good luck!!

 

thanks alot! ill dig and see what i can find this afternoon and post if i find what the cause is

 

so turns out mrbeggins was right. I used a big screwdriver between the skid plate and crossmember and pulled the skid plate down and took a drive and the pop is gone. ive jacked the truck up several times lately on the skid/crossmember where the circle indention is and I guess bent it enough to come in contact over time. I installed the diff drop and cv's at the same time a couple months ago so I guess that's why I just recently started hearing it. still gonna install the rack bushings but glad to know I didn't have any major repair to take care of.