I tried this... worked for a while... Now it does not even help.

My wife took the JK to work the other day and pulled off the road and called me as she was really concerned with the clunking.

What is an intermediate shaft cost these days? Any after market options yet?

 

OEM Intermediate shaft will run you about $70. Borgeson tried making a couple prototype shafts for JK owners and they actually made the clunk worse, which leads me to my next point..

Anything can cause a clunk. The stock tie rod even caused a clunk as it got worn, and when I replaced with a beefier aftermarket one it went away. Then there was the time it was the bushing above the shaft, replaced the shaft and greased it and it went away. Next time it came back I replaced the shaft and it did not go away. Replaced the box and it went away.

My point is there is a lot wrong with the steering components used and any of them can cause the clunk feeling.

8 out of ten times though its the shaft or box.

25 pages on here now and still no redesign of these parts by Jeep.

 

Just back from the dealership....the clunk they say is the steering arm..surprise surprise surprise so ima gettin it replaced again!!! told them the guys in the JK forum have a fix by putting grease in the splines under the boot, says he'll make sure they pack the new one for me. hopefully this new dealership turns out better.....seems good so far.

 

Ok OK, so I have to admit, I have no time to read through all this, and I have just developed a problem with a clunk in my steering.

Here's how it works... I notice it when I turn right only, and only when I just start to turn right. It's kinda like a pop, but not terribly loud, it's noticeable form inside. So I stood outside and my girlfriend turn the wheel and it is definitely noticeable on the outside of the Jeep, it's strange indeed. I kinda thought it could be the steering stabilizer that I have because it seemed to me like it was coming from there...but I could be wrong. I read some other clunky steering threads and I am lost. I now nothing about our steering set up. I have a Teraflex stabilizer. It has never given me any issues and it is not rubbing or hitting anything. So what is the diagnosis?

It just started today, and the temperature here is 15 degrees fahrenheit. does that matter at all? Help!!!!

Thanks.

 

I had the same problem.. and before the pop started, i had previously installed an aftermarket steering stabilizer. The brackets of the new ss were not inthe same place as the factory stabilizer. After playing around trying to figure out the pop.. my buddy and I finally realized two things..

#1, the new SS was not sitting on top of the shaft corrctley, and was rotation in an awkward twist when you turned to the right.

#2, the u bolts that held the SS in place would slip about 1/4 an inch in both directions..

I re-installed the stabilizer and used a torque wrench to properly tighten the bolts.. this was three weeks ago.. have not had any problems since.

 

Gentalmen of the forum, this may not have anything to do with a JK, but just a thought. I bought a new 4wd Tahoe in 02 at about 10,000 miles it developed a slight klunk in the steering, most noticeable on slight turns left or right it dnd'nt matter, felt like loose lug nuts to me. To the dealer, they informed me that it had faulty steering shaft seals that let the grease run out from between the inner and outer steering shaft, because of the clearence between the shafts this was the rattle I was feeling, it would taken care of under warranty. Grease was added seals were replaced, all was well for about 30,000 miles, rattle returned, dealer replaced intire seering shaft under warranty, end of probblem, Tahoe now has 125,000 miles on it.

Just food for thought.

Ken G.

 

I had the clunk bad at 30k miles in my 07, did the 5th wheel grease fix and completely eliminated the issue.

It works.

 

i had the clunk..told the dealer and he replaced the entire steering setup because he saw rust lol. i got the lifetime maxcare bumper to bumper so i didn't have to pay, thank god...fixed the problem somehow, even though i know its an issue with stock parts.

 

It is the intermediate steering shaft.....When I owned a few H3's, a year or two back, they both had the same exact issue. Had to have the dealer install a new shaft and all was well, except when I went offroading in the hot weather......especially idling. The engine bay would get so hot that the grease would run out and the coupler needed to be repacked.
I couldn't believe it when I felt that same clunk about a week ago in my new JK. I only have 2000 miles on it....seems like chrysler and gm buy their parts from the same places.......
Does anyone have a sticky or pic thread showing how to re-pack the grease on the JK?

 

Look here, https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/attention-all-clunky-steering-people-11927/ for some other stuff.