popping noises after BL


the_blue_phantom

the_blue_phantom

15+ Year Member

Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
25
Points
3,101
City
Columbia, SC
Vehicle Year
1998
Transmission
Automatic
so i just put my 3" BL on this past week, and while i was driving around town afterwords i heard popping noises whenever i turned the steering wheel. any ideas on what this may be?
 
I had that on the blazer i had. i did a 2" bl, and every time i turned it would pop. scared me at first, but i found out that i needed to retighten my bolts. try that after a cople hundred miles or so. its due to the body settling on the bushings and stuff.
 
it wouldn't hurt to recheck you steering shaft and make sure its tight, there is also a bundle of wires that go to the starter may want to check and make sure those are still out of the way of the shaft
 
Check steering shaft ext. There shouldn't be any noises at all, just a slightly tighter steering feel which IMO makes the truck feel better.


Check your torque on all your body bolts. When they loosen up, when your driving you'll feel a thud because the cab is lifting off the frame a little bit and slamming back down when you turn.

You did use locktite on the cab bolts right?
 
yes i used locktite on all the bolts. the popping noise isnt coming from the body of the truck, just the steering column
 
steering shaft hitting/contacting the firewall when you turn? Probably have to clearance the bottom of the hole in the firewall.
 
pull that inner fender and check for clearences and tightness of the mounting bolts.... The extention is quite a ways from hitting things but you never know. you shouldn't have any noises or anything at all after the BL. The 4 I've done didn't do this and nobody else have reported what your reporting after theirs. Even with loose bolts, that extention is a pretty tight fit...machined specific to fit in fact.

It could be possible that your alot more aware of noises after the BL went on and you're noticing possible worn out tie rod ends that you didn't notice before because you wern't looking for problems. Or something else wearing out.

Double check everything you touched for and during the lift. You'd be surprised what you'd find that you may have forgetten. I know I've made mistakes while working on my truck before.



EDIT: Just thought of this....did you happen to spin the steering wheel while the two halves were disconnected?
 
No, I made sure that I did not spin the steering wheel while it was disconnected. According to the instructions doing so can lead to "costly repairs" which I tend to avoid when possible. :D The steering extension seems tight, the bolts aren't coming loose but just to be sure I put loctite on those too. I don't see anything coming in contact with the steering column, it just looks kinda normal. And I really don't remember hearing this before the BL either...hmm I have no clue whats going on. Also, I've noticed that this occurs mostly when I'm going at slow speeds (driving in my neighborhood, backing down my driveway, and off-roading) more so than at high speeds.
 
I installed a 3 inch body lift on a 92 toyota and where the shaft goes through the firewall was rubbing when I turned, making a popping sound. The reason it was noticeable at low speeds was because the steering shaft wasnt round. It has two flat sides and two rounded sides. At higher speeds you never turned it sharp enough to make it transition from the flat part to the rounded part which was what the popping sound was. You would have to get under the dash and pull the rubber boot back from the firewall some in order to see where its contacting. Once you se where its hitting, clearance it with a dremel or something similar.

Ron
 
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