Front Sway Bar Adjustment????

honeykeeper · Jan 1, 2005

I hear a knock or pop on the drivers side wheel well area in the morning before I get my Titan on the pavement.....on the gravel road on small pot holes it is like a loud popping noise. I looked at the sway bar. It has a small vertical connecting rod on each side with small like ball joints on it. On the passenger side end of the sway bar the little rod is vertical and on the drivers end of the rod it is not vertical???? Is this ok or does the sway bar get adjusted so both connecting rods are the same???? What else might be making the pop noise??? After I get it on paved roads it goes away.
Thanks Tom :cheers:

loufish · Jan 1, 2005

Both links should be the same on flat ground....good time for a few pics. There is no adjustment for the links. Check the sway bar mounts at the frame, make sure nothing is lose, or shifted.

honeykeeper · Jan 1, 2005

Pop noise is it the torsion bar or sway bar????

loufish said:
Both links should be the same on flat ground....good time for a few pics. There is no adjustment for the links. Check the sway bar mounts at the frame, make sure nothing is lose, or shifted.

Thanks loufish....
Visually all mounts and nuts look good..the tilted link looks better today. Knocking on both sides with a rubber hammer does nothing. However I notice when I tap on the torsion bars with the rubber hammer on the passenger side it makes a loud knock in the green cylinder housing in the middle where the torsion bars connect. If I knock on the driver side torsion bar there is no sound in the green housing....Any more ideas??? Maybe I'm getting closer to the pop noise in the morning????? Thanks.Tom :cheers:
I looked again..looks like these rods are the steering system rods.and the cylinder that controls them is where the knocking sound comes from on hitting the passenger side rod. :huh:

PrerunnerGreg · Jan 1, 2005

Sounds like the steering rack and NOT the sway bar. Maybe some pics to help you diagnose the problem. The sway bar itself is not directly connected to the frame at all, it is mounted to the a-arm through links then isolated by rubber bushings through clamps on the frame. The tie rods are connected to the cast upright on one end and to the steering rack on the other end. Crawl underneath and check the bolts that connect the rack to the frame. There are 2 joints on each tie rod, grab the rod and tug on it, there should be no movement. Then, have your significant other start the truck and rock the steering wheel back and forth while you examine the front suspension components for anything that may pop or bind. There are no torsion bars on Titans.

honeykeeper · Jan 1, 2005

Steering Control Cylinder not the Sway Bar?????

PrerunnerGreg said:
Sounds like the steering rack and NOT the sway bar. Maybe some pics to help you diagnose the problem. The sway bar itself is not directly connected to the frame at all, it is mounted to the a-arm through links then isolated by rubber bushings through clamps on the frame. The tie rods are connected to the cast upright on one end and to the steering rack on the other end. Crawl underneath and check the bolts that connect the rack to the frame. There are 2 joints on each tie rod, grab the rod and tug on it, there should be no movement. Then, have your significant other start the truck and rock the steering wheel back and forth while you examine the front suspension components for anything that may pop or bind. There are no torsion bars on Titans.

Hi Greg......
It happens when the steering wheel is dead ahead or to the right.not the left.....sounds like it is in the green steering hydraulic cylinder when I knock on the passenger side steering rod....so in the morning when I go down the bumpy road driving straight...I hear the pop/rattle/knock sound.....should there be any noise like that in the steering control cylinder??? Don't know why I seem to hear and feel it on the drivers side though????? Sway bar looks fine. Thanks Tom :cheers:

PrerunnerGreg · Jan 1, 2005

A couple things to look at, the bushings for the upperand lower a-arms, and, most likely, the steering rack itself. It is actaully a pretty simple design, and there should be no clunck or noise form the rack or the inner joint that is inside the rubber boot, that sits just outside the rack. You might want to have the dealer look at it (oh man, did I just say that). maybe a pic of where the noise is coming from will help isolate it too.

honeykeeper · Jan 1, 2005

nding like it is in the rubber boot????

Hey Greg.Thanks....Here is some more info....if I pull down on the middle of the rubber boot and tap on the top end of that steering rod the sound goes completely away.....seems to be coming from the middle of the rubber boot on the passenger side???? Any ideas there??
And yes the dealer will look at it on Tuesday. Now I'm wondering if the transmission shudder my Titan still has may have caused this in the steering system???? They are going to look at that issue also on Tuesday.
I will take pics tomorrow morning of all.......soon to find out about the pop/rattle/knock sound!!! Thanks again...Tom :cheers:

PrerunnerGreg · Jan 1, 2005

Ok tom, were getting somewhere now. Inside that boot is one of the joints on the tie-rods. I personally have not taken the boots off, so im not privey to the joint design, but im sure its very similar to all the other r&p trucks out there. Those joints get wasted really quick on rangers, you may just have a bad one. The only other thing may be a bushing in the steering rack itself. If there is any play on the inside of that joint, between the joint and the steering rack itself, the bushing is most likely toast. Keep us posted on what they say, im sure its under warrantee. Im gonna guess the tranny thing is not related at all to the steering, gawd i hope not.

honeykeeper · Jan 1, 2005

Knock in Rubber Boot!!!??

PrerunnerGreg said:
Ok tom, were getting somewhere now. Inside that boot is one of the joints on the tie-rods. I personally have not taken the boots off, so im not privey to the joint design, but im sure its very similar to all the other r&p trucks out there. Those joints get wasted really quick on rangers, you may just have a bad one. The only other thing may be a bushing in the steering rack itself. If there is any play on the inside of that joint, between the joint and the steering rack itself, the bushing is most likely toast. Keep us posted on what they say, im sure its under warrantee. Im gonna guess the tranny thing is not related at all to the steering, gawd i hope not.

Hey Greg...Thanks......I know it is under warranty......sounds like a bushing or bearing on the tie rod to cylinder connection.....I guess they will remove the boot on tuesday.....and we will see what it is. I'll certainly let everyone know what they find..Anyone else ever have this happen?????Thanks again..Tom :cheers:

honeykeeper · Jan 5, 2005

Tie Rod shot at 4,400 miles

Update..1-04-05 tuesday......had my Titan in the shop as scheduled.....technician found both ends of the passenger side steering tie rod are worn-out???!!!! Thus making metal popping noise....4,400 miles and no offroading just the usual 4 x 4 up down steep driveway twice daily and usual mix of town/city/hiway driving. Glad I crawled under and checked things out recently. Now parts are on order. Anyone else had a tie rod go yet???? :cheers:

sirlance · Jan 5, 2005

hope you have time to wait. it will take some time to get the rack. they are or were on back order. it is very easy to install. I put one on today that was leaking. it was orderd on 10-29-04.

honeykeeper · Jan 5, 2005

Rack or Rod ends????

Hey sirlance...maybe now they have plenty in stock....somewhere.....The Titan isn't even limping so no sweat here.....I think it's just the tie rod ends....not rack....but I'll have to ask one more time since you mentioned it..so can you change the rod ends, whole rod or rack or what???..thanks Tom :cheers:

sirlance · Jan 5, 2005

you can change the outer, but I don't think it's outer

honeykeeper · Jan 5, 2005

Replace-them-both!!

hey sirlance.workorder says "ordered front right inner and outer."....it seemed to be coming from in the rubber boot...or cylinder end next to it......then the last time I tapped it sounded a little like the outer was making a little knock also so probably better to change both ends....like axle boots?????? GetirDone!!!lol

sirlance · Jan 5, 2005

To replace the inner, it means a rack I believe.

titanwild · Jan 6, 2005

Tom,
Keep the info coming, mine is making exactly the same noise under the same conditions!
Thanks,
Dale

honeykeeper · Jan 6, 2005

Tie Rod ends rebuildable.....

Hi Dale......are you going under and tapping on it also???? Does it pop on gravel roads or what??? New info. is I called today to the dealer..they have ordered tie-rod ends....so the rod is rebuildable.no rack or cylinder problems that I know of. How many miles on yours?????? :cheers:

honeykeeper · Jan 6, 2005

How many miles did it have?????

sirlance said:
hope you have time to wait. it will take some time to get the rack. they are or were on back order. it is very easy to install. I put one on today that was leaking. it was orderd on 10-29-04.

How many miles were on that Titan???? Was it a 4 x 4 or 4 x 2???? What State do you work in??? Thanks Tom :cheers:

honeykeeper · Jan 13, 2005

Out of tolerance from day#1

Update: 1-13-05.....Tie rod ends are here.....they will be installed when the new tranny comes.....hopefully next week. Dealer thinks they were out of spec./tolerance from day #1.....same with my tranny for those that have been following the almost 3 month shuddering it has been doing. I,m glad all have finally agreed the tranny shudder is not "NORMAL" as others have indicated it is!!!!
Will keep all posted of the great progress!!! I was pissed for awhile and now feel better about my Titan!!!......Peace-Tom
:cheers: Bass Ale :cheers:

08crewcab · Mar 20, 2012

Bringing back an old thread... I changed my oil today and rotated the tires and noticed it looks like my sway bar shifted one way. There are 2 metal brackets close to where the sway bar rubber mounts are. One metal bracket is about 1/3 of the Way in to the rubber bushing the other is like 2-3" away from the rubber bushing. My truck pulls to the right and I'm thinking about ditching the front sway to see if this eliminates my alignment problem..... I'll post up a vid tomo to get some of your guys thoughts..

Front Sway Bar Adjustment????

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loufish

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PrerunnerGreg

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PrerunnerGreg

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PrerunnerGreg

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sirlance

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titanwild

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