steering creaks

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colonel

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My Car
73 vert
There´s a creaking sound coming from the steering (column?) of my 73, noticeable in the inside of the car when I turn the steering wheel. Noticed with only low velocities yet, but haven´t driven the car a lot as I am still working on it.

Haynes says there would be joints on the steering rods that can be greased as part of the regular maintenance. Appearantly there should be dust covers that need to be taken off the get to the greasing nipples. The only greasing nipples I could locate are those on the lower ball joints where the lower trailing arms are.

Are the steering joints greasable and do they have dust covers on and if so, how do I remove those?

 
The only "joint" in the steering column is the rag joint, and it's made of a fiber and rubber, so it's not a part that can be lubricated. The steering shaft that runs through the column from the steering wheel to the rag joint is two pieces, I've never seen one make noise, but.... You might want to make sure the steering wheel nut is torqued to spec, and that the rag joint bolts and nuts are tight.

Grease all of the ball joints and tie rod ends on the front end. The upper ball joints are greaseable, you may need to take the tire off to see the Zerk fittings. Also look to see if the idler arm and pitman arm have fittings. Fitting locations can move around depending on if the parts are original, or which aftermarket mfr they are from.

If doing that doesn't fix the problem, I'd put the car up on jackstands and have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you try to locate the sound.

 
Another item to look at is the steering wheel itself. I replaced my steering wheel and after tightening the bolt there is some kind of interferance that creates a rubbing sound when turning. This clearly comes from in between the steering wheel and column. I have not removed the steering wheel yet to explore, but something definitely rubs in there.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 
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Do you have a tilt steering column? If so there is like a Universal joint inside just under the steering wheel. It does not require lube but the pins can work loose. They do make oversize ones if you need them.

On these cars, and any car for that matter, you should be moving when you turn the wheel. If you are sitting still and turn the steering wheel you put way more force into all of your bushings and joints than if you are slightly moving. This is due to the front wheels having to tilt fore and aft and inboard and outboard when the wheel is turned. You are actually scooting the tire using the force of the power steering. This can cause wear and failure of parts way before they should. Just slight movement rolling the tires will take the force way down.

There should be zerk fittings on your upper control arms that you can grease and the ball joints and steering links. The upper joints get missed because you cannot see them that easy pic attached see on each end of the upper control arm, and the upper ball joint. Another fitting that gets missed is your U joints in the drive shaft. Sometimes they get replaced and do not have a fitting.







 
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