OH Nooooooo...DENNIS Show them how to tighten them nuts...

 

Forget it!............................................... ................................................You'll need a 13MM socket wrench

 

I found where the noise is comming from.....
It only happens when the vehicle has been running for a long time on a warm (or hot day.... Yup, Texas). So I hear it today driving on a new concrete street (lots of expansion ruts) at any speed from rolling to 25 mph. I head straight home and start crawling around under the front of the H3 (yes, it is turned off). I grab hold of various steering and suspension components that are non-rigid mount to the H3 and atempt to shake them(shocks, sway bar, torsion bars, steering rack tie rods..... STEERING COLUMN SHAFT!). That's it!!! Using one hand, I grab the steering shaft that goes from the firewall where it then connects via a u-joint to the shaft to the steering box. It will move up and down and make the exact clunking sound I here when I am driving it (does not move much, but it moves and makes the sound, you know... like the sound of the exhaust pipe rattling through the frame in a 60 Vette). Odd thing is, it does not do it when the vehicle is cold (so the dealer will most likely think I am a typical new-car-owner-nut-case). It goes in for an oil change and a "rocking drivers seat" in a couple of weeks, so hopefully they will have an idea what is going on with the steering wheel shaft. Anyone else have this problem? Oh and yes, I still think the H3 is a bad-*** little rig for trucking around the good ol' US of A. Logged over 8500 miles on it since new December 29th.

And it aint "guttless & whimpy". Besides, if a V8 tries to kick my *** at a stoplight.... I just drive over them at the next stoplight!

 

That's great that you found the source of the problem, not Gm just need to fix it! Good sleuthing job too!

 

Well I ve got a some what related issue; I have about 15K on my H3T Alpha and I noticed the power stearing making a lot more noise when i have the wheels turned full lock either direction (have to do alternate side parking from time to time so alot of parallel parking).
Today I checked the stearing fluid and again found the manual not fully able to help remove all doubt in what needs to be done. The dip stick doesnt have a line on it sayin Max or Full but abunch of cross hatch marks above a line a cm away from the end of the stick...

I did also look under the hood and saw what looked like a small wet spot on the skid plate directly under the resevoir.

Would the low fluid level cause the sound (faint) while driving even when not turning at full lock (very loud)?
I suppose I need to add some fluid but how much? -Manual doesnt say the volume of the resevoir.

Thansk for any tips!

 

Ben, the larger dia tire definitely strain the stock power steering pump, so it wouldnt surprise me if you were running alittle low, I just changed mine cause it was doing the same, making that faint noise that I always associated with a mid 90s Ford vehicle lol... they all did that for some reason... Taurus to Thunderbird, F-150 to Explorers all had that "wain" to them... I didnt have any leaks though... I would run you hand, or paper towel underneath the rez see if there's any build up... that would indicate if there was a leak IMO

Oh and you did see this thread was from 2007 right? LOL