Clunk in the steering
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 116
Likes: 0
From: poop, CA
yup i have had this problem since day 1, in addition to a squeaky drivers seat, rattling doors, squeaky clutch pedal.
this vehicle is the biggest piece of sh* t in terms of quality.
sure, it can go offroad with the best of 'em, which for me is about twice a year... but when its on-road its the biggest piece of crap and i think i should have bought an FJ from Toyota.
this vehicle is the biggest piece of sh* t in terms of quality.
sure, it can go offroad with the best of 'em, which for me is about twice a year... but when its on-road its the biggest piece of crap and i think i should have bought an FJ from Toyota.
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,071
Likes: 1
From: Attleboro, MA
Guys, I just fixed what I thought was the steering clunk in my 07 2dr 6sp JK.
The not so good part - I poked around under the hood and corrected two issues. I don't know which one fixed it.
The good part - both were perfectly free and simple.
I had the same symptoms that many describe -- audible clunk or knock (or even a 'pop') felt in both the wheel and the pedal -- going under the hood you can feel a bit of play in the steering shaft -- the knock would go away for a bit, but then return again when I'd drive on a rough road like a dirt road, and stay for days after... (lately the issue has been there full-time)
1) The hard-line for the clutch catching on the firewall-mounted heat shield.
It's pretty hard to describe how it was catching -- but where the line would cross over the upper edge of the heat shield at a 90* angle, and then turn down behind it- any flexing in the drivetrain or body could have been causing those two parts to catch each other very roughly and release with a 'thunk' to the heat shield. That heat shield was transmitting that 'thunk' through the firewall. A tweak of the line and the heat shield stopped this.
2) The hard AC lines up in the center of the firewall had play, and would 'clunk' with any movement of the lines.
I don't know the mechanics of what caused this - but I took the lines and got ham-fisted with them, tweaking them up slightly to put some tension on the bushing on the firewall when they were at rest. Another wiggle or two to verify that the clunk wasn't happening anymore, and that was it.
It'd certainly be interesting if either of these fix anyone elses issue. I have suspicions it was the AC lines, judging by what I felt/heard when I was under the hood.
I'm happy as anything that the JK doesn't feel like a literal 'clunker' anymore.
The not so good part - I poked around under the hood and corrected two issues. I don't know which one fixed it.
The good part - both were perfectly free and simple.
I had the same symptoms that many describe -- audible clunk or knock (or even a 'pop') felt in both the wheel and the pedal -- going under the hood you can feel a bit of play in the steering shaft -- the knock would go away for a bit, but then return again when I'd drive on a rough road like a dirt road, and stay for days after... (lately the issue has been there full-time)
1) The hard-line for the clutch catching on the firewall-mounted heat shield.
It's pretty hard to describe how it was catching -- but where the line would cross over the upper edge of the heat shield at a 90* angle, and then turn down behind it- any flexing in the drivetrain or body could have been causing those two parts to catch each other very roughly and release with a 'thunk' to the heat shield. That heat shield was transmitting that 'thunk' through the firewall. A tweak of the line and the heat shield stopped this.
2) The hard AC lines up in the center of the firewall had play, and would 'clunk' with any movement of the lines.
I don't know the mechanics of what caused this - but I took the lines and got ham-fisted with them, tweaking them up slightly to put some tension on the bushing on the firewall when they were at rest. Another wiggle or two to verify that the clunk wasn't happening anymore, and that was it.
It'd certainly be interesting if either of these fix anyone elses issue. I have suspicions it was the AC lines, judging by what I felt/heard when I was under the hood.
I'm happy as anything that the JK doesn't feel like a literal 'clunker' anymore.
Last edited by yo_marc; Aug 12, 2009 at 05:28 AM.
JK Newbie
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: NE Pennsylvania
Glad to know I'm not the only one with this issue.
I'm not going to do anything at this point though, I only notice it maybe once a week or so, if that.
I'm not going to do anything at this point though, I only notice it maybe once a week or so, if that.
Last edited by granitefan713; Aug 17, 2009 at 04:58 AM.
