Steering Wheel column rattle/thumping?

[1Coyote]

Thank you to everyones contributions, this gives us all of the information we need to convey to an ignorant dealer for the fix.

1Coyote

Originally Posted by joedirt

Finally, I'm able to rest. Took mine to a different dealer and diagnosed the problem instantly. The last dealer tried to give me the run around, saying that I have no problem, and that it is just the H3. I told them to kiss my ass, that it is a problem with the steering and pedals. So, I took it to a dealer closer to me in the Houston area and he hooked me up within 15 minutes. The steering problem is due to the steering shaft design. The steering shaft must be made to compress upon impact on front end collisions. There is just enough slack between the two peices to raddle the column, gas and brake. The problem would arise suddonly and abruptly, usually on hot days. GM is reengineering the design, but has not released the part. The dealer put me on the list. The dealer did say that he has seen many of these steering problems on the H3 even on the lot...too common.

Problem 2 was the "clunk clunk" I have been hearing when driving in and around town. The last dealer replaced the transfer case , but that did not fix the problem. The new dealer said that it is a transfer case bearing or gear causing the noise. They will be getting a new one for me in the next couple days. He said GM wants them to install a brand new transfer case for these issues and to ship the old cases back for design changes.