i just had similar problem. i also thought rack and pinion, but it turned out to be just a suspension link loose. relativley cheap to replace at $40 each side. good luck!
check ball joints, If they get really worn they will rattle. jack up the front and place a hand on top and on bottom of your tire and try to move it back and forth.
A crown and pinion are used in steering and driving. A pinion gear is used to steer against the force of gravity, while the crown is a wheel with cogs lining along its rim.
420 RPM
Check the 1994 GMC Safari's brakes. Even if the brakes are fine, dust can cause the components to create loud squeaks, rattles, and sometimes ringing noises.
Your rack and pinion can go bad for a number of reasons, a wreck, hitting the side of the curve with one of your tires too hard, driving your car with bad suspension will put extra strain on your rack and pinion causing it to go bad , and normal wear and tear
There are many advantages to having a rack and pinion steering system installed in a vehicle. Two major advantages are the road feel capabilities that are available when driving a vehicle on wet or icy roads and the precision of your steering when using a rack and pinion steering system.
There is no specific pinion nut torque. The pinion nut has to be tightened until the proper pinion preload is established. Pinion preload is what matters
Preload is the amount the pinion bearings are squeezed together by the pinion nut.
the pinion gear in the rearend is faulty.The pinion gear meshes with the steering rack.
Pinion is necessary to get to and replace the pinion crush sleeve that controls the pinion pre-load. It is also stated that a complete teardown of the differential is necessary as well.
It's not so much about what ratio you are installing, it's more about the checking distance (cd) marked on the pinion. Install the new pinion with the right shims to put it in the same location as the original, then use side shims with the carrier to achieve the correct backlash. Sometimes you can reuse the original shims, sometimes you need different ones.
I had a 1990 nissan maxima that use to do that and the problem was my rack and pinion bushings were bad
a crown and pinion is a st of gears that mesh at an angle.