Just wanted to get some thoughts on this. i have an 88 Maxima and when you turn the car off and turn the steering wheel back and forth i can hear a clunking underneath. so i got underneath and both inner boots are pretty much gone on the steering rack. Also when i am driving down the street and hit little bumps in the road(specially gravel roads) i hear a bouncing around under the car.. i can even feal it in the gas pedal.. we did have a bushing go out on the sway bar and it was smacking up against the frame and this noise is almost like that..
so my question is could it be The steering rack it self? Or maybe the inner tie rods? Does it even have inner tie rods? i have looked at everything under the car and i cant see anything other then the boots being pretty much gone..
Could Ball joints cause the rattling noise underneath?
TIA....

 

I don't think the inner tie-rod ends could cause the clunking sound, but they could be the cause of the noise when the car is off. However, that could also be either a worn rack or pinion in the actual assembly.

As you can tell from what I've mentioned already, yes, there are inner-tie-rod ends. They are connected to the end of the rack unit, but concealed by the boots.

The clunking on bumps could be caused by a number of things. Basically just inspect all the front under carriage, looking for torn dust boots, bad bushings, etc.

My car had a cronic problem of producing a clunking sound when backing up. I inspected everything several times, with no results. Finally, I found the cause of my noise - one of the exhaust hangers is fatiqued and stretched, allowing excessive movement. This was allowing a long bolt on said mount to knock against the gas tank when backing up. I have since shortened the bold until time and money allows me to have a new exhaust system bent for the car.

 

Hey thanks for the reply. the other day i did notice that there is an exhaust hanger coming off the engine were the flex pipe is, it looks like the pin should be in the hole with a bushing around it or something. but there is no bushing and the hanger pin thing is bent down and hanging 3/4 the way out.. if you know what im talking about could that cause it?
what about bad Ball Joints i just started noticing it on the passenger side now a little bouncing noise with little bumps..
Thanks

 

The pin could cause the noise, if it allows for enough movement in the exhaust system. Since it's so close tothe flex coupler, it's possible.

As far as the ball joints go, yes, it could be them, also. Luckily, the ball joints aren't that bad to change out, as I noticed when I did my CV shafts.

Another thing that could cause the noise is your struts, or strut mounts. If the struts have recently been replaced, they may not have been torqued down enough, or the mount may not have been replaced. If they haven't been changed recently, they could be worn out. That was all I noticed on mine for a while, then it began to bottom out, and the handling went to hell. When I took the front struts out, the right front side strut was so worn out, that when the spring was removed, the piston rod literally fell straight into the strut, making a clunk. There was no pressure what-so-ever in that one. So don't rule them out, either.

Struts are not that difficult to change yourself, if you've never done it...you just wanna be super careful with those springs - they could take your head off if they slip. Since most all cars made since 1981 have struts at least on the front, I'm seriously thinking about getting one of the nice, pnumatic spring compressors like Snap-On sells. Much safer, and easier...