06 Escalade. With front wheels off the ground checking the suspension found a rattle that appears to be coming from inside a 1 year old steering gear. Wondering if this is normal or if this is some kind of problem that needs to be addressed.
There seems to be some movement where the pitman arm is mounted to the box, that's not normal or okay. It almost looks like the pitman arm is loose on the shaft.
Something is slopping around inside-it almost looks like there is sideplay in the pitman shaft. If the pitman arm was loose I would think it would be obvious. What happens when you pry up/down & side to side with a pry bar? Anything moving? Is this a Cardone by any chance?
Make sure the nut on the sector shaft is tight. It looks like the pitman arm is loose on the sector shaft. If it was loose for too long it could have damaged the splines on both the pitman arm and the steering gear