Creaking sound from front suspension

[Dwes1207]

Hi all,

I smacked the ever living hell out of a curb on some black ice while turning into a parking lot in a blizzard last winter. I turned the front drivers wheel perfectly flush to the curb so the truck basically bounced off the curb.

Immediately after all the systems went haywire. I took it to the dealership and surprisingly everything was fine.

Whenever I wrench the wheel while in reverse, there is a groaning and creaking sound (almost like popping) from that wheel. In addition at low speeds when I’m turning sharply the steering wheel occasionally just gets a tad bit sticky while I’m centering the wheel.

I replaced the wheel hubs as I thought the bearings were bad. That didn’t fix it.

Worried it might be a full blown steering rack. Anybody deal with anything similar?

 

[Vulpes]

Did the dealership check:
The alignment?
Tie rod ends for binding?
Bent steering components?

Another thing that can cause "sticky" steering is the steering shaft as it has at least one joint in it that can cause binding if it becomes damaged.
I could never figure out if the rack has a high point for returning to center or not, sometimes high point cut teeth can become damaged during a bump.