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So .... I think it's been about 19,000 miles since this repair. And just this week I'm beginning to feel ever so slight pop/clunk again through the steering wheel. I'm thinking that the issue is going to return. I can't afford to throw intermediate steering shafts at this truck every year. Are there any permanent aftermarket options? The factory design is obviously junk.
i've chased this for ever as well. I've done tie rods, track bar, shocks, steering stabilizer. good luck amigo.
(track bar bolt is supposed to be like 400lbft so that could be a good one to check.)
its very faint, and comes and goes....actually noticed it again this week
because you have to oem front end parts for these things because the tie rods won't equalize with aftermarket. Causing a popping noise no matter how good of an alignment you get.
So .... I think it's been about 19,000 miles since this repair. And just this week I'm beginning to feel ever so slight pop/clunk again through the steering wheel. I'm thinking that the issue is going to return. I can't afford to throw intermediate steering shafts at this truck every year. Are there any permanent aftermarket options? The factory design is obviously junk.
I guess that's a no. There aren't any other options beside the OE shaft which appears to be good for about 20k miles per shaft. Great...
Normally I'd jerry rig something but steering parts are critical for safety so that ain't happening.
So on a gas truck it would be a cake walk. On a diesel truck it is harder. What I did was use a lot of extensions connected to reach the two bolts from under the hood. Upper one is 13mm, lower is 10mm. Once the two bolts are loose, I reached through the wheel well and removed the bolts by hand. You have to totally remove both of them. Once you do that, you can slide the shaft out by hand, put the new one in, and get the bolts started again. Then go through under the hood with the extensions on the ratchet to tighten.
Make *certain* that you get the new intermediate shaft all the way onto the main shaft and steering box shaft, and tighten it well. You do NOT want this part coming loose while you're driving.
I shot a quick video when I did it. Not sure if this link is active yet or not, but it will be soon:
So to follow up on this the problem came back in 20,000 miles. Today I removed this new shaft from the truck to inspect it and it is in worse condition than the one that was originally in the truck when I bought it. So, I ended up putting the old one back in but only after cleaning the telescoping portion of the shaft really well and greasing it down with red and tacky grease. Now all the clunking is totally gone again which now proves to me that the telescoping portion of the steering shaft is actually the culprit after all. So, installing a grease fitting may work. Or, periodic removal, cleaning, and greasing of the shaft otherwise. At least there's no need to continue to purchase these shafts since they have now increased in price to almost $200!
So my father has a drill press so we put a grease fitting in my spare intermediate shaft today (yellow) and now I can pump grease into it while it's on the truck and the area of the shaft that gets sticky and causes the clunking steering sensation (blue) will be lubed. This should be a permanent fix. And it means no more hassle taking the shafts out.
I like the grease idea and I just got done cleaning and lubing mine. I notice that the knocking in the steering wheel is more noticeable when the vehicle has been driven for 5 miles or so. My concern is that because the lower shaft is located right next to the exhaust manifold, it may be too hot for the grease. I plan on taken a long drive to heat the vehicle up and then taking temp readings on the shaft. Based on the Zerk grease fitting location, are you filling the entire outer part of the shaft with grease? Also, what size zerk did you use? Thanks!
I like the grease idea and I just got done cleaning and lubing mine. I notice that the knocking in the steering wheel is more noticeable when the vehicle has been driven for 5 miles or so. My concern is that because the lower shaft is located right next to the exhaust manifold, it may be too hot for the grease. I plan on taken a long drive to heat the vehicle up and then taking temp readings on the shaft. Based on the Zerk grease fitting location, are you filling the entire outer part of the shaft with grease? Also, what size zerk did you use? Thanks!
I just used a zerk that I found laying in my toolbox. Sorry, don't know the size. But it was pretty small. Because of the way the inside of the shaft is hollow, filling it with grease via the zerk eventually causes grease to escape around the green seal at the lower end, covering the telescoping portion of the shaft all the way around. It's a great fix. However, servicing it while on the truck will require a grease gun that has a hose on the end if you plan to snake it up through the wheel arch. A grease gun with a hard fitting on the end *may* work going in from under the hood if you align the fitting facing upward.
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