If your steering wheel is getting hard to turn and won't return coming out of a corner, the lower steering shaft may be the culprit.
The lower steering shaft connects the stem of the steering column to the rack and pinion unit.
This is a short shaft that contains two small u-joints which due to their size,
can't be equipped with grease fittings. (I agree- lousy design)
The shaft is expandable to ease its installation. (stop laughing)

Please excuse the pictures,
I'm not sure why they load so big.

There is two bolts that secure it in place, the upper bolt is 13mm,
the lower is 10mm.
Turn the steering wheel so that the lower bolt is facing the radiator to allow you access.
(Spray Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster on it now to help remove it later)
[IMG][/IMG]

To keep the steering wheel in proper alignment,
I installed a pair of vise-grips to hold the upper shaft stem.
(This will turn on its own if you don't do this).
>>>DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THE VISE-GRIPS WHEN FINISHED.<<<


Once the upper bolt is removed, pull the top from the upper stem.

At this point compress the shaft and push the top under the radiator fluid supply hose, (it's tight, but it will go).

Now comes the tricky part, the lower connection will probably be rusted to the shaft.
If you look closely, there is a slot where the bolt clamps this in place.
I hammered a screwdriver in to loosen it, (your long 1/2" socket extension or a piece of pipe helps).
>>>Leave the screwdriver in it to ease removal<<<.
If you remove the screwdriver, the metal closes just enough to make it difficult to remove.


The shaft removed, screwdriver still in place....


Next I wire brushed the end of the upper shaft.


Wipe the rack and pinion post, and apply some anti-seize to both.


Install the new shaft under the radiator supply hose, bottom first.


Good Luck...this took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete.
(messing with the camera included)

 

Well done sir, I have a buddy that was saying his father in laws is doing the same think. I see free beer in my future thanks to you

 

Where did you order the lower shaft from? And if you don't mind me asking how much did it run you? I'm getting tired of WD40'ing mine everyday so I don't need to hands to steer! Thanks.

 

I just saw this, thanks for the nice write-up. I have copied it and indexed it in the Articles and How To section. We appreciate you helping make this site a better tool.

 

AT,
I found one on E-bay for a buy-it-now price of $150.
At Tascaparts.com they're $161+-
http://www.tascaparts.com/partlocato...layCatalogid=0

They don't come black, I POR15'ed mine to reduce rust.

 

Very nice. Thanks for the link!

 

I recommend trying the steering wheel to keep it from free spinning, causing the shafts to be misaligned, and eventually popping the clock spring if you turn to far with it setup off center.

Edit: (I suspect you meant "tieing)

 

Thanks for the info. My steering just started doing this a few weeks ago. Took some effort to turn it on a recent trip but it was driveable. I figured it was time to fix it.
So I replaced it on Saturday with the help of my friend. Took about an hour and the only issue was the top joint being pretty rusty but it came off with some effort aka BFH. The only other thing I would say is needed is a universal joint to get the bottom bolt out. It made life much easier.

Also, this part is on back-order. I called Tasca and Tousley Ford parts and they both said back-order for a min of 2 weeks. A local dealer had one so I had to pay more but they didn't kill me on it.

It's all good now and steers great.

Thanks!

 

Excellent post! I've been trying to locate this problem for a long time now, thanks!

 

Thank you for your help with this......it was driving me crazy!

 

My buddy did this for me last week at his shop. He locked the steering wheel in place by turning it and did it on a lift. Done in 15-20 minutes. He had access from the bottom iirc due to the lift. Also did reading on other vehicles, very common wear item on Chevy/Gm suvs and trucks as well.

 

Thanks for this post. I just started having this issue on my 2007 and ordered a new shaft from Tasca today. It was $188.11 + $11 s/h, compared to $285.xx plus tax at my local dealer. I can wait a couple extra days for almost $100.

 

I always wondered why my truck seemed like the power steering doesn't work as good as it use too (harder to turn and doesn't come back like it use too). I will have to look at replacing mine. Thanks for the info.

 

Great post. I followed aling exactly and even took the hint to tie down the steering wheel. Took me abiut 2 hours by myself working slowly. When I got theold one out it was clearly the bottom U joint causing the problem. Despite hitting it with PB blaster and 5-20 for the past couple of months it was still stiff. Thanks for the great post. You probably saved me about $300. I got the part from ebay for $145. As soon as I started the truck and had my wife turn the wheel I knew it was fixed.

 

i just did mine while doing a motor swap. i had a nice empty bay to work with, so this job took me about 10min. the shaft is shaped on each end to only go on one way, so i didn't bother tying the wheel down or using vice grips. the hardest part was getting the lower shaft off the upper shaft. a wedge to spread the split and a hammer to help it along made short work of it. a wedge and a few wiggles and the bottom separated cleanly.

when i got my old one off, the bottom joint was so frozen you can't move it by hand.