Ok so I tried for about an hour to get that steering shaft u-joint off and no luck. I didn't want to bang on it because I don't want to mess the splines up. Any helpful tips would be much appreciated.

 

Sorry I forgot to add that I did loosen up both bolts on both sides. But it felt like there was locktite on it. Wouldn't budge at all.

 

Did you remove three bolts from the steering gear box? Loosen the fourth and tilt the gear box to remove the splined U-joint. You have to loosen the gear box mounting bolts to make room to wiggle off the U-joint spline. I use a large prybar. Spray the joint with PB Blaster. But the secret is loosening up the gear box. You may need to remove the steering gear box control arm to get more movement.

 

I wasn't aware that I had to loosen the gearbox. The rave didn't mention that. I noticed that you posted about rebuilding gearboxes. I may do that while I replace my tie rods and steering dampener, and PS hoses.

 

Yeah tricks of the trade. I can teach you to rebuild the box while it is still mounted if you want. Where is your box leaking? Instead of useing all the seals and opening up the box, you can just replace as you need them. I can guide you through it. Too easy.

 

LRD2&ME, big shout out for your ingenious insight. I had sloppy steering and vibs on the highway. A slight adjustment of the backlash screw was all that was needed on this 183k mile steering box to bring it back to normal.

Great info and thanks for you're consistent contributions.