Intermediated steering shaft

when buying the aftermarket part please make sure it’s for the 4wd model not the 2wd... most parts I looked at had the same part number if buying from Amazon.

Oddly enough it was the 2wd part that has a larger diameter spline on the side that’s slips into the yoke.

It’s a part I believe should be recalled!

Make sure to pb blast it days before the job.

 

And you might want to take a look at an aftermarket Steering Shaft side by side with an OEM one. I delivered a genuine Toyota one to a repair shop the other day because they were having issues with an aftermarket one. Looking at the parts side by side, the differences were staggering. Yes, the aftermarket shaft actually had paint on it, but it was a pretty sloppy dip job. The diameter of the actual shaft and the rag joint on the aftermarket part were probably 30% smaller than the OEM shaft. At least it's not a safety item. Oh wait ...

 

What was the main problem with the steering shafts ?

 

The u-joint seizes and fails. Or gets excessive slop. Going through all that with mine currently.

 

I just picked up a 2015 with 16k , everything seems pretty tight , are the joints serviceable ? Any lubing possible .
I did not see much corrosion on the steering shaft , are there certain years was a bigger problem ?

 

The u-joint in the steering shaft is non serviceable. When I bought my 09 I thought the truck had no power steering from how stiff the joint was. Lots of penetrating oil and then spray grease got it serviceable again

 

The one in my 2014 has been coated with Fluid Film for 3 years now. No problems.