Stiff Steering - try this fix first

Spraying the ujoint on my steering shaft with pb blaster lube worked. Thanks!

 

Was having same problem. Being unsure of the problem I was considering pump replacement. Sprayed generously with Deep Creep. Problem resolved. Thanks for taking the time and the effort to everyone that contributed to this post. I got my 95 in 2017 from a guy in Illinois that relocated from Las Vegas so truck isn't all rusted out. Has 301,000 miles and still runs good. A little sunburned but I just primered the hood and fenders and put some undercoating on the underside. Should serve me for several years. Will get under it again this summer and rust paint any visible rusty areas spots. I sure hate Illinois road salt!!!

 

THANK YOU for this thread. Lubing it up worked. Replacing it was worth it in the long run. The U-joint was worn out. I'm getting close to 293,000 miles FWIW.

 

Thank you, fixed my steering stiffness with deep creep. Wish I would have seen this before replacing the ps pump but hey got a new ps pump now too

 

Sprayed with lithium grease a few times which worked but ended up getting it repaired.

When I got it back from the shop, I found the steering wheel is off a few degrees; when tracking straight down the road the steering wheel is a few degrees to the left.

Is it reasonable to ask the shop to straighten it out or should I leave it and just get used to it?

I find it annoying but the performance is fine and it drives safely.

 

Its surprising how easy this issue is to fix. I recently replaced my rack and pinion and thought the stiff steering was possibly from this. I was a bit confused when it the issue remained after the replacement. I did however climb under the truck and first clean the U joint with a penetrating lube the added lubricant. Night and day difference.

 

Old post I know, but YES it's more than reasonable, it's an expectation that they put it back straight. This is caused by a misalignment of the shaft to either the steering wheel or the rack when reassembling. They likely didn't mark its position before taking the old one off.

 

Anyone who has lubricated the intermediate shaft, have you had better success with one lubricant over another? I had initially used PB Blaster followed by some white lithium grease, but I found it didn't really do much. The spray lithium grease seemed to dry up quickly. I repeated by cleaning the joint well with degreaser and then using a silicone based lube which appears to be working for now. Thanks!

 

Just replace it

Lubing it repeatedly is just a bandaid.

 

I’m not sure what kind of voodoo is on this post, but I happened to skim this today. A few hours later, sure enough, I make a left turn and it’s stiff and then smooth just like how OP described.