I need to replace my steering box as theres alot of play in the shaft and I think its about shot finally. I am going to do the Durango steering box upgrade and while I am replacing that I think I want to do the intermediate steering shaft as well, I get a pop / creak in the steering at times and the one in now is rusted all to **** and the popping is likely coming from the ujoints in the shaft, it looks really bad. I cant seem to find a write up on how to replace this the proper way, I know the lower end just has one bolt to the steering box, but I am not sure where you remove the upper end towards the firewall and how to do it.

 

Mine is a '94, and I have the factory service manual for it. This manual just says to remove the bolt in the lower end and the bolt in the upper end.
I have to remove my gear box also.

Not sure if the intermediate shaft is the collapsing type that can be pried a bit shorter or not, to get it removed.
Hopefully some one here will know about this....

Bill

 

well I do have to remove the steering box anyway so the lower end I'm already familiar with how to remove but how do I get to the upper end bolt? I haven't dug around near the firewall yet but I know there's hardly any room in there to reach down and I can't see where to get to it from above. That upper bolt is the one I'm worried about and just curious the best way to get to to get it off.

 

Why replace it? The box is adjustable to deal with any slop that happens.

 

I already adjusted through the nut / hex screw on top and it helped a little but I've been told if it's gotten to that point it's basically wearing out and I'm worried about tightening it up too much and blowing the steering out. It feels a bit better but still a little sloppy. I gave it about a half turn on the hex nut to tighten up the feel a little but I'm worried going further. Also I just went to a 4.5" lift and I am getting 33's and the Durango box is something I want. Also I have to replace that steering shaft anyway, you can twist it by hand if you reach down and the ujoint is going out bc it definitely seems to be where the clunk and pop comes from in the steering.

 

If you want to do the upgrade I have nothing against it I just don't want someone that comes along later to think looseness in their steering box means its toast. You can adjust that screw at least 6 turns up or down without issue. Most people Ive come across that say it is a sign of death assume you are just adding preload to a bearing when you adjust it which is not the case. When you are adjusting the box you are adjusting the entire carrier for one of the gears to reduce backlash within the box.

 

That's really good info, so I can tighten the hex screw clockwise more until the steering feels "tighter" and not loose and sloppy? When I was driving at road speeds sometimes it felt like I was steering a boat and very loose and sloppy. Almost scary at times when the tires would pull and I'd have to turn the wheel the other way to compensate. I was told going too tight on the hex screw can bind up the box and blow it while driving. How do I judge how much tighter I can go on that hex screw without being in any danger of losing my steering?

 

Adjust it half a turn at a time and then drive it a bit until its to where you want it. When I did mine I went too tight and the steering gets really heavy when its too tight.