Replaced the Intermediate Steering Shaft at 114,000 miles. Symptoms felt like power steering going out but no pump noise or low fluid. Steering became hard to turn and it sometimes felt like a tie rod was letting go.

Temporary resolution was to spray the two steering shaft joints with penetrating oil (PB Blaster). That freed them up pretty well. Then I ordered Dorman part 425361 (425-361) $127 from Rock Auto. Simple enough job. Lots of good vids on YouTube.

I don’t recommend spraying the steering shaft joints as preventative maintenance. Penetrating oil will get into the needle bearings and break down the bearing grease. That will cause the joints to fail over time.

Two side benefits, the truck steering is much smoother and small road bumps and potholes are much less noticeable. Feels like it was when new.

 

Glad it's repaired. My B-I-L had an issue with steering shaft noise and I used a litium grease sprayed into the joint/bearing area which seemed to solve the problem. Hmmm. I hope the lube spray doesn't do like the PB Blaster did yours.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience

 

The solvent in spray White Lithium Grease evaporates quickly but also carries the grease into wherever it penetrates, so you're probably good with that. It just makes a mess, but you can wipe off the excess.