This for my 96 4wd remember these have an old school steering gearbox not a rack like the 2wd models .
i need a new one mine is seizing and causing the steering to stiffen. I know that they're long ago discontinued from Dodge. Anyone have one laying around as a leftover from a previously owned truck or project?

 

If your truck is tilt, the intermediate shaft I built would work for you, although it may be a different length than 12". https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...e-shaft-2.html

If non-tilt, well ... Sucks to be you at this point, alas.

RwP

 

Just getting into this issue this weekend, truck all but unsteerable, got the old one out and upper u joint completely seized I cannot articulate either way holding it in my hand, lower u joint nearly there one direction still moveable the other.
I had to cut it mid way as the sliding part was also seized and I couldn't get it to slide together so I could pop the coupler off of the gearbox (yes gear box, not rack/ the 4 wd's didn't get a rack til 00 or 01, wish they hadn't gotten one even then before this issue I liked the way my 96 handles and feels going down the road better than any of my 2wd Dakotas or my 01 4wd durango which are/were all rack n pinion.
My biggest problem is with this piece being made of unobtanium. My truck is now completely dead until I can get a replacement, as I can't steer til I can reconnect the column and the gearbox. I miss driving it as it's a 318, getting tired of driving the 99 as it's a dog, even as a 2wd cuz it's only a 3.9

 

The parts are available at places like Classic Performance Products (Universal or complete catalog, pages 283/284) for U-joints top and bottom, U-joint top rag joint bottom; set screw or pinch U-joints; various coatings and materials.

There's even a 12" spline shaft for using a 3/4-36 spline joint; since the Dakota is also 3/4-36 spline, that's a nice universal way to tackle it if 12" will fit for you. (4WD I dunno; if it's lifted, you may need to go to the DD shaft and trim to fit perfectly.)

RwP

 

ok all ordered.... all Borgeson.... damn that wasn't cheap.... the vibration coupler at the gearbox was (I looked thru pages and pages and plucked a deal) I could have gone w/o a damper at either end but this one was actually cheaper than just a straight U joint coupler..... got the telescoping shaft (3/4"DD X 1" DD) and the previously mentioned vibration coupler for the gearbox end.... the telescoping coupler can (and will need to be) cut down, shortest I could find is 18" long, my whole shebang is 18" end to end..... will probably only use about 1/2 of that tele shaft.
wound up at $74 for upper coupler, $60 for that tele shaft, and $32 (found "best offer" seller started at only $40 to begin with) and free shipping on all, 3 components from 3 different sellers.... plus tax.... (that USED to be the big advantage of buying from Ebay but no more) The place that had the steering shaft advertised that it was free ship but wanted like $11 to ship the coupler.... in a different ebay auction. found it for same money (exactly) with free ship elsewhere.... now just gotta wait on the big brown truck to get its azz here so I can drive that truck again..... I coulda gone way cheaper with unknown brand and unknown origin parts and a lil cheaper if I went with solid shaft but that would have made for more of a pain on install..... I dont wanna pull either the gearbox or column to put this in (lazy and dont feel like dealing with 24 year rusted fasteners.....) but I can see that would be the only way to install the new parts, as evidenced by having to cut the old shaft to get enough slide to get either coupler off..... since the original slide was seized.... so about $175 all in and done...... I'm sure that's more than it would have been, when last available from Mopar......

 

next question.... I got 1 of the 3 components today.... the collapsible shaft.... it came riveted together at the center/ , I assume these are some kind of "shear" rivets? the 1"DD is about 5-6" (roughly) overlapped over the 3/4" DD... with 2 rivets holding the halves in this position. This thing is about twice too long as it came to me. The listing had said that it could be cut down, what would it hurt to drill the rivets, and slide the 2 halves in deeper? There would be NO WAY this thing could slide apart once installed.... Id like to jam as much of the 3/4" down into the 1" as possible.... as it is even if I put 8" of the 9"-ish of the 3/4" portion into the 1" DD portion, I will probably wind up having to cut the shaft down. The original intermediate shaft is 18" long TOTAL. from end to end. I'm guessing here but the DD shaft portion needs to be 12" MAX, of that 18" total overall length. I havent measured, I need the 2 couplers here to slip on their respective ends (steering column, gearbox) to be able to get an actual measurement of the center section. If I made the inner and outer halves the same length and mostly shoved them together, Id have only enough of the 3/4" sticking out of the 1" to be able to slide 1 coupler onto its end without removing either the column or teh gearbox, there would be more overlap of the 2 shafts than tehre is now, as they are riveted together. make sense?

 

Keep in mind, you WANT that shaft to be able to collapse a good bit, in the event of a front end collision. Otherwise, you get steering wheel stuffed into your chest...... Not exactly a fun experience. I would have to see pics of everything next to each to offer anything I would consider "useful"....

 

No, not THAT shaft.

The COLUMN shaft is collapsable; there's where the collapse happens.

Where the two halves slide together, there's a nice 3/16 or so bolt through; enough strength to shear that, won't be produced by MY chest!

RwP

 

well, finally, got the lower coupler today.... was supposed to have been here Saturday.
maiden voyage once together was pulling my trailer loaded with a couple of garden tractors 30 miles, dropping those off and bringing home a different one. even with trailer with 2 tractors on it, this 318 got up to speed way better than my 99 2wd with its 3.9 does, empty..... even with 100K more miles on it and being 4wd to my 99s 2wd.... both cab and 1/2.... Im getting to hate the 99, the 3.9 is a dog.
I wound up cutting 1-1/2" off of each end of the Borgeson collapsible shaft, drilled the rivets, loaded the inner part (3/4"DD) with antiseize, collapsed the inner further into the outer, (1" DD) and dimpled the ends where the set screws would ride, put the shaft in my drill press to do that part.... red loctite on the ends of coupler that ride on the new shaft portion, blue on setscrews at gearbox and at steering column