Good morning,

I have searched online everywhere for some online help/assurance for replacing the whole steering shaft, upper and lower(intermediate) shaft for a '97 Dodge Dakota 4x4. I see tons of talk and videos in reference to help with intermediate shafts 2wd and yada yada but not one ioda for the whole shaft.

I do know I am going to take the wheel off and the under cover off as well for better access too.

I know it attaches to the steering wheel via a bolt and that it is connected via a bolt to the steering gear box and it seems rather simple, but after watching the videos, I have seen some that show to make sure the steering wheel should not turn, which makes sense and then there is one where the guy says not to knock up on the steering shaft for removal to hard or it can damage what is inside steering, clock spring, cruise control, and yada yada, but that was on a 2wd.

I need some help guys. I am not sure how I should remove this thing. I can't afford to take it to a mechanic, so it is me. I know that I can do it, but I would like to have some advice just to lean on per se. It definitely needs to be replaced and I have just put on my winter tires and I do not want to wear them out due to being out of alignment.

Guys and gals too, (got to be careful with that "ME TOO" movement) thing, hahahahaha, anyway, I really appreciate any type of help that you all can give me.

Thanks,

Jerimiah

 

That shaft won't affect your alignment, if its bad, you just get some steering slop.

Make sure the steering wheel cannot turn while swapping out the intermediate shaft. There is a clockspring in there, and if you turn too far, it breaks. No need to remove the steering wheel.

If it's just a pinch bolt top and bottom, remove the bolt, spray some good chemicals in there, (PB Blaster is my favorite, WD-40 simply won't do a thing.) and see if it will tap loose with a hammer. If you, you can try and wedge something into the slot to spread it a bit, then it should slide right off. Clean things up real good, and the replacement will slide right back on.

 

RE: Hey you>>>>

Thanks for the info. I am going to undertake the swap and I do appreciate the advice.

 

How'd you make out? I just replaced the lower yesterday with minimal problems on my 03 3.9

 

OP, what issue were you having exactly that necessitated replacement? I was going to replace mine once and... well you can read about it here. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-steering.html

 

I actually did not have a problem at all. There was no way to replace just the intermediate at all. One can go to rockauto and get the whole shaft assembly and it is a hundred times built better than the original one that came on the truck and a lot cheaper than the auto parts stores around too. Two bolts is all that it was. Just make sure that you tie off your steering will in the straight position before you begin your work. I simple used the seat belt. Start at the steering box and then go below the steering column. The factory used a butt load of lock-tite on the bolt under the column, so expect a little delay there, but other than that, it went great.