Finally, I made time to replace the steering shaft on my 2008 XLT 4wd. First I sprayed the hell out of the bolts and the shaft ends with penatrating oil. I positioned the shaft so I could remove the upper bolt, and then found if I put the lower bolt facing forward I could get the socket on the bolt with a couple extensions.
Come up from the bottom with a brass drift about 12" long and drove the bottom coupler off of the rack.
I drove a wedge (old screwdriver) in the groove of the upper coupler and tapped it off of the shaft.
I installed the bottom first, and ran the bolt in finger tight, then slid the top on and tightened the bolts.
The only thing I would do differently is buy new bolts, but reusing the old ones will work if they aren't too rusty.
I bought my Motorcraft shaft from Amazon for $135.00, it is sad how cheezy this part is...
It sure made a difference in the steering returning to center!
Come up from the bottom with a brass drift about 12" long and drove the bottom coupler off of the rack.
I drove a wedge (old screwdriver) in the groove of the upper coupler and tapped it off of the shaft.
I installed the bottom first, and ran the bolt in finger tight, then slid the top on and tightened the bolts.
The only thing I would do differently is buy new bolts, but reusing the old ones will work if they aren't too rusty.
I bought my Motorcraft shaft from Amazon for $135.00, it is sad how cheezy this part is...
It sure made a difference in the steering returning to center!
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