Too new for the OEM shaft that uses a U-joint instead of the hateful rag joint. Older trucks can slide a C3500HD shaft in there that totally fixes this. But not your vehicle.
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There's a zillion-page thread about converting the rag joint to a U-joint; and supposedly there's a solution for the trucks like yours--but I don't remember what it is.
Hey all, Read about this in one of ChrisAU's threads. Thought I'd detail it out. This is a super easy swap to eliminate a butt load of steering slop. Minus my learning curve the basic swap took about 20 min. The shafts that fit are 84-00 Jeep Cherokee XJ steering shafts. They are almost a...
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WHAT, exactly was replaced? What was inspected and kept?
Control arm bushings? Rubber, or Polyurethane?
Sway-bar bushings and end-links? Rubber, or Polyurethane?
Idler and Pitman arms? All four tie rod ends? All four ball joints? Wheel bearings repacked and adjusted properly?
I can absolutely guarantee that before I bought another steering box--either a poor-reputation "mass-market rebuilt" from a parts store, OR a "good reputation" specialty rebuilt from Red Top or Green Bottom or Blue Bolts or whatever--I would take my existing box, and
verify the two adjustments.
This should be do-able on the vehicle since you're pulling the lower steering shaft off to deal with the rag joint anyway.
The adjustment on the input shaft near the rag joint is done first, THEN the easy one on the top of the box. See your service manual for details.
And it's worth checking the frame rail near your steering box. They can get terribly rusted-out, which means the steering box is wiggling around on a flexible, unsafe section of framerail.