Clunk from pulling down steering wheel

Steering shafts are easy to replace. They do wear out. The U joints are part of the shaft. Without looking I don’t think they can be replaced separately. Steering assembly is not easy. Not hard, just annoying. This was on a 98 FLD. Yours shouldn’t be too much different.

 

I ordered mine offline. I get decent pricing at Freightliner but some things are just ridiculously overpriced. See if you can get part numbers and buy elsewhere.

 

My entire steering column is loose. I got one from a junkyard because my other one was really bad. Now this one has become looser. I think it needs tightened somewhere that I haven’t tried.

 

Oh, I wouldn't mess with anything steering, pretty important. Pay whatever, get the new shaft, before YOU get the shaft. Clunking or clicking is a U joint or spline going south and you may not see it. Years ago you could replace just the u joints, but seems an easy fix for something that could be a disaster.

 

I'm not trying to be a wiseguy by any means because there's enough of that on this forum the way it is. But you might want to find something else besides your steering wheel to pull yourself up in the cab. I'm pretty sure you can put grab handles on. Just my two cents.

 

The steering shaft in the cab has u-joints. Most people don't service them (grease them) including myself. They do go bad, also the shaft wears out as well. You have to take the lower dash apart, and check for play.

 

Lubricating the intermediate steering shaft with white lithium grease has helped me out in the past with “light” clunks.