How To: Replace your Upper Steering Column Shaft

[tylorpc]

My steering was ratting over bumps and had annoying rotational play, or a "dead spot". Wandering while driving too. The cause was wear of the collapsible slip joint within the upper steering shaft. Turning the wheels with the engine off stresses the joint and can loosen it over time, in my case 290k miles and two previous owners. Others have posted about it and from what I've read it's an issue with other Toyota models.

I replaced the upper steering shaft and related small parts and the issue is totally gone. Steering feels tight now with no play or clunking anymore. Parts cost was $214 total. "Shoulda done it a long time ago" is an understatement...

It's super simple to check the shaft for play: Reach under the dash above the brake pedal and feel for the shaft junction circled below. When you wiggle the steering wheel the small shaft should mimic the movements exactly. If there's any play between the steering wheel movement and this shaft it'll be very obvious.

View attachment 1869304

Here's a step-by-step procedure if anyone wants to tackle the job themselves. Took me about 4 hours including taking pics & notes along the way. Parts listed are for a 1998 LC, so check your vehicle's year/model for correct P/Ns. Enjoy!

View attachment 1719670

Hey just wondering what would u call this part my bolt for my steering wheel is completely threaded and wanting to buy a new column but wanting to see if I can just get this part

 

[Ayune]

Hey just wondering what would u call this part my bolt for my steering wheel is completely threaded and wanting to buy a new column but wanting to see if I can just get this part View attachment 3793825

I doubt you’d be able to buy individual parts of the assembly.

 

[NOSAJ]

Anyone out there do this for an ‘01 Lx470? Trying to round up needed parts. Are they the same? Thanks for any help.

 

[Dmonies]

@Ayune I feel like my rattle is coming from the coupling joint where the firewall is. Do you have any pointers on that. I was under there and I didn’t really see play from the top most shaft. I then held the boot near the firewall and move the wheel and I can feel a tiny rattle from the coupler joint.

 

[fussychicken]

Has anyone ever had any issues with the "telescoping bushings" (highlighted below) that hold the "Column Upper Tube Assembly" inside the larger tube being worn or missing? (Here is a picture of what it looks like inside the tube with the bushings. Thanks @Jay Tea !)

I have lateral side to side play (not rotational play) in my column. (I think similar to what @smcg3 has here.) I've tried to show what I'm talking about with the green arrows.

I did the test that the OP @Ayune mentioned to grab the shaft junction and check for play. That all seemed fine. The play seems to be inside the column.

(Note this is for a LX with telescoping steering. I don't think it looks like this if you are tilt only)

Jay Tea's Pic here:

 

[fussychicken]

Also, it looks like someone has been in here before? I'm guessing you aren't supposed to see the bracket all marred up where the shear bolts are at? Maybe they forgot the install the bushings properly when they reinstalled the column?

From what I can tell, the only way to drill these shear bolts out is for me to pull the column?

 

[100Seriesforlife]

This is an old thread but thank you sooo much for this write up, super helpful. I just changed mine and feels 1000times better.

 

[blodg1]

I ended up throwing parts at it.

View attachment 2861244


Fingers crossed but I think this might have actually fixed it. I drove the roughest paved roads I could find today after installing the parts, no crazy shakey feedback, no clunking sound. Until I can get on a trail or rough gravel though, I won't know 100%, but it definitely feels different on the s***ty paved roads where I live. I can think of worse ways to spend $300ish dollars. The u joint that connects to the steering rack was particularly worn and felt sloppy.

I also replaced the two bolted steering rack bushing with OEM bc my last replacement was aftermarket and I wanted to see if they were different. I did notice some difference in the shape and profile of the bushing, hard to say if that makes any difference though in feel.

Edit: After a few months of driving, it's still as tight as a brand new vehicle. This finally fixed my "loose" hard to describe steering issue.

What a difference five years makes. Massive part price increases have ballooned the price of these three parts to $957.05 and even with significant discounts it is still $545.89. Ugh! I'm going to go for it because I have already replaced the rack and the steering noises in the column, from the feedback on a washboard road, sound scary and make the rig feel cheap. I'm hopeful that this is the fix.

 

[Patassa]

What a difference five years makes. Massive part price increases have ballooned the price of these three parts to $957.05 and even with significant discounts it is still $545.89. Ugh! I'm going to go for it because I have already replaced the rack and the steering noises in the column, from the feedback on a washboard road, sound scary and make the rig feel cheap. I'm hopeful that this is the fix.View attachment 4121285

I want to say I sourced from PartsSouq, might be a little cheaper. Hope it fixes it for you, I forgot how awful my steering felt before this fix, still feels brand new after replacing these parts though!

 

[blodg1]

I want to say I sourced from PartsSouq, might be a little cheaper. Hope it fixes it for you, I forgot how awful my steering felt before this fix, still feels brand new after replacing these parts though!

Makes sense. I used to buy most of my small parts from PartsSouq before tariffs made them more than retail in some cases.