The steering clunk in my 89 FJ62 was driving me crazy. Decided to try and figure out where it was coming from. I could reproduce the noise by grabbing the intermediate shaft near the upper u-joint at the firewall and then moving it up/down or in/out. Ended up pulling intermediate steering shaft and and the steering column from vehicle to get a better look.
There were 2 issues:
1. Upper u-joint had some play, and the factory grease was dry.
2. The sealed bearing at the end of the column was not captured tight by the snap rings.
For #1, I replaced the u-joint with a Precision 395. This was available at a local Autozone and it has a zerk in one end cap. Any of the following should work:
Precision 395
Moog 395
Spicer 5-1500x
The Spicer does not appear to have a zerk.
For #2, see the photos below. I added a .017" shim to snug the bearing between the snap rings. The bearing as good and I didn't replace it. There was no signs of wear of the snap rings of bearing so this seems like a Toyota design issue.
Also, I added a zerk in the intermediate shaft so this could be greased. Again, the factory grease here too was dried out.
There were 2 issues:
1. Upper u-joint had some play, and the factory grease was dry.
2. The sealed bearing at the end of the column was not captured tight by the snap rings.
For #1, I replaced the u-joint with a Precision 395. This was available at a local Autozone and it has a zerk in one end cap. Any of the following should work:
Precision 395
Moog 395
Spicer 5-1500x
The Spicer does not appear to have a zerk.
For #2, see the photos below. I added a .017" shim to snug the bearing between the snap rings. The bearing as good and I didn't replace it. There was no signs of wear of the snap rings of bearing so this seems like a Toyota design issue.
Also, I added a zerk in the intermediate shaft so this could be greased. Again, the factory grease here too was dried out.
Last edited:
