425-176 Intermediate Steering Shaft for Select Chevrolet/GMC / Cadillac Trucks

Arrived within the advertised time frame. Fit the truck properly. Appears to be properly built. It has quite mixed reviews on YouTube. Much less expensive than OEM, but because it is a steering component, anyone should be taking a very careful assessment of aftermarket offerings. If OEM was so much better, it should not have failed, right?

Had the infamous clunk for a while, didn't bother me at first. However, it became bothersome and did some research which pointed to the common issue of a failed intermediate shaft. I was in between the factory item vs the Dorman. I made my decision for Dorman based on these Amazon reviews and also price. I am a prime member, so shipping for this item was free. The cheapest place for factory part was gmpartsdirect.com but was $57 PLUS shipping. It was here in 2 days as always (just pay the money and be a prime member, its worth it!). I am a review purchaser- my purchasing decision is based on reviews. I read all the reviews for this item. I followed the tips and tricks mentioned by others. Here is how install went for me. It always takes me more time than what everyone says. I spent plenty of time researching the install as well. this link was useful [...] I still don't see how it only took 30 minutes for first installs for some of these people but I think after the first install, I could do it in 30 minutes. I have an '05 Escalade so this may have been the difference for me. I do not have easy access to the other end of the shaft in the engine bay, nor did I have easy access in the driver's floor board. I was not comfortable in either compartment- its just not easy at least in an Escalade. I believe there are simply more parts and hoses in the Escalade. I agree with the poster that mentioned DO NOT worry about the steering wheel being straight until the bolt in the engine compartment and nut in the driver's floor board are loosened. They were not accessbile for me with the wheels straight. I started the engine and turned the wheel until I had access to the bolt/nut. I first removed the BOLT in the engine compartment (do not try to loosen the "nut"- the nut and metal piece you see is one piece from the engine bay side which you cannot remove). I ended up using some extensions and breaker bar (3/8" drive and 15mm socket). WHILE STILL IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT after the engine bay bolt was removed, slide the ENGINE BAY PORTION of the shaft of the ISS forward towards the firewall- mine was done with my hands and with ease. I actually almost hurt myself because I was expecting it NOT to move. If it does not slide freely then as others suggested- use pliers/vice grips on the shaft and hammer the shaft toward the firewall (the shaft by default is able to move back and forth 3-4 inches). MAKE SURE THE SHAFT IS SLID FORWARD otherwise while removing it in later step, practically impossible. Once that bolt and nut are removed then I returned to the driver's floor board and fully removed the NUT there with 15mm socket, 3/8" ext (long), 3/8" ratchet (same situation here, the bolt has a metal tab attached to it which cannot be removed until NUT is removed). Once these were removed then I turned the wheel straight and shut the car down. I DID NOT use the special tool J 42640 called for (for 2002 and later vehicles which DO NOT have steering lock on them). I decided to use other review's idea and use the shoulder belt through the steering wheel and also went the extra step and did some tie downs from the steering wheel to the driver's seat frame. Honestly all really overkill- you just have to remember NOT to move the steering wheel (other poster mentioned even with the special tool, the steering wheel still had 20deg of play. So, now engine bay BOLT and nut removed and driver's side floor board NUT and bolt removed- it was time to remove the shaft. This is where it was REALLY uncomfortable for me- Not much room while lying on your back. I did try to remove the shaft WITHOUT removing the accelerator pedal but for me it would NOT have worked otherwise (again, I believe it is the way Escalade was made since other poster's were able to remove the shaft without moving the accelerator pedal, Escalade had more parts down there based on pictures I saw). SO after 10-15 minutes trying to remove the shaft without moving the accelerator pedal....I decided to move the pedal. It was actually easy- took 2 minutes to remove and replace- To me worth it. These are two 10mm nuts. The lower nut of the pedal was super easy, the upper nut I had to use 1/4" drive with extension and swivel to get to. I also move the ducting out of the way (under the dash, which helped some). Once it was removed, life was now much easier- the shaft slid right out (you just need the shaft to be parallel to the ground to remove (also with earlier step of sliding the engine bay portion of the shaft towards the firewall). The OLD shaft did have have any issues at the articulation but the shaft telescope with surprising ease but honestly did not feel loose. The Dorman was heavier and thicker metal and shaft slid but with some force. Time to insert new shaft...I made sure the Dorman shaft was telescoped within itself before install. Back to breaking your neck and back while lying flat...I inserted engine bay portion of the shaft through the rubber boot on the floor board then brought the articulated portion up the the steering column and slid the bolt through (the shaft needs to be mated well with steering column in order to slide bolt in). I hand tightened the nut there. Then torqued that bolt to 35ft lbs (per attached link above). I went to the engine bay was able to pull the shaft to the lower steering shaft but with force. I DID NOT have to use pliers/vice grips and hammer to get the shaft to slide. I slid the bolt through and hand tightened the nut there, the torqued it to 37 ft lbs. DONE in the engine bay. Back to the driver's floorboard...put accelerator pedal back in place and torqued bolts to 15ft lb, made sure ducting was put back into place, remove the shoulder harness/tie downs, put tools up, done! It took me an hour. Went for drive and NO MORE NOISE and MUCH TIGHTER steering. We really noticed the clunk going up into/down the driveway- gone! I used o be able to move steering wheel a good 30deg before the wheels actually move- not any longer! Much better than $350 from the dealer! Don't get me wrong being in that uncomfortable position under the steering wheel and alot of parts in the way (both compartments), it was still overall easy. I spent alot of time up and down getting more tools. Save time and get some tools ready...worklight, 15mm socket preferably short, 15mm closed end wrench, 3/8" ratchet, 3/8" extensions, 1/4" drive with 4 inch ext and 10mm nut for accelerator pedal, 3/8" torque wrench, possibly hammer/vice grips/pliers, step stool to reach into engine bay, printed off directions from above, and massage therapist for afterwards. Don't get caught up in taking only 30min- if it ends of being so then great but expect about an hour- make sure its done right and things are not forgotten.

Clunk is gone in my 2004 GMC Sierra. But I didnt know that you arent supposed to spin your steering wheel! I broke my clockspring wires and ended up fixing it myself by taking off my steering wheel and soldering it. No more "Service Airbag". Now I can enjoy driving again haha. Just dont turn your wheel more than once all the way around! The part does fit snug in the lower shaft, took some wiggling. Some people file it /grind it so it slides in easier, thats probably not a good idea and could lead to early wear. I did the plastic steering bearing (Dorman 905-512) at the same time, but it was pretty hard to push in, very hard to get to spot. In hindsight I would just by this shaft first and see if all your noises go away since its so easy to take the two bolts off, if it doesn't then get the bearing .

If you have the dreaded GM clunk then order the Dorman intermediate shaft and don't worry about it again. As soon as I pulled the old one and compared the design you could tell the Dorman was engineered much stronger than the OEM part. Hands down it's a better design. If you're going to replace it yourself, there are plenty of tutorials in the reviews on how to do that. Here are my tips that I found very useful: 1) Turn the wheel so you can get access to the bolt head in the engine bay to break it loose. Turn it most of the way off, but not all. (The nut has an anti turn tab so you can only turn the bolt out) 2) Turn the wheel the other way so you can get access to the nut side in the driver's compartment. Break it loose. A couple of extenders make it easy to get to without taking out the brake pedal. Loosen the nut most of the way but not all the way off. (The bolt head is attached to a tab and does not turn.) 3) Straighten the wheel and lock it in place with your seatbelt (if you turn the wheel once you remove the shaft it will break the clock inside of it and that's a $200 repair). I just ran the seatbelt through the middle of the bottom of the wheel and then pushed the seat back so it made the belt nice and tight. 4) Remove the negative battery cable. 5) Remove the Airbag fuse (it was the SIR 15A fuse under the hood in my 2003 Suburban). Wait 2 minutes and then unplug the yellow four connector with the red safety tab from under the knee panel inside the driver's compartment. Push the red tab back through with a tiny screwdriver. 6) Remove the dust boot attached to the firewall that covers the u-joint of the shaft. There are 3 sheet metal nuts (i.e. don't put a lot of torque on these guys when you put them back on or they'll break). 7) Remove the nut/bolt combo on the engine side. 8) Push the engine side of the shaft in towards the steering wheel (it slides in and out). 9) Remove the nut/bolt combo on the driver's side. 10) Pull the whole thing out and take the dust boot off. Install the new one: 1) Check the engine side fit of the end of the shaft. Mine was 5/100" too large and I had to hit it with a hammer to bend it in a bit so it would fit. Some people grind it a bit. This is not the part that "wobbles/clunks" it's the spindle shaft that is the problem so it doesn't have to be a super tight fit, that just makes install harder. 2) Optional (I didn't do this and most others don't either): Add a bit more lubrication to the inner extension shaft (just pull both ends and it will come out -- should already have oil on it). 3) Put the shaft in the dust boot and fit it into the driver's side of the steering column. Hand tighten the bolt/nut combo so it stays in place. 4) Reattach the dust boot. Remember to go easy on the torque, just lightly tighten it or you'll ruin the sheet metal nuts. 5) Stretch the shaft out and attach it to the engine side of the steering column. Hand tighten the nut/bolt combo. 6) Reattach the battery cable (leave the SIR fuse out and the yellow connector off for now). 7) Start the car and rotate the steering column to get access to the rotating bolt or nut to torque it down. Follow your manual's torque recommendations. 8) Turn the car off. Plug the yellow connector and red safety tab back in. Put the fuse back. Turn the car on your Airbag indicator should turn off after 6-8 seconds (if it did before you started this procedure). That should do it, put your knee panel and trim panel back on and you're done. No more clunking!!

Perfect Fit for a 2004 chevy Tahoe 4.8.There are no additional parts needed unless for some reason you want to change the bearing while you are down there. You can feel a major difference in the tightness of thr shaft when u move it prior to installing. The metal used feels like similar quality to that of OEM parts too. Installation is a breeze but you will need a little patience when removing the 15mm bolt thst connects the shaft to the steering wheel under the dash. It is going to take a 15mm wrench and about 7 minutes of turning the wrench over and over while pullijg toward you or pushing away from you but be sure to use a good wrench as this bolt Is in a tight spot and is easy to round off. Then take of the 15 mm bolt connecting the shaft under the hood, throw some grease on the new shaft where it slides in under the hood, tighten your two 15mm bolts back up to 37 with a torque wrench and you are good to go!!! Your steering is going to feel like brand new and you aren't going to have that annoying popping when u hut a bump that sounds like the whole front end of your truck is falling off. Also to get the full effect of that brand new steering feel, I would recommend greasing thr whole front end of the car while you're at it so everything else that that shaft if trying to turn is smooth as butter