Well, the dealer ordered me a new steering shaft Saturday. Anyone had good results with the 'improved shaft'?

Yes...... it solved my clunk problems. 10,000 miles since replacement
and no more problems. They tried the bearing replacement and
many lubes. Nothing worked until they replaced the shaft.

No. Didn't work on mine. Noise still there. Going to try greasing it myself this weekend. We shall see.

The replacement did not work on mine either. Had to grease the new shaft they just installed. Been 2 weeks and all is well so we shall see how long this one lasts....

This clunking noise you're talking about( steering Shaft)- can you actually feel it in the steering wheel or in the floor board? Does it seem to come from the passenger or drivers side?

I have a clunking noise( right side ) when going over bumps with the right front wheel, sounds & feels like a loose upper shock mount. I can actually feel it in the floor board and it seems to be worse when the wheel is turned slightly. I've been running the Rancho RS9000 shocks for approx 30K miles, replaced both upper & lower rubber mounts...didn't help. Thought maybe an internal problem with the shock, installed the O.E. shocks back on the truck with the centering washer on both fronts, didn't help.
Shook down the entire front end for loose parts, tierods, ball joints etc. Replaced both the ider and pitman. Checked to make sure caster/camber cams bolts where tight after alignment.
Doesn't seem to have any excessive slack in CV axles, all boots in good shape.
No visable signs of control arm bushing wear. . . same noise still there?

This is on an 02 D/A with 64K miles. At 59K bad injectors filled crank with fuel and dumped it out of the crank vent, completely soaked the right side front end parts and everything underneath from the front to back of the truck.... to the point of taking off all the undercoating. Can the diesel retard the rubber bushings? I've been under this truck two dozen times and had it up on a lift a couple of times trying to find this noise problem since October (2 weeks after injector replacement) about the only thing's I haven' checked are the body mounts, motor mounts and transmission mount? New Suncoast III Installed in September. . . Didn't think about that until just now.
Anyone had a similar problem? or have any ideas what I'm missing?
The clunking has gotten worse since it first started.

durasky, do you have tubes or running boards things on your truck?

I`ve been told that the new shafts have not reached the dealer`s yet and they don`t know when they will, but now some of you say you have had them installed some time ago. Are these shafts that have already been installed ,the new design ? Can someone please shed some light on this ?

Jomar

DmaxalliTech, No boards or tubes. Now that I think back I did separate the R/F CV joint at approx 25K miles with some hard 4-wheelin, replaced it with a re-man unit. I think I'll pull that shaft off and check it out a little closer. Maybe something inside the joint & housing?

Well, the dealer ordered me a new steering shaft Saturday. Anyone had good results with the 'improved shaft'?
Yes. Worked for me. Night and day difference.

Mines an 02. Out of bumper to bumper warranty. Had the shaft repaired by the dealer. Will they still replace the shaft?

the clunking sound from my steering shaft was unbearable went to dealer when i described it to him he order a lube kit without even looking at my truck -needless to say it fixed it complety i wish i had done this sooner i had already changed my steering gear box it would have been a lot cheaper on me

Had the shaft replaced at 12k ,and everything is fine now ,So far the dealer has been a good sorce of information.

I'm on my third shaft, they seem to last about 12000 to 15000 miles, also replaced the bearing in the steering box. and it always shows up on a bumpy right hand turn.

drive safe.