Junior Member
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 17
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 17
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2014 T4R Hard steering - replace lower coupling shaft?
In the fall of 2021, the steering in my 2014 T4R stiffened up, not real bad, but you could definitely feel the extra effort needed. From comments on the forum, seemed like the lower u-joint on steering column.
I sprayed the u-joint a few times with Aero-Kroil and the steering loosened up, probably back to normal or close to it. That got me through the winter of 2021-2022 and with the warmer weather in the spring and summer this year, haven't had any issues.
I guess as expected, with colder fall temps, steering has stiffened up again. I figure it's time for the real fix. Thought I'd run this by the forum, but it looks like this requires replacement of the lower coupling shaft which includes the lower u-joint. It looks like Toyota P/N 45203-60181 with a best price of about $185.
I assume it is possible that if you pulled the shaft and got a P/N on the u-joint itself, you could replace just the u-joint. However, it looks as though removing the shaft can be rough and it might get damaged so just going with the entire lower coupling shaft is the way to go.
Just wanted to run this by the forum for anyone else that has gone through the repair to see if I'm missing anything? I'm probably going to buy the coupling shaft from Toyota and have my local shop do the work. Cold garage and no lift, I think I'll pass on doing this repair.
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