Slipping and clicking in the steering shaft

Hey guys, got a 93 cherokee, 2wd 4.0l here and having a bit of a problem. My key was stuck in the ignition so my dad and I took the whole thing apart and fixed THAT. Alright, after putting it all back together everything is working great. Then we put the wheel back on and much to my dismay there is a snap/clicking when I turn it coming from the engine compartment. When you turn it one way it does for a second and then it does it again when you turn it the other way. We looked in the engine compartment and can see that it is coming from a coupling on the steering shaft. I have looked all over alldata and autozone and can't find anything about this... any ideas?

Here is the part circled in red. When you turn the wheel either way it'll shift over that way and make a clicking sound like a zip tie zipping.
[URL=http://img101.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn0117ig1.jpg][/URL]

For reference, just to the right is where this connects to the cab.

Can't see a whole lot in that pic. Maybe it's just me.

Here are some more pics, you can click all of these and get a much larger image including the one in my first post.

There's a bushing in that coupling that wears out. I just put in a brand new shaft assembly. Cost about $75.

Some people have just welded the coupling, but I preferred to do it the right way.

johnnyc said:

There's a bushing in that coupling that wears out. I just put in a brand new shaft assembly. Cost about $75.

Some people have just welded the coupling, but I preferred to do it the right way.

Click to expand...

Did you have the same sort of symptoms before you replaced it?

No noise. Just a lot of excessive play in the wheel. But I could see where it could make the noises you are describing.