Crown replacement intermediate steering shaft?

My '90 XJ has about 180k on it, and about 30 degrees of slop in the steering wheel. The balljoints/tierods/draglink/etc. were all replaced within the last 20k miles with NAPA premium parts; the only original parts are the steering box and column (non-tilt).

The slop didn't used to bother me too much, as I was used to it and knew what it was going to do. However, now that I put in a rear locker, the slop is no longer tolerable, as I need to saw the wheel too much to deal with the rear pushing through corners (I daily-drive my XJ, and need to park in a parking garage).

I know there is some slop in both the steering box and shaft, so I started looking around for parts. The shaft seems dealer only, other than from Borgeson and Crown. The part # I have (5200-1948) is now $300 from the dealer, which is too rich for me, and besides is on indefinite backorder. The Borgeson is also $300, although available. The Crown seems the only reasonable $$ option, at around $110. Is it a decent part? I don't need the uber-precision/durability of the Borgeson; I just need reasonable OEM replacement.

I've known a few people that installed them in the last couple years and have yet to hear of any issues. Should last as long as the original.

steering box is adjustable. the rest of the play is probably the isolater bushing .It can be drilled and pinned. I used a 1/8 inch roll pin if it fails the steering will still function but will have slop.

BOBFBT said:

steering box is adjustable....

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Only if you know what you are doing.....

Do it wrong and you could kill yourself/others.....

The steering box is adjustable but not enough to compensate for a worn intermediate shaft :doh:

And if you adjust it too tightly, the steering can lock up at... inopportune times. Don't mess with it unless you know what you are doing.

I've had a Crown shaft on my MJ for about 2 years now.

Thanks for the info. I'll order the Crown part, and think I'm going to try pinning the shaft this weekend so the driving is a bit more manageable until the Crown part gets in. I'm not messing around the steering box; I saw the torque measurement adjustments were down in the inch-pounds, which is too fine for a ham-fisted wrench like me....

Before you throw money at the problem, have someone underneath the vehicle and have them hold the shaft where it goes into the steering box with a big set of pliers. Then get inside and make sure the slop is in the shaft, not somewhere else in the steering. I have never seen a loose shaft but I have seen tons of bad ball joints, tie rod ends, drag link ends, control arm bushings, cracked frame plates, etc.