Hi!
I am having a lot of play somewhere in my steering components and took my intermediate steering shaft out today to check for play. I will be replacing at least one of the rag joints, since there is a tear in it and I just want to be save. There was only very minimal play at that joint, though. I am also having just a very slight play between the inner and outer telescoping shafts. They seem to be quite tight, but not tight enough to not have any play at all. I was wondering, if painting the inner shaft would be a good idea to get rid of the little play there is? Has this been done? I will need to get more grease in it, for sure. I took a bunch of it off to clean it and there probably could have been more in the first place. Now I just don't know what kind of grease to use? Does anybody know, what kind of grease was used by Ford? Is there anything that is nice and tacky and could help with the play? Do I have to be concerned about mixing the old grease with new grease? I read that people use 5th wheel grease for similar issues. does that sound like a good option? And is there a clever way to get the grease between the inner and outer shafts?

Any ideas are highly appreciated!