After looking at that rusted u joint I'm going to check both of my cars. That's kinda scary.

 

You'll want to unbolt both ends and then slide it up and then off when you go down.
The biggest thing you'll want to do is to keep the steering wheel and rack from moving so it doesn't F up your alignment. One idea is to mark the output of the rack onto the housing with a paint marker so you know that orientation. And before you start maybe lock the steering wheel so it can't turn.

 

An easy way to lock the steering wheel is wrap a ratcheting tie down straps around the brake pedal and steering wheel and make it snug.

 

Good idea! I've always attempted something like a shift **** or seat in some way but that's a lot better option - won't move.

 

Well... just ordered the part off ebay from a nissan dealership. $100 VS $168 + tax locally.

I'm going to try to mark up the shaft and reference point, alignment i dont care too much on. I have firestone lifetime alignment, that shop has a in-ground rack for lowered cars and they treat me well .

If its anything but common sense, i might snap some pictures and do a DIY. But if its just basic bolts like i think it will be, i'll just save time.

 

Just be sure to make match marks. If the angle changes at all you will have constant VDC/Slip lights and need the steering angle sensor recalibrated by Nissan.

 

Job was easy and hard to do at the same time. So i dont have pictures.

12mm bolts, one on top and on bottom of the joint. Take the driver side wheel off and you can get access easily to the bolts. You dont have to remove it but it was easier this way for me. 12mm socket and 6 or 12 inch extension will do.

In a way you do not have to mark the shaft or steering wheel but it doesn't hurt. Mainly because the top shaft coming from the steering column is a D shaped shaft, meaning the opening of the joint and the flat part of the D has to line up. The bottom of the joint, the opening lines up with a slit opening on the blue plastic collar on the rack if the wheels are pointed forward.

Removing the bolts were easy. getting the joint off the rack was slightly hard and getting it off the top of the column was just as hard.

To get the bottom off, i used a pry bar and hammer to lift it up. Its rusty so a lot of good hits were needed. Then to get the top, the shaft moves which is great but clearance stinks, you are fighting the header/ manifold for room. But i took a little hammer and just made 50 little taps and got it off. Overall took me 90minutes. If there was no rust, i would say a 15 minute job after you get the car in the air and wheel off.


Either way car feels way better now. The old joint was dead.

 

Sorry to bring this up from the dead lol
my 05 g35x has had this stiff steering and vibration and slight roar only at higher speeds(changed the bearings already) the car is almost impossible to keep on the road the slightest wind gust and I have to correct. I have changed every single front suspension part aside from the front axles. Last month I bought a reman rack and pinion and for the first two weeks it was fine but still tight but then it started to develop the same click in the steering when stopped in park when turning all the way to the left.
My question is has anyone else who changed their u-joint have a click or clunk felt in the steering wheel if you say "jiggled" the wheel with the car off ?
I should mention i am an X owner and I recently swapped the stock 17s for stock 18s
any help would be greatly appreciated

 

I'd start looking at the u-joints on the front driveshaft for the vibration, steering shaft u-joint you can usually spray WD40 into it to loosen it back up as a troubleshooting step to verify that it is indeed shot. The WD40 trick works for a couple months.

As for keeping your car straight on the road with a gust of wind, that's almost ALWAYS an alignment issue, take it in for an alignment and I bet you are toe neutral or slightly +, it's causing an effect called "bump steer". The factory (check the TSB that recommends the factory recommended minimum spec) setting will keep the car straight in the road and feel very stable.

 

My alignment was just done..I've just changed the rack so after I did that I got an alignment done. Now the wind sheer so to speak is only felt in the steering wheel and the vibrations are not present when I take both hands off the wheel (rare cause the car will track based on wind, road crown anything slopes) you can feel it when you pull the wheel there's a noticeable clunk and it feels like a dead spot in the steering where the wheels don't turn. I did take a video of the steering u-joint in action and the click seems to come from there but it doesn't show any play

 

Clunk and dead spot means some kind of mechanical problem, get the car supported up in the air and start pulling around on things until you find out what's loose/broken/wrong. You may have bought a defective R&P, might be missing a tooth or something.

 

So I installed the steering u-joint today honestly the steering wheel just felt more consistent.
I started thinking of rotating parts ...the only front end component i haven't changed was the axle.
so here's what I did ...
I pulled the driver side front axle out disassembled it so that I was left with the outboard cv joint stub ...
Put the stub in the bearing hole, bolted it up.
I can't tell you how much better the steering feels .
To explain it it feels so buttery smooth and the wheels turns so quietly on the road.
Are cv joints known to cause roughness ?

 

I also forgot to mention that when I got this reman r&p it was not centered and the adjustment 22 mm bolt was torqued tight so the steering wheel wouldn't return to centre
I also have a clunk in the rear parcel shelf area ..
sounds like someone's tapping on my rear window

 

Just finished the steering U joint on my 05 X. Found this thread and just wanted to let you know, you installed the U joint upside down. The thicker end with the purple paint mark should be at the top, installed on the steering column. It has a space in the splines that matches up with a thicker spline on the steering column end, you must really have jammed it on there to make it work.

It's been 5 years so I'm sure your car is handling fine, just wanted to let you know.