Has anyone used the Dorman intermediate steering shaft? I purchased one for my HHR. I've spent the day trying to install it, but I've had to walk away from it. The problem I see is that the telescoping part is so F%#!^g stiff that it takes an act of God to move it. OK, it just takes me putting a rod in one of the U joints, standing on it and pulling with my full body strength to extend it. Then using a bar clamp to push it back together. Should I just pull it and return it as defective? At this point I've got it wedged in, but only about 1/8 of an inch on the steering wheel side and it's going to take some doing to get it back out I think.
Should I have just paid the extra $100 and gotten the GM part?

Edit the second part: With the original shaft uninstalled, I can't replicate the knocking that I heard with it installed. I've turned and pulled and pushed every way I can think of on the old part since it's been out and it's quiet as can be. So now I'm less than confident that this damn thing is even the problem. I really thought I had it narrowed down to this.

 

Tap the yokes on and into place, that tight shaft is normal for new parts. Try a small screw driver in the slot cut into the yokes to help slide them into position

 

Thanks for your reply as always. I don’t think I explained the issue well, but I was exhausted and pissed off so that’s not surprising.

I can get either connection (yoke) in place fairly easily, but only one or the other, not both at the same time. Once I get either connection in place, I cant bring enough force to bear to either extend or compress the middle (telescopic) section. So the shaft is either too short to make the second connection or too long to get the connections in place. The only way I’ve been able to get that to move at all is while the part is out of the car. To extend I put a bar thru a U-joint, stand on that bar, then pull with everything I’ve got and it will extend. To get it to compress at all I have to get a bar clamp on it and force it back. There’s no room to do anything like that while it’s in the car. Hopefully that’s a better explanation.

 

Yes better explanation. I wonder if you work it back and forth with some white lithium grease on the inner shaft to lubricate it , it’ll slide better? Perhaps a bit of a work out!

 

Didn't Oldblue have a problem with the wrong part?

 

Yes the rack end was incorrect, to short

 

I worked on this again this weekend finally and still didn't manage to get the new part installed. It is looser after working it with the white lithium grease, but it seems like that lasts about a minute or two. Once I get the part back in place, it's too stiff to move again. So I put the old shaft back in and I'll get back to this when it's warmer. Maybe that's part of the problem?