I pulled my steering shaft yesterday and replaced the rag joint. I was expecting the rubber in the old one to be torn or disintegrated, but it's not really, considering it's a 37 year old 165k mile car. Is it possible the rubber just shrunk over the years and caused play/looseness? I can't test it yet because the rubber boot on the other end was torn, so I had to order a new one. The joints on that end don't seem to have any play in them.

 

The rubber can be all kinds of deteriorated and falling to pieces and soft, butt not "look" particularly bad. Especially if it's been soaked in oil. Which most all of them have. So go ahead and change it out, can't hurt.

 

What kind of grease should be used for the knuckle joint? Lithium grease is supposedly bad for rubber, and I don't want to degrade the new boot. Just regular multi-purpose grease?