I've decided to re-repost this for some of the newer zone members we've picked up in the last year and change. The angle joint in the steering column shaft has a very thing retainer and mine let go. This is the fix...or the preventative measure.

Ok, where the column shaft meets the shaft coming up from the steering box there is a socket style greased joint there. This joint has a very thin, like .042", retainer/seal combo that holds the joint together. Mine pulled apart while going up a steep, off camber, hill making up for the lack of articulation in the suspension. Yeah, beating the truck. The shaft coming down from the steering wheel has a cross pin at the bottom of it and has two square blocks with the center drilled through that sit on the cross pin and then slip into the socket, or lower, part of the joint. There is a spring clip on the outside of the socket that holds the retainer/assembly together. The retainer/seal thing is reletively weak in comparison to a good jerk fron the driver on the wheel. When it comes apart, it's all a person can do to press it together and try and get home.
THE FIX: I took a very large washer and chucked it up in the lathe and turned the inside diameter out so that with a little maneuvering it would go over the cross pin and on the shaft. I then turned the outside diameter down so that it would just fit in the socket side of the joint. This washer is a hefty .187" (3/16"), more than four times the thickness of the original retainer. Before I installed the retainer on the shaft, I needed a dust boot. I took a wheel cylinder boot, we all have these kicking around, and cut the small center out of it then stretched it over the steering shaft past the cross pin. Then the heavy retainer, then the two square blocks. I installed a grease fitting on the lower end of the socket before assembly. With that heaped with grease and the ability to add further grease, I slipped the assembly together and put the snap ring in place. The snap ring fits nice and snug. I got in the cab and thrashed hell out of the steering wheel and it all stayed together.

Even though I wrote a book, this is a very easy fix and a heavy duty upgrade. ...and the search goes on for the next weak link!