[DanEC]

Do you have your pressures reversed (front & rear) by chance? ERA recommends 28 front and 26 rear for a starting point. I generally run within a pound or so of that but I think you could even go to 26/24 with no issues. For the winter, if my car(s) is likely to be parked undriven for quite some time, I usually air the tires up to around 32 -34 for storage. If I think I'll be able to drive it every so often I usually leave them as is.

I think the steering shaft on newer cars is powder coated but it may be paint on earlier cars. If painted, I would use some gloss black brake caliper paint or engine block paint from Dupli-color - both of which are good for about 650 deg F. Of course if you are going through the effort to remove it for refinishing you could also have it powder coated. Not sure what the temp limits are for PC however - probably not as high as 650 F. As far as the u-joint, I don't think there are any serviceable parts in it - either it's tight and OK, or has play and is worn out.