^^^ Yes... you will need the service terminal for final set up on the steer FB encoder.

If you are going to do it yourself or even if you are going to farm it out... Help yourself (or the tech you call in) and hose the 2 dowel pins in the drive unit mounting weldment down with Aerokroil (or a good penetrating oil) a day or so before tearing it down.

Be safe! Like mentioned above, a lot of spots for crushed broken bones when doing this repair.

^^^^^^ this guy is correct. I actually hate putting those bearings in....many opportunities to get hurt on this one. Call in a Crown tech for this. Plus, after the job is done, you need the service terminal to index the feedback encoder

You can get the codes off SP's without the service terminal. Just power up and push the left toggle on dash once and it will bring up most recent code. then push right and each time you push right it will go back in order to the oldest code. Up to 15 codes stored. The only thing you need the service terminal for is clearing fault codes, advanced set ups/truck options and calibrations.

The violet "slam" when attempting to plug is most commonly not an electrical issue. Most likely a blown upper steer bearing. With the slop in the bearing the drive unit will slightly tip when changing direction and cause the motor armature to hit the stator and lock up. If this is not corrected it will eventually destroy the motor. The bearing is pretty cheap and not to technical to replace, just somewhat labor intensive if you have not done one (or a few) and figured out the shortcuts and tricks to save time/labor.