I think we should look at this with fresh eyes- we are sort of fixated on the factory part- would be pretty easy to create a 2 part roller assembly to capture the shaft- could have adjustable tension as well.
There are two issues with the steering shaft. The first, a bad bearing, is relatively easy to overcome. I'm sure there is a heim joint somewhere that will fit. It needs to have two axis of rotation, so that is why I'm thinking heim. Any other spherical type bearing would work as well, but packaging could be a problem. The greater of the two issues is the plastic "journal" that is molded on the steering shaft. That starts to wear out as soon as the bearing seizes. Once you lose diameter there, there isn't an easy way to bring it back. A guy might be able to offer a rebuild service where the plastic is removed and aluminum or something is pressed back on, but coming up with a singular solution to just replace the bearing is going to be tough.