Steering shaft coupler rag joint replacement

[dgr]

There are a lot of threads on here telling people to simply replace their steering shaft with a Borgeson or Flaming Rivers shaft for $290-$350. On my truck, the sliding part of the steering shaft is in excellent condition. So, here we go:

This is much easier with the power steering pump moved out of the way. Locate the shaft so that both the bottom bolt and the top bolt are accessible. Remove the bottom bolt. Remove the top nut then push the stud and clip out of the shaft. Pry the bottom coupler off the steering box shaft then pull the assembly off the bottom of the steering column.

Once the unit is removed, you can see that there are different sized rivet heads. This is because the rivets are stepped. The four SMALL rivet heads need to be removed. Due to the design of the sheet metal support pieces, a 9/32" drill ended up being the best tool to remove them. Once the rivet heads are drilled or ground away, drive the rivets out of the other side. Keep track of the two metal support pieces. The one with a centering lip goes with the steering box connector. The one with a tab goes on the shaft assembly side.

Get one of these. There are probably others with the same diameter and bolt holes. This one was off the shelf and close enough to work.

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Here's most of the pieces. New coupler kit and parts that will not be used. Four 5/16" bolts with an unthreaded section. Four self locking nuts. A piece of 3/8" hard fuel line.

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The hardware in this kit has a pair of studs. These are designed so that if the rag joint completely disintegrates, they will catch on the lower shaft coupler and enable some limited steering. You could probably grind these to provide enough clearance to make them work but I don't plan on letting my rag joint get that bad. Before you throw the studs away, measure the shoulder height like below. This shoulder is necessary to provide clamping force without crushing the rag joint.

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Cut four pieces of 3/8" hardline to the measured height and then use them to make shoulder bolts. They should end up looking something like this.

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The new rag joint is not a perfect fit in the brackets. Clearance it in six places; four on the edges, one in the middle to fit the centering sheet metal piece and one in the middle to fit the tabbed sheet metal pieces. Where to clearance it is obvious once the pieces are held together.

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Bolt it all together. Some locktite here would probably be a good idea.

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Cut the bolts to size and done

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Total cost: About $20

 

[79jasper]

Not bad.
Nobody said they weren't replaceable. Just the borgeson goes to a u joint, which will likely never need replacing.

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[IDIoit]

deleting the rag joint all together is what I chose to do.
less slop, and looks awesome in a modified engine compartment.
only 100 bucks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/36-DD-STEER...ash=item210f30bb58:g:gWIAAOSwuTxWAuQY&vxp=mtr

now this is not a collapsible piece, and many say " oah but what if you get into an accident"
well if you crush your truck to the point of destroying the gear box, youre gonna be in the ICU for a while regardless.

 

[riphip]

Got my Borgeson on jet.com for 192.50. No tax / free shipping
Less work than you went through, but you will probably have to do some cutting.
Love it!!
Rick

 

[madpogue]

now this is not a collapsible piece, and many say " oah but what if you get into an accident"

The shaft is telescoping, and will move a lot further than the rag joint, I would think.