How to spend a whole day fixing a 2 hour job on the steering.

I decided to swap steering boxes to remove the slop in my steering on the White Elephant. Well I ended up doing the job twice. The second was worse than first, so I picked up a box at the 1/2 price sale, and installed it. It was then that I noticed that the rag joint was the real cause of my steering center slop. I am replacing the intermediate shaft with a Jeep shaft. That should cure the slop. It is too bad that I did not notice it while the 1/2 price sale was still on. There are 4-5 Jeep candidates at the local yard, so I should be able to get at least one good intermediate shaft. I have 2 half days in this so far. I have come to a point where I do not want to replace any steering boxes for a long time. I am not going to give the core back. I can not buy another good box for the core charge. It does need a new output shaft seal, but that is a lot cheaper than a steering box.

At least you don't have rust to deal with Fred. I want to swap out the box on my caddy but the lines look like they are now part of the steering box. Pretty much guaranteed the lines will snap off.

I got a realy nice Jeep shaft at the yard today. I also picked up a good rag joint (lower shaft only) from a 96 9C1. I am going to install the Jeep shaft after 6:00 tonight because of the heat. I will probably have to center the steering wheel. More work, great.

So does the Jeep shaft eliminate that 'dead spot' when the wheels are straight?
It doesn't bother me as I grew up driving body on frame GM vehicles from the 70s on, but it drives my son nuts. He hates it.

Haha everyone else who drives my car is so confused by that dead spot.

Hey Fred,think about how easy it will be the next time you have to swap steering boxes!Doing the same job twiced makes you a pofessional mecanic!At your age this is going to start happening
more and more often!

This is the 4th steering box I have had the "privilege" to swap. The only reason it will be easier next time is because the bolts have been removed recently. I probably could have adjusted the input shaft correctly on the car, rather than R&R the box, but it is extremely difficult to do in that position. Between correctly adjusting the box, and replacing the intermediate shaft, you can eliminate the dead spot at least for a while, but as parts wear, it will rear its ugly head again at some future time.

I also found that is it relatively easy to access the hose connectors from the top (on a TBI car with the air tube removed), instead of through the slot between the frame and wheelhouse. This may also be true for an LT1 car, if you get some of the stuff out of the way.

The Jeep shaft reduces the slop. Installing it does not necessarilly remove all of the slop. A good solid rag joint will give the same feel as the Jeep shaft, but the jeep shaft will outlast the rag joint. Just be careful when getting a Jeep shaft, there are 2 styles, and the one with the tangs at the upper fork have to be welded to ensure that they will not slip. I learned this from another B-body owner (I sold him a forked shaft, and he informed me of the fact from his thrilling experience). You should also check all the other components, They can all be a little loose, and cumulatively add up to a lot of play.

It rained most of Thursday, so I have yet to center the steering wheel. It looks like today will be the day. I guess you can tell just how excited I am about doing this... BTW, the steering is a lot more friendly now. I even got the quicker box. I am into it for a total of $42 and power some steering fluid.

Hey Jim, I see you are close behind me.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Just be careful when getting a Jeep shaft, there are 2 styles, and the one with the tangs at the upper fork have to be welded to ensure that they will not slip. I learned this from another B-body owner (I sold him a forked shaft, and he informed me of the fact from his thrilling experience).

Sorry to disagree, but this is bad information and a potential safety issue. The “forked” Jeep shaft consists of the shaft and column connection, held together by a molded elastomer that serves to reduce road vibrations felt in the steering wheel. If the tangs can move enough to touch, then the elastomer is compromised and the shaft is already junk.

The tangs are present for just that reason – as a back-up to ensure vehicle control can be maintained if the isolation coupling fails. The proper fix is that the shaft would be replaced as soon as the failure is detected, as it is considered non-repairable. Welding the tangs of a separated shaft is just making something work the way it was never intended to.

There are other reasons the Jeep shaft isn’t the best choice to replace the factory B-body shaft with, even if the elastomeric coupling is still serviceable, but suffice to say that using any shaft where the tangs contact is an unwise move from a safety standpoint.

- J

JaySS wrote:

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Just be careful when getting a Jeep shaft, there are 2 styles, and the one with the tangs at the upper fork have to be welded to ensure that they will not slip. I learned this from another B-body owner (I sold him a forked shaft, and he informed me of the fact from his thrilling experience).

Sorry to disagree, but this is bad information and a potential safety issue. The “forked” Jeep shaft consists of the shaft and column connection, held together by a molded elastomer that serves to reduce road vibrations felt in the steering wheel. If the tangs can move enough to touch, then the elastomer is compromised and the shaft is already junk.

The tangs are present for just that reason – as a back-up to ensure vehicle control can be maintained if the isolation coupling fails. The proper fix is that the shaft would be replaced as soon as the failure is detected, as it is considered non-repairable. Welding the tangs of a separated shaft is just making something work the way it was never intended to.

There are other reasons the Jeep shaft isn’t the best choice to replace the factory B-body shaft with, even if the elastomeric coupling is still serviceable, but suffice to say that using any shaft where the tangs contact is an unwise move from a safety standpoint.

- J

Yes it is a backup. There are also aftermarket shafts which have no elastomer isolator. Welding the tangs is a viable option to paying about $200 for a speciality shaft. There are no issues with the one I have on the Starship. The area that requires welding is more than sufficient to handle the loads from the steering. Even if the welds broke, you would still have the redundancy of the tangs to allow you to control the car. I believe this is a safe mod.

I finally got done with the steering wheel centering. All is good now...minimal center slop, centered wheel, fast ratio gear box, Jeep intermediate shaft, rotated tires, and regreased the passenger's side bearing.