Steering question

I am a long time owner of Buick Regals, and in that community, we have discovered that Jeep Cherokee steering shafts directly bolt in place of the terrible, rag-joint GM steering shafts.  I can say personally that this simple fix makes a huge difference in steering quality and response.  I was just wondering if this same change can be made on the bigger B bodies.  The shafts look (without measuring) the same.  Just curious.

yep, they work over here as well! There are long threads about the swap on the ISSF...

Sweet, off to the junkyard!

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/steering-column-shaft-with-power-steering-4713943.html

This is the one I put in my '88 Caprice.

As long as I'm spending $105, why not spring for the DSE one for the low price of $275?

http://www.detroitspeed.com/1978-1988-G-Body-Products/092519-steering-shaft-kit.html

BuickGuy wrote:

I am a long time owner of Buick Regals, and in that community, we have discovered that Jeep Cherokee steering shafts directly bolt in place of the terrible, rag-joint GM steering shafts.  
I can say personally that this simple fix makes a huge difference in steering quality and response.  I was just wondering if this same change can be made on the bigger B bodies.  The shafts look (without measuring) the same.  Just curious.

It has been discussed here to some degree, running this search string through Google will get you most of them:

jeep steering site:gmlongroof.4umer.com

There are those that believe that the Cherokee shaft is the best thing since sliced bread, and others that aren’t so convinced.

This thread over @ ISSF has some intelligent discussion buried within, at least read up & realize what you are giving up to use the Jeep shaft:

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=243695

Suffice to say that the Jeep system has nothing equivalent to accommodate frame-to-body movement as the factory upper coupling (known as a trunnion joint, similar to the setup seen here):



If you really have your heart set on the Jeep shaft, I would suggest completely separating the two shafts and thoroughly cleaning the sliding sections. Reassemble with a good amount chassis grease and spend some quality time fine-tuning the fit with the careful application of a bench vise until the shafts can slide easily but without inducing backlash to the slip joint.

- J

Good information, thanks for that. Honestly, when I went the Jeep shaft route in my Regal, I never looked back because the results were so good.

Bump.

Anybody done this mod on a car originally equipped with a column shift? Am I crazy or do I need to remove the column shift mechanism from the base of the steering column?

Ray, it bolts up without any changes. I put one in each of my cars, and did not have to change a thing. I left the plastic cover off as well.

9 pages in before a "debate"begins. My two cents,more pros than cons for making the switch to the Jeep piece.

Never mind, figured it out. Shaft fits.

So what did you do?

Pulled the shaft out. lol

Fits fine and clears the headers. Now I can pull that side off, blast them, and spray with ceramic coating.

I kinda like the soft steering feel,..

with all the joints in the gm front end,. and idler arms that fade away after a few miles with the bigger 255-50 tires,.can you really notice the difference the shaft makes?

Or is it a peer pressure 'gotta get one because everybody else has one' kinda thing,.?

If the car has the steering damper on the center link i personally get zero feed back thru the steering wheel as far as slop is concerned when the car has the stock skinny tires n rims on,..

i,m not as sophisticated a driver as some others tho,..

Mostly a "Hey, why does this wheel turn 1/4 way in each direction before anything happens" sort of thing.

The old rag joint was practically non-existent after I pulled everything out, and for a few bucks on fleabay, now the car will steer straight. Will I notice a difference? Who knows. This thing will probably feel like the huge boat it is compared to my daily driver Civic - especially after not driving it for a year or more by the time the swap is done.

But now it functions, so that's all I cared about.