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I am trying to replace my rag joint due to sloppy steering. I have removed the 2 bolts on the sides and the one on the shaft. I cannot get the shaft to move up at all in order to get the old rag joint out. Any advice??
Depends on what your plan is. You have to remove the pinch bolt on the box to remove the rag from the box. You have a collapsible column, if you start prying on it you will collapse it without knowing it. The box probably needs work as well as the rag. The new rags sold today are not that good.
I would spray some Kroil on the splines and let it soak in a day and you can try to spread the coupling at the slot in it but that would be to try and slide the flange up, you're better off removing the box, then clean the rag and check the box.
Depends on what your plan is. You have to remove the pinch bolt on the box to remove the rag from the box. You have a collapsible column, if you start prying on it you will collapse it without knowing it. The box probably needs work as well as the rag. The new rags sold today are not that good.
I would spray some Kroil on the splines and let it soak in a day and you can try to spread the coupling at the slot in it but that would be to try and slide the flange up, you're better off removing the box, then clean the rag and check the box.
Okay, thank you. I will give this a shot. All the videos I've seen people were able to just push the whole shaft up a couple inches to get room but mine wouldn't do that.
Unfortunately you may need to lower the steering column to allow you to pull it or even loosen the three steering box mounting bolts to give you some wiggle room.
Have you dropped the steering column inside the car and pulled up? I needed to do it this way on my 78.
Jim Shea: "The flex cplg and steering column flange connections overlap. In other words, you have to either disconnect and move the steering column rearward into the driver compartment or you have to loosen and tip the steering gear in order to gain sufficient distance to actually get the steering coupling and the column flange to disengage. The way the components are designed, the steering components cannot disengage if just one critical fastener is missing. So if something is not tightened or connected correctly, the operator of the vehicle should have plenty of noticeable steering looseness as well as audible rattles as a warning that something is not right."
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Rag joint steering coupler won't move
