I have rubber body mounts and when I had a 3" driveshaft in the car, the body moved enough during a hard turn (forget which direction now) that the body rubbed the drive shaft .... almost 1/8". I switched back to the factory 2.5" driveshaft and haven't had any more problems.

I could see this being an issue with a single u-joint too.

 

One of the reasons I went with this U-joint when swapping my power steering setup to manual was a concern I had about the rag joint taking the load. With the power setup,the pitman arm connects to the control valve,and with little force in a sense controls the hydraulic pump to the ram. The ram being connected to the frame and centerlink,taking the brunt of the force.

With a 28 year old rag joint now connecting the steering wheel shaft directly to the pitman arm,which with manual steering connects to the centerlink,all the steering force goes through the rag joint,I felt it made sense to go with a U-joint.

I already have a VB&P spreader bar,but never thought I'd need to beef up the body mounts and chassis just because of one U-joint.WOW!

 

That rag joint isn't looking so antiquated afterall.

Still, with my manual steering I'm leaning towards the u-joint, frame stiffening and rigid body mounts, for my purposes anyway.

Thanks Jim, for pointing out that there is a lot more going on with this seemingly little item than first meets the eye. I know to pay much more attention to this than I might have otherwise.

 

I got the U-joint installed and wanted to share some of the gotcha's I ran into. First,as with anything involving mechanical parts,never tighten a bolt,till all bolts are at least started in their perspective holes.I ended up dropping my steering column twice because of this.(Not enough room to get the U-joint in otherwise.)

The method I used to install this involved pulling the steering box,though I'm not sure it was nessesary,it may have helped getting the U-joint on the splined shafts easier. I was in the process of converting from power to manual steering,and decided to clean things up,as well as swap pitman arms. I left my headers on,and had no problem manuvering the gearbox in,and out of position.

With the gearbox on the bench,I clamped a wire bent into the shape of a "Z" to the output shaft of the gearbox. I then clocked the input full left,and full right to establish an arc that the "Z" wire made when a piece of wood was held up in position. Then I bisected the arc,and was able to find the exact center point of the gear travel.This comfirms Jim's write up,in that the flat on the gearbox shaft points to 12 o'clock when the gear is centered.

The steering shaft also has a flat,and when the steering wheel is centered,also points to 12 o'clock.I decided to use the steering wheel shaft flat as a point of reference for the Flaming River U-joint,and centered the set screw on the flat of the steering shaft.(Not tight yet,just slid on in position.)Knowing that the flats needed to be in alignment,I wrestled the gearbox onto the U-joint using the calibrated eyeball method of aligning the set screw on the steering shaft to the center of the flat on the gearbox shaft.

Then I tighted everything up,and checked the steering wheel lock to lock,and guestimating the center,which put the steering wheel dead straight up.

I'm waiting on parts to complete the front end,but just a fraction of an inch of movement on the steering wheel results in pitman arm movement.Much better than before.

 

any feedback?!

my rag is worn so i would go with a U-joint if it's a good option

 

Hey Money, do you think this job would be okay without removing the column at all? Can you do it by just dropping the steering box?

 

All I did was loosen the flange bolts at the firewall, drop the column to the seat,give it a wiggle back and I got enough room to install the U-joint. I did have the steering box off the frame for clean up,so at the time of re install,I had wiggle room on both sides of the U-joint.

There was no way enough room without dropping the steering column though.Needed an extra 1/4"- 1/2" to slip the joint in.It was not a tough job,maybe half an hour. (Including time for the beer.)

As far as steering improvements, I did get a chance to drive it down to the shop for a frontend alignment, but that day it snowed. Can't say I got a chance to really test it. But just budging the steering wheel in the garage results in instant movement,so I'm sure it'll be responsive on the road.

 

I try this parts and don't fit ! my steeringbox has spilnes so DD don't work!


now i d'ont knw what i must take

 

Good tips Money. Thanks for the great write up.

 

This is really good.. What part from borgeson or flaming rivers do I need for 1972 corvette. I know for sure the steering box side is not Double D. I think the column side is -48? Any ideas?

 

Gents...
I am fixing to install my standard steering column this weekend on my 69. I got a Flaming River FR2513 U-Joint and have done some research in the past to get that correct part number. My gear box has the early continuous spline (360degrees) and therefore requires the FR2513. The later non-continuously splined gear boxes have a flat spot at 12 o’clock and they require FR1734 and maybe others…. [[The FR2513 is 1" @ 48 splines x 3/4" @36 Splines]]

Anyway, in my restoration, I recall being aware of clocking the gearbox when installing the arm that connects to the lower side of the gearbox. I assume that if I have done that and my tires/wheels are straight, then that is TDC?.... kinda?

Would you all suggest that a recheck is required and if so - just do a full lock each side and split the difference as outlined by Jim Shea? I think I am getting impatient and wanting to take a short cut aren't I...

 

Yes.

 

 

so is the FR1734 ,,correct for 1980

any one switched to it ,,?

 

After thinking this through, I indeed clocked the gearbox when installing the pitman arm. If I had not - no matter what occurred with the steering column, it would not 'center' itself or 'unwind' properly... I also think it would not allow the wheels to travel evenly in each direction.

That said, I will take a stab at centering the column/u-joint on there - and I think I will be right on. If not - a turn of the steering wheel from side to side will identify any issues.

 

During the 60s and early 70s there were a lot of General Motors rear steer passenger cars. (Rear Steer - steering arms are behind the centerline of the front wheels and the steering gear connects directly to the steering column by means of some sort of a coupling.)

All of those rear steer cars had a 3.4 inch diameter flexible coupling assembly manufactured at Saginaw Steering Gear as a connection. I was still in college when a lot of those vehicles were designed so I don't have any first hand knowledge. But I was the supervisor of the flexible coupling group at Saginaw from the early 70s and 80s.

I was always told that the reason a flexible coupling was used (instead of a universal joint) was that the universal joint was not forgiving with respect to any body to frame movement or misalignment. Whether or not there were documented failures of steering column lower bearings or was there steering column jacket fatigue I do not know. But I know that it was a concern.

I know that there are more than a few C2/C3 Corvettes that are now being driven with a universal joint connecting the steering column to the gear. I am not aware of anyone reporting a lower bearing or steering column problem. I would suggest that all of you keep an eye on your installations because there is definately slight movement of the body to the frame on your Corvettes.

Jim

 

I just installed the FR1734 last night on my 79 along with a rebuilt with better parts steering box

 

If your rag joint is in good condition, it is notthe usual cause of play in the steering wheel. Play is a warn out steering box and every other item right out to the tire tread touching the pavement.

If you look at the rag joints construction it has very little if any give in the rotational directions. Even manual steering at a dead stop causes very little deflection.

I replaced my steering box, all bushing, and all ball joints. The only reason that i replaced my rag joint is because it is 31 years old and screwed up because of years of being baked right next to hot headers. They want $100 for a rag joint so the FR1734 was an attractive alternative.

When I was looking for rag joints NAPA has a one kit fits all for $10 bucks. You use your metal parts and all you have to do is: Take the rag joint out by removing the three bolts from the steering box. Remove the tow bolts from the rag joint spline clamps. Move the steering box forward. Remove the rag joint. Then grind off the two rivet studs and punch them through. Reassemble the rag joint with all the bolts and studs from the $10 kit and reassemble.

So it's $10 vs $80 with shipping.

 

I did. I forget the part number. Give Flaming River a call, they'll get you the right one. Seems a lot better than the old rag joint and cost about the same as a replacement.

 

Gents - got the column in. I did have to pick up (1/16"??) the front end of the column to make it go into the U-Joint.

I appreciate all ya'lls input. Jim - I hear you on body/frame movement.

I am comfortable with the steering wheel / U-Joint / Steering Box alignments. The car is on roller skates now - but the first opportunity to dirve it on the road and a wheel alignment will tell all.

I am still concerned of harness/steering colum shield (AIM J235 - Part 3967814) and instrument panel clearances. I will just have to assess over the next months. The harness is indeed tight between these items. And as mentioned the one light bulb socket (Speedo at 140mph ish) can be pushed vertically and pop out when the harness is pushed vertically at the column centerline (in between the gauges). So - time will tell. I am hoping the harness will stretch into a more relaxed arc position.

Aside - I hope for a tilt steering column upgrade next year - so I can check it out then. Hmmmm - seems there is less room between the seat and bottom of steering whell than when I was younger. Maybe cuz I weighed 165 lbs then.