So the rag of the joint looks pretty dried out and sad. Should I completely replace it or is buying one of those rebuild kits sufficient?

Is this worth doing?

 

I would stay away from those rebuild kits and the Chinese knock off rag joints too. The quality is suspect and some of them are manufactured with the flat wrong and you will wind up with your steering wheel upside down. Replace it with a genuine OEM part. Its not too hard to replace. Soak the pinch bolt and shafts with some PB Blaster for a couple of days in advance. Here is a link telling you everything you need to know. http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com. Click on the Corvette Steering Papers. Best of luck

 

There is another thread about this right now, where instead of a new rag joint, a steering U-joint is installed. It's a solid connection, seems to work great with no vibrations, so the steering should feel firmer than with a rag joint.

You will have to unbolt and lower the steering gear box to install it though.

 

where can I get one of the flaming river units? I'm being lazy?

 

flamingriver.com use the dealer locator to find one near you. about $75

 

It's Flaming-river.com actually.

http://www.flaming-river.com/

 

Thanks for the web address.

 

Wow the vote is pretty one sided.

 

That's because those chinese $15 rag kits are junk. Compare one to a GM rag and you'll see the difference.

 

Gary, what would you recommend? Rag joint or swap it out for a Flaming River U-joint? Any plusses or minuses that you know of?

 

From one Sullivan to another... i rebuilt the one on my 72 with a kit from ecklers... it worked great and feels good. But I like the flamingriver piece a lot better, looks and all. I rebuilt mine when I had the column out anyways while doing the interior restoration.

Good luck,

Sully

 

Durango, is the part number package you show the one needed for a C-3?

Thanks, Ralph.

 

Yes, for the stock C3 steering gear.

 

The following paper outlines the reasons why Saginaw Steering Gear and General Motors used flexible couplings rather than universal joints. Particularly on steering systems where the hard mounted steering column attached directly to the steering gear.

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/wp-co...salJoints1.doc

Jim

 

I use GM rags only.

 

So is GM still making/selling them or am I looking for a NOS one? Any idea what part # I should be looking for?

 

I don't beleive GM is still making them.

 

#7818568 for Late 69-82's. List about $100 Prices will vary so watch out for added shipping costs if you can't find it from your local dealer.
I have some left if you run into a problem.

 

I don't know how much longer flexible coupling NOS will be around. I am quite sure that Saginaw has ceased manufacturing the flexible couplings and the off-shore houses are jumping right in to fill the gap.

The secret is still to use the shoulder bolts that came with your original flex coupling. It really scares me that there is no real engineering that is going into these service kits and service parts. I am not in a position to purchase X number of kits and parts that are being offered for sale just to determine if they are engineered correctly or not.

I note that the pictures of the universal joints show that they are "locked" in place by bolts and locknuts that screw into the joint perpendicular to the shaft.

As you may or may not know, I was the supervisor of the flexible coupling engineers in the early 1970s at Saginaw Steering Gear Division, GMC. There was a tremendous amount of engineering that went into the flexible couplings and the connections that steered the car that you own.

Please just take a moment to think about the engineering that went into the original flex coupling connection. I am not trying to brag. I am just letting you know that we understood that you were steering your car through this critical connection. We tried to make it as safe by its design as we could.

First of all, the cross bolt (pinch bolt) had a plastic patch on the threads. You could not install the bolt so that it was finger tight because the patch would prevent your fingers from tightening the bolt. So you had to use a wrench to tighten the bolt (even if it wasn't a torque wrench.) So as long as the bolt "looked" like it was tight (i.e. the head of the bolt was against the flex coupling flange) it had to be in place with the use of a wrench. Second, if you tightened the bolt you actually "wrapped" the flange around the shaft . Now, once that you torqued the bolt you literally could throw the bolt away because you actually deformed the flange so that it was locked in place. Third, as long as the pinch bolt was in place it had to pass through a notch that was machined on the gear or column shaft. If the bolt was in place you couldn't pull the flange off of the shaft because the bolt held in in place.

This was just some of the thinking that went into the flex coupling flange to gear shaft or to the steering column flange attachment.

Well it is Friday evening and time for a second Bombay before dinner!
Jim

 

Bought my new rag joint direct from the dealer back in April. They may not be making them but there is stock out there.