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The issue is the rubber is failing and causing me some looseness...
I read some threads about drilling and pinning, however what about just upgrading to the newer style shaft with the rag joint?
Has anyone ever done this?
I have a guy that is very skilled at welding aluminum (assuming he has the time), so modifying the shaft should not be a big deal other than I need to pay him for his time...
Looking at the two images side by side, I'm thinking I could get away with popping the U-joints out and installing the ends from my 84, clocking of the shaft it self looks to be identical to the shaft on my 84..
That is assuming the U joints are the same size, and the shaft does not need to be shortened or length added...
I do quite a few steering shafts at work, common on some newer cars, I should label the old ones and see what might work. Who knows, there might be a direct bolt on piece.
Looking at the pictures side by side it looks like it may be cocked 90 degrees from my 84 shaft.
However i went for the shaft that had the rag joint down by the rack to ensure it's far away from my headers.
... That and it will be prettier once i give the steering shaft a mirror finish... that is assuming I want to mess with the buffer, and a good hour of prepping...
I did have to swap out the steering wheel end if the intermediate shaft with the 84, however the ujoints are the same.
Here is a side by side of the two before modification.
Here is the modified shaft, i also gave it a quick polishing...
Installed...
Steering wheel lined up perfectly!
Only catch was getting the ujoints out, trial and error...
Luckly they are compatible with each other.
The shaft that you used I'm quite sure is a '92+ and the rag-joint sits much closer to the rack and the shaft has a smaller diameter than the '86 - '91 intermediate. The rag-joint on the '86 - '91 is midway and certainly on some applications might create issues. Either could be used for a car with cast manifolds but the later '92+ would be ideal for a car with headers.
The shaft that you used I'm quite sure is a '92+ and the rag-joint sits much closer to the rack and the shaft has a smaller diameter than the '86 - '91 intermediate. The rag-joint on the '86 - '91 is midway and certainly on some applications might create issues. Either could be used for a car with cast manifolds but the later '92+ would be ideal for a car with headers.
That was my thoughts, the older shaft style i was unsure how close it would come to the headers.
this one the seller said it was from a 94, seemed like i had more room near the rack.
But while installing i thought for a second that i would need to modify my power steering pressure line.
But once i had it in place i had plenty of room!
I also like the cleaner look of the newer style shaft.
My original was hideous, i thought about pulling it while my rack was being rebuilt by turnone, and to give it a nice coat of paint.
But other projects on the car came first...
Also to unbolt the steering wheel end of the shaft took some work to get my hand in there, this morning it looks like an angry cat made sweet angry love to it...
I got a chance to try the new shaft out yesterday.
I first took the car up the canyon, tight windy roads, the steering was solid and predictable.
I took some video, but i went 5min over YouTube's limit, so i need to figure an easy way to shave the last 5min off of it.
the road dumped me out in another state, so i took the freeway back home.
Nice 80mph speed limit on the way back, i ended up playing along with some superbikes at an "entertaining" speed.
It started as i was trying to keep some dumb girl from running them over, that turned into me staying up with them to keep her from riding their butts.
Then later that turned into some fun.
The car was very solid, I'm very happy with the upgrade so far.
Only issue i had installing was the dust covers for the end.
the upper joint is a little larger than the original, so i could not tighten the retaining screw down.
The lower ujoint dust cover is also to small, however the new shaft came with a dust cover that should fit.
But for now I'm leaving it off so i can monitor the rag joint.
If it starts to soften from the heat i'll replace the rubber part with something more solid.
As it sits I'm debating if i want to wrap it in heat tape shielding...
I got a chance to try the new shaft out yesterday.
I first took the car up the canyon, tight windy roads, the steering was solid and predictable.
I took some video, but i went 5min over YouTube's limit, so i need to figure an easy way to shave the last 5min off of it.
the road dumped me out in another state, so i took the freeway back home.
Nice 80mph speed limit on the way back, i ended up playing along with some superbikes at an "entertaining" speed.
It started as i was trying to keep some dumb girl from running them over, that turned into me staying up with them to keep her from riding their butts.
Then later that turned into some fun.
The car was very solid, I'm very happy with the upgrade so far.
Only issue i had installing was the dust covers for the end.
the upper joint is a little larger than the original, so i could not tighten the retaining screw down.
The lower ujoint dust cover is also to small, however the new shaft came with a dust cover that should fit.
But for now I'm leaving it off so i can monitor the rag joint.
If it starts to soften from the heat i'll replace the rubber part with something more solid.
As it sits I'm debating if i want to wrap it in heat tape shielding...
Mine has been fine for over a year and I have long tube headers.
@84 4+3
who looks like he needs this.
i have an extra shaft i bought as a backup, but only as a last resort.
try and get a steering shaft off of ebay, they should be available under $40.
Early Intermediate Steering Shaft Upgrade?
