Rag joint replacement difficulty

[Fjordlander]

Hello all,

My 76 K10 Scottsdale has a little steering slop and tends to wander on the road. I'd like to replace the rag joint but I want to know how difficult of a job that's going to be before I get after it. As always I appreciate your advice!

 

[Dmack]

It's pretty simple. Remove the two nuts that go from the rag joint to the steering shaft. Then you can pry them apart. Then remove the bolt that secures the rag joint to the steering box output shaft and pry it off. Install is opposite.

Also watch as they make 2 different ones, they have different spline counts.

 

[Fjordlander]

It's pretty simple. Remove the two nuts that go from the rag joint to the steering shaft. Then you can pry them apart. Then remove the bolt that secures the rag joint to the steering box output shaft and pry it off. Install is opposite.

Also watch as they make 2 different ones, they have different spline counts.

Thank you!! That seems fairly easy

 

[Dleslie212]

Thank you!! That seems fairly easy

Go for the Jeep or Borgner steering shaft replacement, and ditch the rag joint completely

 

[Fjordlander]

Go for the Jeep or Borgner steering shaft replacement, and ditch the rag joint completely

I've looked into that but it seems considerably more difficult

 

[75gmck25]

The jeep steering shaft conversion will not work with ‘79 and early squarebody trucks if you still have the original steering box. I installed a new rag joint on my ‘75 (easy job) and it helped quite a bit, but there is still a fair amount of play in my steering box.

There is also an adjuster (with a lock nut around it) on the top of the steering box, and you can experiment with it to see how much you can get rid of freeplay. However, it’s easy to go too far wirh the adjustment and end up with binding of the steering.

The GM manual is specific about disconnecting the steering from the tie rods and then using a spring scale to measure the drag as you adjust the box. It’s not really that complicated to do it the right way, but most guys just turn the adjuster down about 1/4 turn at a time and see if it helps. YMMV