RETRO-Mod: Jeep intermediate steering shaft

[HotRodPC]

Dang just read hot rods post got there before me....

Yes, but people don't always read that far back. To reiterate the aluminum rivet is a good idea. It's a safety thing. If you've ever seen a vehicle that had a severe frontal crash and the steering shaft didn't collapse and you see what happens, you'd know how important it is to have that feature. 70's Dodge power wagon pinned a friends brothers head to the back of the cab near the roof and part of his neck was out the back glass. The steering column came in and up.

 

[Camar068]

I went to the pap again today. There were 2 cherokee's but had serious front end damage so I didn't bother.

Thanks Hotrod, I'll do that later in the week. Shouldn't take long.

 

[HotRodPC]

I went to the pap again today. There were 2 cherokee's but had serious front end damage so I didn't bother.

Thanks Hotrod, I'll do that later in the week. Shouldn't take long.

I didn't even do that. I just put silicone on mine to to take up the space and let the inner shaft float inside the bigger shaft. Hasn't been any problem with it that way. 89S said he had problems with his coming apart so he made it solid.

 

[VAL]

Here's what I did to mine today. I drilled two 5/16" holes about 2" apart, Welded some grade 8 nuts on it, put in the bolts(using them as a set screw), tightened the just enough to eliminate the play, maybe an inch pound. I'm pretty certain it will collapse if it needs to, they are just there filling in the space.

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[89Suburban]

Great mod, plus it will be easy to remove now if you got to work on something.

 

[NOPHO84K30]

Ok so I got mine today and it does the same thing on the upper part where the bushing is so I just need to weld that piece together right

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Right-o.

 

[HotRodPC]

Ok so I got mine today and it does the same thing on the upper part where the bushing is so I just need to weld that piece together right

Or, pull it down to where it should be, connect it at the top, and drill a hole and do the rivet as some of us have talked about or the set screw method that was just shown. Either way to keep the shaft from separating.

 

[NOPHO84K30]

Alright putting it in all I got is a stick welder not the prettiest tack but itll do

 

[NOPHO84K30]

All done taking out for a test drive

 

[VAL]

Alright putting it in all I got is a stick welder not the prettiest tack but itll do

That's all it needs, I took a grinder to mine afterwards, flushed it down smooth.

 

[Camar068]

OK so the wheel being off by 90 degree's is really bothering me. I was looking to replace the steering wheel anyway, so I looked at the installation kit while I was at autozone yesterday. I don't see how the wheel is keyed. All they had was Pilot wheels. I'll probably get the grant 3 spoke with the 3 holes in each spoke.

What's stopping me from just pulling the wheel off and centering it? Pro's/Cons?

Thanks Guys
Happy Fathers Day

 

[VAL]

Don't try to center it at the wheel itself, it only goes on one way. Loosen the bolt on the jeep shaft where it connects to the gear box, and adjust it there. the splines will allow the shaft to be positioned anywhere. Rotate the shaft which in turn will rotate the wheel, straighten it out and slip the shaft back on the gear box and tighten it up.

 

[Camar068]

I thought both were keyed so I took it off and looked. They both are at the steering gear. So I thought I'm already here why not. I took my dremel tool to the steering shaft off the jeep and ground out the flat portion enough for a tight fit.

I put in on and it was off by 45° so I pulled it back off and repositioned it. The 2nd time it was still a tight fit as I had to use a hammer to tap it on there.

Of course I put silicone on there each time, so I had to clean the excess silicon off because it came out the other end LOL.

Thanks for the quick replay Val

 

[Sipe]

I inherited this truck from my son who decided he wanted to use my Ford Explorer instead. I've slowly been fixing everything that doesn't work. Just finished this steering rag joint mod. What a difference. I'm in admiration of the person who figured this out. Easy mod, good instructions to follow. Total time was 2 hours including the time I spent at pick n pull taking the shaft out of a 92 Jeep Cherokee. So. who can tell me what seats I can pull from something newer that will just bolt right in and hopefully have a head rest as well?