Cherokee XJ steering shaft set-up...lots of pics

[shiner2001]

Picked up a couple of XJ shafts the other day and got one of them started today. I'll actually get it installed on the Suburban later, but this is what I have so far. Took a couple of ideas that I had seen from some other folks and modified them somewhat. This is what I came up with:

Starting point

Separated

I had seen some people weld a large washer around the shaft and to the large collar on the cab side of the shaft to eliminate any slop in the steering at that point. I was digging around for a washer and saw a large eye bolt, so I decided to use that instead.

I had to torch the shaft a bit to get the halves separated, so in order to lock them back together but still allow for a collapse in an accident, this was my approach. I drilled to 25/64" holes in the outer sleeve and welded two nuts over the holes to allow me to use a couple of set screws to lock the two shafts together. The pictures with the bolts in them are just how I held them in place while welding. The bolts are just "handles" to keep the nuts centered over the holes.

Here is the final assembly. Tomorrow it gets paint and soon it will actually find a home in the Suburban.

 

[Gunny65]

Looks good. That's basically what I did with mine. Works great so far.

 

[munepit]

Are they weak stock? Do they break or bend? I like the work!

 

[K85 Octane]

Are they weak stock? Do they break or bend? I like the work!

They are the cat's meow And with your upcoming hydro-assist, it wont really mater anyway.

 

[shiner2001]

Are they weak stock? Do they break or bend? I like the work!

I don't think they are weak stock at all, I just know that some have welded that joint up to do away with the possibility of any torsional rotation in that top sleeve. Basically what you have are two cylinders, one inside the other, with molded rubber in between to act as either a simple schock absorber or to possibly allow some "give" in the shaft. Welding the ring on like I did basically "locks" those two cylinders together and bypasses the internal rubber. (Also, you will probably melt some of that rubber out when welding it up. You can see some of it on the table in one of my pictures I think).

Also, thanks for the compliment. Not sure why I decided that a steering shaft needed ground welds and paint....guess I was just bored!