How do you collapse a 74 steering shaft

[Zervun]

So I'm on my 2nd box replacement -

First time I had help with a buddy and we essentially held the box up put the shaft on and bolted it.

This time I'm by myself - I've read in some of the manuals that you are supposed to "collapse" the steering shaft - I got it off without doing that but putting it back on obviously I can't

I've got the box bolted in with the Off road design brace kit

I need to get the steering shaft back on -

I'm assuming I need to either punch out or burn the plastic pieces (two) that brake in an accident?

Are the replaceable at a auto parts store? Can you drive it without them? (was thinking of maybe using a thick zip tie temporarily).

I'd like to do an XJ or borgeson but I need to get it running asap as I need to haul some stuff.

 

[blazer74]

Unbolt the column from the firewall and dash, slide it back to get enough clearance. You can loosen to upper pinch bolt but idk if that would be enough.

 

[Zervun]

Unbolt the column from the firewall and dash, slide it back to get enough clearance. You can loosen to upper pinch bolt but idk if that would be enough.

Awesome thanks! didn't think of that

 

[4X4HIGH]

So I'm on my 2nd box replacement -

First time I had help with a buddy and we essentially held the box up put the shaft on and bolted it.

This time I'm by myself - I've read in some of the manuals that you are supposed to "collapse" the steering shaft - I got it off without doing that but putting it back on obviously I can't

I've got the box bolted in with the Off road design brace kit

I need to get the steering shaft back on -

I'm assuming I need to either punch out or burn the plastic pieces (two) that brake in an accident?

Are the replaceable at a auto parts store? Can you drive it without them? (was thinking of maybe using a thick zip tie temporarily).

I'd like to do an XJ or borgeson but I need to get it running asap as I need to haul some stuff.

There should be no reason to have to "collapse" the steering shaft in order to get it back in. It's just a matter of unbolting the shaft from the rag joint first.

 

[Zervun]

There should be no reason to have to "collapse" the steering shaft in order to get it back in. It's just a matter of unbolting the shaft from the rag joint first.

I'll take a look - it doesn't look like I can slide the steering shaft up far enough towards the column to get it back to mount with the rag joint. This is a 74, so the steering shaft is a straight length with no u-bolts.

(I have it disconnected at the rag joint)

 

[4X4HIGH]

The steering shaft is the same on almost all chevy rides for many many years. I have NEVER "collapsed" a steering shaft to get it in or out. I just unbolt the shaft from the rag joint and then move the shaft out of the way to remove/install a steering box. The only thing that changed on the steering box (in this case) over the years is the spline diameter and count for the rag joint to bolt to the box but the attachment of the steering shaft to the box never changed. There is a slider in the bellow near the steering column end of the shaft that will allow the shaft to "collapse" enough to remove either the shaft or the steering box.

 

[Zervun]

The steering shaft is the same on almost all chevy rides for many many years. I have NEVER "collapsed" a steering shaft to get it in or out. I just unbolt the shaft from the rag joint and then move the shaft out of the way to remove/install a steering box. The only thing that changed on the steering box (in this case) over the years is the spline diameter and count for the rag joint to bolt to the box but the attachment of the steering shaft to the box never changed. There is a slider in the bellow near the steering column end of the shaft that will allow the shaft to "collapse" enough to remove either the shaft or the steering box.

So I got it on - but this is what I had to do -

There was not enough play in the slider below the steering column - I had to undo two bolts that clamped the steering column on at the firewall, then inside to the top left and right of the steering wheel I had to loosen a couple bolts. This allowed me to pull back the column and gave ample room to get the steering shaft on to the rag joint

I ended up pushing it back in to the same place (far as it could go) but I'm guessing that if you put it more in the middle, then you would have enough clearance like you said. I thought about that but put it on in the same spot it was.

Thanks for the help!

 

[blazer74]

I've had the same issue and tried everything, only thing that worked was the column bolts on my 74

 

[1975Jimmy]

Just read this, as I today replaced the OE rag joint with the Dorman replacement. I too was having difficulties getting the shaft to collapse enough to slide over the new rag joint. Instead of unbolting the column though I tried something different, I loosened the new rag joint collar bolt then tapped the top of the guide pins lightly with a hammer a couple of times to scoot it on the input shaft another millimeter or so, it slid all the way down to the shaft seal cover and gave me enough room to slide the steering shaft over the rag joint's guide pins and was then able to bolt it all back together. Once the nuts were tight, I used a pry bar to move the rag joint back up a bit on the input shaft and slid in the collar bolt, tightened everything down and was done. Swap took 10 minutes and the steering feels pretty damn solid! No more wandering.