What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Steering Coupler Problem

M

Morgan3

Registered Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Posts
58
Reaction score
3
My steering coupler is bending out of shape along with the lower part of my shaft. Does anyone have a part number for the coupler? I've been calling a bunch of places and most of them are general purpose and dont know if they would even fit my truck. Does the part of the shaft that hold the coupler come off? Because that is also bent up. If it doesnt come off i think i'll just beat it straight with a hammer. Truck is a 87 half ton gmc jimmy.

image1.JPG

image2.JPG
 
K85 Octane said:
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/jeep-xj-steering-shaft-sweet-upgrade.286086/

don't even bother with the "rag joint" that is worn, just skip fixing it and go straight to an XJ shaft. Luckily you have an 87, which is a straight swap. If you buy used, I recommend welding the upper bushing. I've covered this before. Search my name and XJ shaft in the for sale forum.
Click to expand...
I plan on getting the xj shaft in the future but i need a fix now since my truck is my dd. I went on lmc and bought the one for my truck so hopefully that fits right. I just need it to hold up for a few days
 
Universal help section most auto parts stores have just the round rubber part you could use temporary, you have to drill the old one off and bolt on the new.
 
Morgan3 said:
Yeah i looked on there but they only had it to an 86
Click to expand...

Oh, that's the thing where later pickups were the IFS style while the Blazer was the old style. I wrote a thing about this a million years ago

http://www.slosh.com/cars/blazer.html#alphabet

In short, you might tell people you have a V1500 Blazer, if they have a listing for that, or a K10, or a K5. All the same.

Or pick a slightly earlier year.

-- A
 
dremu said:
Oh, that's the thing where later pickups were the IFS style while the Blazer was the old style. I wrote a thing about this a million years ago

http://www.slosh.com/cars/blazer.html#alphabet

In short, you might tell people you have a V1500 Blazer, if they have a listing for that, or a K10, or a K5. All the same.

Or pick a slightly earlier year.

-- A
Click to expand...
Well that helped alot. But i should still be able to fit parts for say an 85 my truck just technically has a different name? Little weird.
 
I'd inspect your cab mounts and the rubber cushions closely--usually the steering coupler/rag joints dont pull apart like that by themselves,its due to the cab lifting up off the frame going over rough roads or off roading ...there isn't much "slip joint" travel in the steering shafts & the rag joint and the other CV looking one at the end of the steering colum..

I would search boneyards for an XJ Jeep shaft if I had to replace the one on my trucks and be done with the "hunk of tire" coupler--I've had one rip apart during a 180 degree turn on a '77 GMC 4x4 I had one day,it was pure luck I was going only 10 mph turning around when it ripped apart..I do not trust the coupler on my daily driven '82 K2500 ,I keep a close eye on it,its original--.
 
Also far as I know all "square body" GM trucks share the same parts-(see below for some exceptions)..-when GM came out with the '88 and up "new style" cabs,there was a lot of confusion when it came to getting the correct parts--why they had to change the "old" trucks models to "V" and "R" models instead of sticking with the original "K" series designation baffles me..its like they wanted to make life suck for parts countermen and customers alike..:screwy:..

Some 4x4 K series trucks had a steering colum with splines ,instead of the "square D" shaped colum shafts--I had a big hassle when my '77 GMC had the rubber coupler fail,I had to go to a nearby junkyard and remove 2 steering shafts before I could get it back together--first one was off a 4wd of similar vintage,but had the "square D" type colum,mine was the large splined type--I ended up swapping the upper "cv" joint at the colum to get it to fit my steering colum..
 
diesel4me said:
I'd inspect your cab mounts and the rubber cushions closely--usually the steering coupler/rag joints dont pull apart like that by themselves,its due to the cab lifting up off the frame going over rough roads or off roading ...there isn't much "slip joint" travel in the steering shafts & the rag joint and the other CV looking one at the end of the steering colum..

I would search boneyards for an XJ Jeep shaft if I had to replace the one on my trucks and be done with the "hunk of tire" coupler--I've had one rip apart during a 180 degree turn on a '77 GMC 4x4 I had one day,it was pure luck I was going only 10 mph turning around when it ripped apart..I do not trust the coupler on my daily driven '82 K2500 ,I keep a close eye on it,its original--.
Click to expand...
Like i said before i just needed a fix for now. I actually have an 88 xj thats one of my toys so i got the shaft already basically. But i just got the truck about a week ago and i've already spent about 20 hours on it and 400 ish on parts. Runs good as hell its just the driving is a little sketchy. But i've been checking it all over a little at a time. I'll check out the body mounts because it does have a 3 inch body lift from the previous owner. And the previous owner also didnt put wheel studs in right so last friday my wheel studs sheered off and i had to put new ones in on the side of the road.
 
A body lift will strain the rag & cv "pot" joint at the colum too,that is probably why yours is like it is--the steering shaft doesn't have much "travel" where it slips inside each other...3" of body lift probably extended it to the max,now if the body moves any,it wants to rip the rag joint apart..
 
diesel4me said:
A body lift will strain the rag & cv "pot" joint at the colum too,that is probably why yours is like it is--the steering shaft doesn't have much "travel" where it slips inside each other...3" of body lift probably extended it to the max,now if the body moves any,it wants to rip the rag joint apart..
Click to expand...

Any solutions besides take the body lift off or the xj shaft that i can do for a few months?
 
Put a new steering coupler on last night. I have no play at all in my steering anymore. But i found out i was missing a bolt on my steering box which i assume was causing my old coupler to bend out of shape. Got the frame brace kit from ord yesterday too so i'll be putting that on along with new bolts and see if my steering coupler will last long enough until i put on an xj shaft.
 
Morgan3 said:
But i found out i was missing a bolt on my steering box which i assume was causing my old coupler to bend out of shape. Got the frame brace kit from ord yesterday too so i'll be putting that on along with new bolts
Click to expand...

Steering brace is basically a requirement, good call.

One thought on the errant bolt, though, is to Loctite the hell out of the replacements. I betcha all four were loose and one just flat rattled out. Make sure the new ones catch in the steering box, that the threads on the box aren't wallowed out. In a pinch, get even longer bolts and put a stover nut or something on the far end to really hold it in.

-- A
 
dremu said:
Steering brace is basically a requirement, good call.

One thought on the errant bolt, though, is to Loctite the hell out of the replacements. I betcha all four were loose and one just flat rattled out. Make sure the new ones catch in the steering box, that the threads on the box aren't wallowed out. In a pinch, get even longer bolts and put a stover nut or something on the far end to really hold it in.

-- A
Click to expand...
I had a replacement bolt already and i tried putting it on but it would not catch the threads on the steering box. so now i'm checking the three bolts that are still on a good bit. Checked them before i drove to work and i plan on checking them when i get off. Had to tighten two of the three down this morning though. So i may just go ahead and order a second coupler to keep with me just incase for the time being until i figure out a way to get that last bolt to catch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom