U-joint Steering Shaft (UPDATE with pics)

[sandawgk5]

I have retireved a U-joint Steering shaft from an XJ that appeared to be early to mid 90s. Question is it appears to be a little long do I need to just melt the plastic and collapse it to make it fit? and then use something like Lock wire or a soft metal to act as a shear point in the event of an accident? It is not long by much maybe 1/2". If pictures are needed I can get some and post them up.

Ira

 

[454k30]

I must admit that I have never seen this type of shaft. I would imagine thought that a shop or you could just cut and weld the metal portion of the shaft rather than mess with the safety system. I would think that lockwire would leave to much slop in the shaft after a few uses due to the stretch of the wire. Just a thought though.

 

[sandawgk5]

The shaft is a double D the lockwire will just keep the shaft from collapsing. the more that I think about it with both end properly tightened there should be no need to any shear pin or anything. I could also use a small roll pin to lock the shaft length in place if needed.

Ira

 

[454k30]

yeah i see what your getting at now. Heck give it a shot, its just a junk yard part anyway.

 

[readymix]

Just drill out the shear plastic and collapse the shaft a little.

 

[sandawgk5]

Sweet that is what I was thinking. The new shaft feels way tighter than the pot joint and rag joint.

Ira

 

[PsychoticDeadGuy]

what are you putting this on? how do you like it and how much work is needed in putting it on? i would like a u-joint steering shaft on my k5 to get rid of some of the slop.

 

[sandawgk5]

It is going on my K5 and from what I can tell all I have to do is drill the nylon locks remove the old and put on the new. Maybe have to file a slight amount on the steering column shaft.

Ira

 

[sandawgk5]

Here are some pictures of the shaft that I am using in my K5. The first picture is of the complete shaft it is about 24" long in the picture with about 2" more of collapse and approx 2-3" in the shaft. The second pic is of the steering box end the flat is on the same side as the clamp bolt. The third pic is of the column end which is a Double D and appears to be an exact fit for the non splined GM column.

Ira