xj steering shaft on a 78?

[Kain]

THANK YOU

mine has a lot of slop near the steering shaft and i dont think it is sapossed to be like that ill post a vid later

 

[CK10]

It's easily worth the price of the shaft, I had a good OEM shaft on mine with a new rag joint in it and the used u joint shaft is still an improvement.

Plenty of small 2 lane roads on my way to work with no shoulders and bad pavement, good steering makes me rest easier knowing I won't be in the ditch

 

[K85 Octane]

To address a couple things

The column end terminology where the shaft meets the column. It's called a "double D" end and has different sizes according to it's width. The "double D" is because it has a "D" shape on both sides, all be it one is backwards.

The XJ shaft will only work on steering boxes with the metric hose fittings.
When using a junkyard shaft, make sure the upper bushing is good, most are not. I weld the top to get rid of bushing slop, which the slop would make someone easily believe this mod was a waste of time.
No, there is no difference is steering wheel vibrations after the XJ switch. The rag joint isn't soft enough to stop vibrations and is a terrible design from the start. My upper bushing is welded and I still don't feel tired after 4 hours of driving the highway.
I also have the lower part of an XJ shaft on my '68 and use a conversion joint (Double D 3/4" x 30 spline) to my steering column. Check eBay for joints.

 

[RootBreaker]

....
The XJ shaft will only work on steering boxes with the metric hose fittings.
...

That is interesting... on my 78, when I went with ord xover, couldnt get the steering box hoses off to place a 2wd box on the truck. Instead I swapped the guts from the 2wd to the 4wd stuck on my frame. So I believe the 78 was non metric correct? and I was able to install this on my gear box end with no issues. other side is a 86 column...

(Not starting or arguing.. just an observation and ive done so much to my truck since 1988 that I even loose track.. hah)

all in all.. still one of the top mods I would do again if I had to start over...