Steering Shaft upgrades

Once I installed my 2" body lift, I just did not like the bind in the rag joint on the steering.  I also had play in the ujoint at the end of the steering shaft.  This made for a horrible feel at the steering wheel.  In addition, the Bronco came with a non collapsible shaft.  Meaning a head on collision could send a stake through your heart.

I started pricing replacement steering shaft systems.  Some of the popular ones include Flaming River and Borgeson.  These units were very nice, but way out of my budget for this project!  I had to find something different to do.

I asked around for any ideas that other people had come up with.  Long time friend Bill Mish had converted his to a collapsible shaft and found replacement Spicer ujoints to serve his needs.  And he just happen to have a spare collapsible shaft in the back yard.

Now we had to locate the replacement joints we were going to need to convert this to a dual ujoint system instead of ujoint/rag joint. 

Parts list for conversion:
  • Spicer components
    • Yoke Part# 10-4-93 (Lower section)
    • Ujoint Part# 5-170X (Lower section)
    • Yoke Part# 10-4-431SX (Upper section)
    • Ujoint Part# 5-430X (Upper section)
    • Yoke Part# 10-4-13 3/4"RD x 3/16" KW (Upper section)
  • Junk Yard collapsible shaft
  • original upper and lower steering shaft from Bronco

Here's a pic of all the parts I started with.  Original lower shaft, original upper shaft, and junk yard collapsible shaft.
For the upper end that had the rag joint, this are the following components needed.  Upper and lower yoke and ujoint. 

For the lower end I needed a yoke for the shaft and a conversion joint to fit the splines on the steering box.
I measured the original length of the lower steering shaft.  With those measurements I cut the ends off of the junk yard collapsible shaft.  Leaving plenty of engagement, but allowing for some collapse.

Prepping the collapsible shaft for the new yoke ends.
After removing rag joint from the upper shaft, the splines were counted and diameter measured to determine the correct yoke to be used.

Here's the final components assembled.  The have set screws to hold the yokes in place, but I went ahead and welded them to the shafts for peice of mind.
You now have a collapsible shaft at an affordable price. 

 
For other steering related projects!
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