Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

[Try Me]

:tup: This was possibly the best "bang for the buck" upgrade ive ever done to my sy. My rag joint was totally shot and i had a huge amount of slop in the steering (big suprise there). After some searching here and on other boards like s10 boards etc i decieded to go the cheap route. I went and got a steering shaft from a 95 i think Jeep Cherokee (square body style). It has universal joints like a borgeson etc shaft but only cost me 30 bucks and about 15 minutes of my time to pick up.

At first it looked like it was going to be too long but i quickly found that they used this plastic clip thing to keep it from collapsing too far. i snapped that off with a screwdriver and oiled it up and it slid shut far enough to install. I also found that it is definitely the exact same spline on the bottom, and fits the column up top and clamps on just fine.

I just came back from a test drive and WOW! ! ! I love it, it drives great especially compaired to the worn out rag joint and cost me way less than an aftermarket shaft.

This may have been stated already but i couldnt find a definite answer and i was just so excited about my cheap upgrade (rare with these trucks i know) that i wanted to share.

 

[Jer]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

I don't think I've heard of this before. Good post.

 

[91blazins10]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

Any chance you got that from blazinlow.com? This is a good write up on how to do it.

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

I did read that post but he was working on a second gen s10 and i couldnt really find any difinitive info on a first gen. I found some people said it was a bolt in from a jeep but didnt say what year. some said you could get a cherokee shaft and cut it up. So i just went and got one and started experimenting and expected to have to make some major modifications but it turned out to be a lot less work than i anticipated. We all know that doesnt happen often :tup:

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

I also couldnt find any information doing a search here other than buying an aftermarket shaft and i didnt really wanna spend the 200 + for that. I just figured id share with the class

 

[SBNova]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

Ive never had a rag joint go bad, and Ive owned numerous old GM cars. Im not saying it doesnt happen because it obviously does, it just hasnt happened to me.

I did buy a new rag joint for my VW bug. Its a basic circle with four collared bolt holes in it. Its made from polyurethane and comes in colors. It seems nice quality, and I wonder if it could fit in a GM application. Theyre about $6 brand new. If I can find it I will measure it up.

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

i know on my truck it would melt the polyurethane pretty quick though...

 

[toolmann]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

:tup: I went and got a steering shaft from a 95 i think Jeep Cherokee (square body style). It has universal joints like a borgeson etc shaft but only cost me 30 bucks and about 15 minutes of my time to pick up.

this looks like a solid mod.
just want to confirm.....This is a quote from that article

"we discovered only the Wrangler shaft would work with the 94 and below, the regular Cherokee was too short by about 4 inches."

which model shaft did you use? you did say square,but their all kinda...square.
wrangler??
tia

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

i got a shaft from a 95 regular cherokee and it bolted right in. it looks too long at first but if you do what i said in the first post youll be fine...

 

[QUICK STORM]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

good info

 

[chelo]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

So i go to the junk yard this weekend looking to do this exact mod. What i found out is that regular cherokee "sport" and later 99' and newer grand cherokee's are the same. The 93' to about 98 are diffrent. The "sport" shaft is what is pictured in the previous link. It has a small rubber piece at the center joint. You mentioned that you removed a black square plastic? I only found those on the grand cherokee's from the mid 90's. The square black plastic seems to be about 6"long? i didn't measure it. Just eyeball. I have a few pics i snapped. I started with my mod last night. It's been raining like crazy in the bay area and only worked on it for about 1-1/2 hours.
I did remove the old shaft. I got inside the truck and wiggled the steering. How do i change the plastic piece that gets worn? I've read about it on an older post.

 

[psmvchaser]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

Any final word on this?

A 95 Cherokee shaft will be an upgrade and will bolt right in????

 

[Matthew Little]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

Did mine, worked great. For the GN people this will work on those too.

 

[chelo]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

yest it works. The plastic piece that try me was refering to is slightly tapered. At first, I thought it was made out of steel.

 

[Lynn D. Brown]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

Yeh, we had a GP on those non-rag shafts a few years ago. I also converted the steering box to an F Body quick ratio. Steering is really quick and responsive now - maybe a little on the "jittery" side. Only one drawback - I have ATR headers, and this fatter shaft hits the header a little where the bolt sticks out, and I had to file it down. Still hits a little at one particular position.

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

i have atr headers and have no clearance issues...

 

[Jer]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

So, do we need the Cherokee Sport shaft or the standard one and what years, 93-98??

 

[Try Me]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

mine came from a 95. it was the standard boxy style jeep and mine was from a 2 door. dont think that part matters though...

 

[Jer]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

mine came from a 95. it was the standard boxy style jeep and mine was from a 2 door. dont think that part matters though...

I saw your post already about how you got it from an '95 Cherokee but I was hoping we could get a general consensus.

 

[supersports10]

Re: Steering shaft upgrade for CHEAP

looking for this maybe????? enjoy........