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Help! What the heck holds this rag joint to the steering shaft? I see a set screw on the steering box side but nothing on the shaft. I'm afraid to beat on it much
In my limited experience, some years were swaged, and some years were actually welded. So you have to disassemble the lower part to see how the upper part is assembled.
If it's swaged (spelling?) it's still hard to get off and you will ruin the "peened" end so that you either have to do it over, or weld the new one back up.
At least that's how the ones I've seen were handled. Not sure about yours exactly. What year is your truck? Is it 2wd or 4wd?
The steering shaft side is made as 1 unit, welded. So you have 2 options. Take the steering column loose ( 2 bolts) and pull it back. Or deal with the gear box. The column is easier to work with since you only need to move it back a small amount.
Yup, what blue68f100 said. Much easier to pull the steering column up an inch or so, and then pull the rag joint out. You won't have to take anything apart on the column, just remove the 2 bolts under the dash holding the column in.
Thanks to all who jumped in. In the end, I just replaced the rag joint. Now to return the U-Joint that I didn't need. I hate shipping parts back and forth, but it is what it is.
As you can see, the last one was TOAST! What an improvement in steering feel. I had thought that my steering box was shot, then I saw the rag joint while replacing the brake booster/master cylinder.
Pro-Tip to anyone doing this, after you loosen the steering column, hook your seat belt through the steering wheel to cinch in back and hold the column/shaft out of the way while you put in the rag joint.
Blue Oval, the biggest reason for a failed rag joint are cab mount bushings. I would take a look at the front cab mounts, verify that the bushings aren't collapsed and the metal cab mounts on the cab aren't rooted out.
