I'm trying to figure how to get the rag out between the end of the steering shaft and the gear box on my '68 F250. Mine has the two bolts and the two studs. Of course I've got the two bolts out, but cannot figure out how the other two fasteners work. All responses are appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

 

When I replaced this on my '74 Mustang II (yeah, yeah), I had to drop the rack and pinion to allow the shaft to seperate. I'm not sure if this is the problem you're having, but I had to seperate the shaft to get mine out.

-Andrew
f250_64(No Email Addresses In Posts!), same for yahoo messenger

Nothing, and I mean nothing, stirs the soul, saying I'm a bad **** like lettin'em rip with a window shaking, fuel gulpin, carbon monoxide belchin, attention gettin, V-oh my LORD!-8!

 

Jim, Someone else might have a slicker way to do it, but one way to acheive this would be to remove two and loosen the third bolt where the gear is held to the frame. This will allow the seperation. Don't look for the rack and pinion under there, because after being around them for nearly forty years, I've never seen one.

John
jowilker
Club FTE since 01 01

NC Chapter


66 F100s
In the still cool hours of the night,
you can hear chevys rusting away.

 

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I like to just loosen the column. Two bolts under the dash and then the clamp on the firewall. You only need to pull it into the cab a few inches, but first you must disconnect the rag joint. You need to remove the two nuts (which you did) and then the one bolt on the gear side. (it's perpendicular to the steering gear shaft). There are repair kits out there which have a new "rag" and fasteners to rebuild the old joint, but I hear NAPA has a replacement joints for about $15 complete so why waste your time trying to fix what you have.
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I replaced my rag joint on my 67 and had to change the unit on the box it's self.The two studs would not come out, they just spun.Ihad a parts truck (73 250)that had 2 bolts instead of the studs.hope this helps a little.

 

When I replaced the one on my sixty nine I did the same as Stockman did. Its pretty easy.

Brent

1969 F100 2wd

 

yes Napa does offer these kits and there great

 

Napa, here I come.

Thanks for the responses. Seeing as I can't even get my old rag out (I still don't know how Ford's fasteners work), it will sure be nice to just remove the entire unit, chuck the old and install the new.

Jim

 

Jim of the ones that I have delt with there are two bolts and two studs. The studs stay with the rag and the bolts are reuseable.

John
jowilker
Club FTE since 01 01

NC Chapter


66 F100s
In the still cool hours of the night,
you can hear chevys rusting away.

 

Sorry I wasn't very clear, What I meant to point out was that the shaft had to seperate to get mine out, not to take off the rack and pinion (I don't think these are on trucks at all...), but you probably have to loosen up your steering box.

-Andrew
f250_64(No Email Addresses In Posts!), same for yahoo messenger

Nothing, and I mean nothing, stirs the soul, saying I'm a bad **** like lettin'em rip with a window shaking, fuel gulpin, carbon monoxide belchin, attention gettin, V-oh my LORD!-8!

 

[FONT COLOR="#0000ff" SIZE="3" FACE="Veranda"]
As for how to get the rag joint itself apart, I do not believe the original part was intended to be serviceable. [/FONT]

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Jim,

I did the one on my 69 F250.
Turn the wheel so that the studs are horizonal, not up and down, remove the bolts under the edge of the dash. Under the hood remove the nut and bolts on the rag joint, remove the bolt that clamps the rag joint to the steering shaft, this is on a spline and has an area with no spline that has to be in the right area to get it back on, the latter rag joints have a different number of splines and they won't work (pulled one from a van that had fewer splines.)
Then with a long screw-driver pry the steering shaft away from the steering box toward the firewall, until the studs clear. Had to do the same to put it back.
Hope it helps.

Jim

 

It's done! What a pain in the butt. Thanks for all the input. I did have to loosen the steering column and pull it into the cab a couple inches to allow the lower flange unit to clear. I went to Napa and looked at the replacement unit but it is around $65 and all you get in addition to the new rag is the lower flange unit (the ~$2.00 piece of metal that fits over the steering gear input shaft). To say the least I left that part at Napa and just purchased a replacement rag for around $8.00. It was difficult getting the old studs out of the flange, but a little cutting, drilling and grinding did the trick. The only motivating factor was knowing that I would probably never have to perform this repair again.

Until next time...

Jim

 

Sure wish I would have seen your post prior to this I could have saved you alot ao waiting time, as I have been helping others out through e-mail. I had to change mine and figured out all the "bugs" that go along with replacing this part.... It really isn't as hard as it seems. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish to replace mine...(with alittle help from my wife)
If anyone needs any pointers on this subject feel free to contact me
Derrick Percival AKA Strawberry
'71 F-100 Custom
If one takes the time to do something right the first time will not have to do it over a second.

 

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Good information belongs right here. It's the whole point of the forum. How about spreading the wisdom?
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