I have a 79 F-150 w/a bad steering shaft and a good one is hard to come by less spending 300 or more for aftermarket. Is there a way to re-build the u-joint at the shaft linkage? Also the bearing that the steering wheel shaft rides on coming out fo the firewall is shot,any ideas on how to replace the nylon bushing ?

Thanks Chris

 

A Steering Shaft Repair Kit is available for $75. The column lower bearing is also available for $35.

 

The Rag Joint vibration isolator is also available.

 

i just rebuilt the steering shaft for my 77 highboy, did some cutting and welding to make a new u-joint. you can get just the u-joint from flaming river or borgeson for 50-60 bucks. the shaft for mine was 3/4", and splined. you'll have to cut off the old u-joint from your shaft without wrecking the splines. , i think they are 31 spline. i used a joint from an old allis tractor steering shaft, so the joint was bigger and longer than the original. i ended up cutting off a bit of my original shaft. for the joint itself. i used a chop saw to cut the splined end off of the original joint that went to the steering column. then i tacked some scrap flat iron on either side of the allis joint on the endi was cutting off to hold the halves in place so i could cut off the end. i chamfered the edges to get a good weld, and put the original splined end on the new joint. the new joint was for a shaft bigger than 3/4', so i cut down and drilled out a piece of pipe on the lathe to make a bushing. measeured the total length i needed, slipped the bushing on the shaft, new joint on the bushing, and welded it all up. the new joint is replaceable. kind of sounds confusing how i did it, if you have any questions let me know.

 

I think it's very odd that you cannot buy more stock steering shaft parts, there are no suppliers. Is there a legal reason for this? I tore the rubber boot on the intermediate shaft between the steering column and the gearbox, it looks like I will have to figure out a way to repair it rather than replace it.

 

One legality you might consider: AFAIK it is ILLEGAL to weld a steering shaft...

Shafting and parts are available from many different suppliers. In my travels I have seen splined as well as "D" and "Double D" shafting for sale with matching U-joints. Flaming River and Borgeson can make most anything.

Wick- What rubber boot? Sounds like something from an aftermarket part??? The stock vibration isolator is available, check post #3.

 

I'll get you a picture here in a few minutes.

 

This is the boot, right down by the gearbox. Doesn't look like I have a rag joint on either of these trucks (the steering is almost completely the same between the two except for hoses).

 

I have seen those but I have no idea where you get one. My 78 is not like that.

 

wick, I just picked up one on ebay. Was in good shape for $45. PM me and I will give you more info on who I got it from. Erv