I am in the middle of replacing the steering coupler (rag Joint) on my 66.
I have all the bolts out or loose. How do I move the upper part attached to the steering column? Does it slide up? Have I not used enough lubricating oil to free it? The old coupler will slide on the steering box shaft. Any help would be appreciated.

 

The flange at the bottom of the steering shaft is not removeable. Your local Ford Dealer will stock a later version of the rag joint made of plastic. Not cheap, I paid around 70 bucks a couple of years ago. Rag joint repair/rebuild kits are also available for less money. I refer to solve problems for the long term so I went with the plastic. Your call and you have options.

 

Thanks for the reply,
I have a new coupler, but I don't see how to take the old one off!

 

Special bolt on the collar at the gear box. Remove it and pry the collar open a bit with a screw driver. Remove the two nuts and washers holding the rag joint togeather and pry it up and off the gear box shaft. Sometimes you need to loosen the column at the dash and remove the screws holding the seal to the floor. This gets you a little wiggle room.

 

There is a 7/16'' 12 point bolt on the coupler at the box.

 

I have the coupler loose. It looks like I'll have to move the column. I sprayed all the bolts down with lube and will try to move the column next weekend.
Thanks for the help!

 

Make sure you check the splines in the rag-joint where it ataches to the steering box. The shaft from the box is hardened, so those splines should be fine.
In the interest of safety I replaced the whole assembly. On my 65 there was not much left of the splines. Not from wear, but corrosion.

If it doesn't look 100%, change it...

 

i just did mine a little while back. when slide the colum make sure its the whole colum. the shaft will move to wich could move eveything out of wack.

 

Has anyone replaced the rag joint with a universal joint? I have a 66, and was thinking of replacing mine with a universal joint. The slots in the plate at the bottom of the steering shaft are pretty much wore out on mine. Cheers

Tommy

 

The slots in the plate on the bottom of the steering shaft are there as a fail safe in the event of a rag joint failure. In fact an easy way to determine if the rag joint is shot is to look for shiny spots on those slots. Ford has a plastic replacement for the old rubber/fiber rag joints and in my opinion well worth the money (about 70 bucks or so).

 

Follow Up: I had to loosen the steering column to get out the old coupler. It also involved unattaching the shift rods since I have a column shift. It all went back together fairly easily. The coupler I used came from Lares Corporation in MN. It is the old type and was $35 plus freight. It works very well. They are on ebay.
Thanks for all the help!

 

Glad it went that well. I am changing mine before it goes on the road. Got a real tight gear box off a donor the replace as well.