Rag Joint Replacement

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Jizanthapus

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Look, I'm not trying to be a dick. Look at the OEM joint you have under your dash, there is no U-Joint coming out at the end like Borgeson shows on their combination joints. There are different types of combination joints. The OEM Chevrolet does not have a U-Joint at the end of it like the Borgeson diagram depicts.

The Borgeson joint that you posted is not what's in the 97-98 Chevrolets. It's a rubberized joint kinda like the rag joint down at the gear box. Know what I mean?

YES, if you had the picture you posted along with two other plain U-Joints, you would need to stabilize the middle shaft.

The point is, the OEM Chevrolet joint does not "turn over" far enough, like a U-Joint, to cause looping.

Borgeson does not support their shaft in 97-98 because of the Airbags.
 

Jizanthapus

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That's just what I've read several different places. Something with how the sensors are different between the years. I'm going to call Borgeson tomorrow and just flat out ask them. Haha. I'll post what they say.
 

satxwy

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Has anyone heard of catastrophic rag joint failures? I've been reading on some Camaro/Mustang forums that some people have had it happen when using the incorrect hardware (washers provided with repair kits).
 

great white

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Has anyone heard of catastrophic rag joint failures? I've been reading on some Camaro/Mustang forums that some people have had it happen when using the incorrect hardware (washers provided with repair kits).

Cant happen with oem, the "joint" is captive like an engine mount is.

If the rubber fails, it goes metal on metal.

It will be as sloppy as hell, but will still steer.

All bets are off if its been tampered with though. Depends on the repair parts and the guy doing the work knowing what he's doing...
 

sewlow

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Wow!

Wish I'da taken a vid of the shaft movement when the tech showed me the amount of deflection.
With the way I (on occasion! hehe!) push my trucks through the twisties, plus the amount of miles I drive (30,000/yr.) I rely/DEPEND on my alignment guys to give me good, safe advice.
While I can bench-race with them all day, discussing castor/camber, bumpsteer, C/G, body roll, & how they affect each other, especially after major mods, they ARE the techs.
They do this for a living. Everyday. And the shop I go to does 90% of the local dedicated track cars. (The reason I began patronizing them, 25 yrs. ago.)
When they say a mod is unsafe, I tend to believe them.
 

satxwy

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I forgot to give this an update after I replaced it. Overall it wasn't that difficult. Taking out the shaft is as simple as removing two bolts and carefully prying the shaft off the gear box. The hardest part by far was simply getting the old rag joint apart, but even that was more just patience and having proper tools available. Those rivets are impressive. After 200,000+ miles the original rag joint was in pretty bad shape, once I had it out I could easily bend and flex it, and between one of the holes and the outer rim of the disc was even a tear. So, I installed the new disc and re-installed.

The good - I think it made some difference.
The bad - While re-installing it I noticed a ton of play in my gear box. I'm going to attempt to adjust the gear box to fix that, and I'll bet if that were fixed first I would have noticed more difference from the rag joint.

This ended up being one of those "it wasn't causing the worst of the problem, but I'm sure glad I replaced it" repairs.
 

Jizanthapus

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Alright.........Lets run with this one for a minute........

That statement doesn't make sense due to 95 and 96 both have airbags too......

From the guys at Borgeson:



Gil Evans <[email protected]>
9:24 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

If I remember correctly, it was a liability concern regarding the airbags.

Gil Evans

Borgeson Universal Company
91 Technology Park Drive
Torrington, CT 06790 USA
(860)482-8283
(860)496-9320 FAX
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/BorgesonUniversalCompany


From: ****** [mailto:************@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 2:36 PM
To: Gil Evans
Subject: Steering shaft question

Hey Borgeson,

There has been much debate as to why you guys don't support the 97-98 Chevrolet C/K trucks. There's a thread on GMT400 forums about it. Any information you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 

K15 Blazer

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I just did mine, in fact.

just buy the rubber and cotton doughnut. the kit is a joke.
remove the shaft and mark the location of it in the truck, and the coupling of the rag joint- to ensure your wheel will be straight when you put it back.
drill out, chisel off, remove, the rivets without damaging the couplers
use said coupler to get a good size and good grade set of nuts, bolts, and washers (red lock tight)
re-install
done =)
 

ccreddell

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I just did mine, in fact.

just buy the rubber and cotton doughnut. the kit is a joke.
remove the shaft and mark the location of it in the truck, and the coupling of the rag joint- to ensure your wheel will be straight when you put it back.
drill out, chisel off, remove, the rivets without damaging the couplers
use said coupler to get a good size and good grade set of nuts, bolts, and washers (red lock tight)
re-install
done =)

But you still have a rag joint....
 
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