2000 K3500 rag joint elimination any thoughts?

[kent]

I have been kicking around doing a flaming river joint instead of the rag. Well today while I had the radiator out of the truck I fabricated a steel “rag joint” and installed it. It eliminated a ton of play and I have not felt any bind and it installed easily. I have an entire new shaft (if I need it) but really would like to hear if I am crazy or should the steel joint work?

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[Urambo Tauro]

Y'know, I've been tossing this idea around my brain too, wondering if a solid disc would be a good alternative to the U-joint upgrade I keep hearing about. I guess it depends on whether that even needs to be an actual joint at the bottom of the intermediate shaft there. If the shaft is dead-nuts straight in line with the steering gear input shaft, then I don't see why something like this wouldn't work. You say it's not binding... that sounds promising, as far as the geometry is concerned.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a believer in rag joints. I put a new one in my truck a couple years ago, and my steering is still nice and tight. But I'm not sure if the disc really needs to do any flexing, or if that's just for steering comfort.

One thing that I'm still a little concerned about is the steering gear itself. By stiffening up this "joint", would it wear out the steering gear prematurely? Like maybe an input shaft bearing or something?

 

[kent]

So finally got a good test drive in and really seemed to work great. But then I remembered I am installing a 2" body lift next weekend the new angle of the steering shaft may not allow me in reinstall this solid "rag joint". So just in case I ordered a 1" dd to 3/4" 30 spline borgeson ujoint got a killer deal on amazon $43.00.
As of right now with the limited amount for time I was able to drive the car I would say it worked better than expected however I CAN'T say GO DO THIS MOD not having put the proper amount of time testing it.

 

[blacksport]

i did the joint mod,i got the u-joint from the j-yard i was not even there to get it but it took less than 10 min to pull from the jeep and cost me 10 bucks. that was alot less time and work than modding the rag joint plus cheaper than a new rag.
i think that gm is bad about pulling from the parts bin and they threw that rag joint in there because that is how they were doing it for ever and they had them laying around.
jeep used the gm column but improved on it. the u joint mod is done on f body's and g body's also.

 

[454cid]

i did the joint mod,i got the u-joint from the j-yard i was not even there to get it but it took less than 10 min to pull from the jeep and cost me 10 bucks. that was alot less time and work than modding the rag joint plus cheaper than a new rag.
i think that gm is bad about pulling from the parts bin and they threw that rag joint in there because that is how they were doing it for ever and they had them laying around.
jeep used the gm column but improved on it. the u joint mod is done on f body's and g body's also.

You can't use the Jeep shaft on the later GMT-400's. It will bolt in, but isn't safe because you end up with 3 joints and not enough support.

 

[RichLo]

Just go with the flaming river u-joint. Steering and brakes the the two things I wouldn't mess with when it comes to questionable mods

The steel 'rag joint' looks like it would work for a while if the angles are close to straight (definitely not with a body lift) however I would be concerned about the longevity after a few thousand miles. you are all of the sudden adding stresses to those bolts that they shouldn't be seeing. There has been a few conversations on other forums about similar mods to the rag joint and it always comes down to safety and the availability of good quality u-joints for relatively cheap that bolt right in.

 

[MarkZ28]

On a 66 Chevelle, I used a solid mounting. If I remember right, I just lined up the holes of the shaft with the holes on the gearbox side and they lined up. Used good bokts and nuts to hold it together. Never any trouble or damage. Im pretty sure its the same design Saginaw box, but bolt patterns may be offset on the trucks.

 

[blacksport]

You can't use the Jeep shaft on the later GMT-400's. It will bolt in, but isn't safe because you end up with 3 joints and not enough support.

i don't know about later models i didn't think they were that different?
on my 92 all i had to do was notch the shaft from the cab for the bolt and it is NOT the least bit unsafe.ab it was clocked perfect....
S10 but the same idea

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[454cid]

i don't know about later models i didn't think they were that different?
on my 92 all i had to do was notch the shaft from the cab for the bolt and it is NOT the least bit unsafe.ab it was clocked perfect....
S10 but the same idea

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The later steering columns have the upper joint inside the cab, so if you put a Jeep shaft in you end up with three joints that aren't properly supported.