Rag Joint Delete Steering Shafts

[PM18S4]

Hold on a minute, I replaced the steering box and power steering pump/lines trying to eliminate play in my steering on a '99 k1500 suburban, which solved the play problem almost completely. The stealership told me there was literally nothing left to replace to fully eliminate the play. It drives like and old Chevy they said. Am I reading this forum correctly, that I can just replace this funky factory rag joint with a proper u-joint and not have to modify anything?!

If so, that would be an epic win for me!

Rag joint deletes are not officially condoned by the dealerships, you might find one willing to do the swap, but if so, I wouldn't trust them for other things. You go to dealerships if you want it done by-the-book.
That said, any independent mechanic worth their salt could do the swap in a couple of hours.

As many have already stated, a U-joint will only have slightly less play than new-old-stock Rag joint (can you even get those anymore?), but the wear on a u-joint is nearly negligible.
The major downside to a U-joint is you feel even the smallest of bumps and divots in the road through the steering wheel.
if the seams in the concrete line up correctly with your wheelbase, it will feel like the whole vehicle is shaking itself apart.

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

The major downside to a U-joint is you feel even the smallest of bumps and divots in the road through the steering wheel.
if the seams in the concrete line up correctly with your wheelbase, it will feel like the whole vehicle is shaking itself apart.

^^^ This hasn't been my experience on my two U-joint equipped vehicles, one my 1995 S10 Blazer and the other my 1998 K1500 Suburban.

However, I'm not saying in can't happen. I didn't happen to me.

What I *did* notice was increased hydraulic "hiss" noise in the cabin during steering events, evidently conveyed from the steering gear through the U-joint into the steering shaft. Yes, I noticed it after I made the swap, but it wasn't long before I blocked it out; it was subtle.