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.

 

[BBslider001]

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.

This hasn't been my experience at all. The new shaft significantly removed steering play. Not all of it, but about 65% of it. The steering box should take the rest when I do change it out. And yes, most dealerships don't have techs who even know how to work on these older rigs anymore. Just do the swap yourself. It's about 30 minutes taking your time.

 

[Erin]

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

Same here. No big difference in road feel in steering wheel either.

 

[Droid]

Hello, this is the first time I've replaced a steering shaft, so I'd really like to make sure I do it correctly.

Here's the shaft NOT INSTALLED showing the splined input to the steering box. The two red lines I've drawn on the image should line up, correct? The pinch bolt should be impacting in the smooth groove between the splined sections, right? I slowly tightened it making sure I could rock it a tiny bit back in forth in that area (sliding between the two sets of splines) before tightening the 4mm allen to "good and tight".

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Here's how it sits installed (have not tightened the hex nut yet):

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And here's the upper section. I tightened the Allen through-bolt til it bottomed out. Then tightened the second Allen against that just presses against the surface of the upper. Again hex nuts aren't tight yet.

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I think this is all obviously correct but it's the first time I've swapped a steering shaft and I can't say I'm not a bit terrified of the consequences of doing it wrong....so figured I'd just ask to be sure.

Didn't come with any instructions. Should I be using blue loc-tite? Assume torque spec is just "good and tight" as I don't see any specs.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

Yup, that's how it's done.

Well, that's how *I* did it, more or less.

I put the shaft in a drill press and drilled a small recess in the shaft (not a hole) so that the set screw would index into the recess.

I used Loctite blue on all the set screws and jam nuts. All were tightened Good-n-Tite™.

Looking at your second picture... is there interference there? See image below:

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[Droid]

Yup, that's how it's done.

Well, that's how *I* did it, more or less.

I put the shaft in a drill press and drilled a small recess in the shaft (not a hole) so that the set screw would index into the recess.

I used Loctite blue on all the set screws and jam nuts. All were tightened Good-n-Tite™.

Looking at your second picture... is there interference there? See image below:

You must be registered for see images attach

Thanks, I did not even see that "nub" sticking off the steering box. That's really close. I know I could pull the steering shaft down a tiny bit more onto the steering box splines but moved it up a hair so the set screw would sit in that middle ring cut into the splines.

Just looking on youtube and ebay it looks like some have that "nub" and some do not. This video shows what I assume to be an OEM box next to a Borgeson:

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(Go to 1:34)

 

[clalonde]

I'm looking to do this shaft upgrade for my 1999 K2500 4x4 truck. For those of you that have done this and purchased the shaft from Cunningham is all I need the lower shaft or will I need the intermediate as well?
https://cunninghammachine.com/1995-2000-chevrolet-truck-lower-half-steering-shaft/
There is an option to include the intermediate, is that generally a good idea to replace as well. What exactly is that as well is it just a component of the lower shaft?

 

[1998_K1500_Sub]

I'm looking to do this shaft upgrade for my 1999 K2500 4x4 truck. For those of you that have done this and purchased the shaft from Cunningham is all I need the lower shaft or will I need the intermediate as well?
https://cunninghammachine.com/1995-2000-chevrolet-truck-lower-half-steering-shaft/
There is an option to include the intermediate, is that generally a good idea to replace as well. What exactly is that as well is it just a component of the lower shaft?

All you need is the U-joint.

If you want to buy the entire assy from Cunningham that's fine with me, but it's not necessary. See:

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/rag-joint-delete-steering-shafts.57701/post-1441148