Have you or anyone else used the cunningham one? Are these newer? Why dont i see anyone talk about the cunninghams at all? The borgesons are talked about but they say they were not supported for the later trucks but now they are? so confusing but what i do know is im tired of all the slop in the wheel.
for the ones with the u joint how much more road vibration do you get in the steering wheel compared to a new rag joint?
Late to the party as usual, but here goes.
I replaced my rag joint 27 January 2022 with the Cunningham on my 1998 C1500 WT. So it's early in the game for any significant history. However, so far, the road vibration appears to be no different than the OEM rag joint. But heck, for all I know that rag joint may be as stiff as steel after 27 years of use. That being said, it looks to be well made, and works well. Installation was easy once I did the following:
1. Used a Dremel* tool with a cut off disk to remove the over the shaft plastic shroud, I did this to gain access to the 11mm bolt. The shroud won't fit using the universal joint type.
2. Used a pry bar to move the lower shaft into the upper so removal is possible. I then removed the 15mm nut on the fender side of the fastener.
I did install the lower part of the shaft first and secured that using the grub nut an set screw (Nut is 12mm and the set screw is a 4mm hex screw. There is a spring steel clip on the upper shaft that's used to take up any free play. There's a flat spot on the shaft that locates the flat spring's home, mine became airborn when I separated the shafts, you don't want to let that get away from you. To get the upper shaft in it's yoke I had to use vice grip pliers on the upper shaft and tap the shaft into its home.
*(If you run the Dremel at a higher speed >10K RPMs, the plastic melts on the cut off disc and the disc becomes unusable)