XJ Steering Shaft Upgrade (88-94 Trucks) 95+instructions on page 31

[shelbyt.67]

What year OBS did you do it to? I thought it wouldn't work on my 97 model.

Mines a 92. sewlow58 said he did it on his 97 no sweat
http://www.gmt400.com/forum/showthread.php?8974-Steering-slop/page4

 

[CUSTOM06]

Appreciate that. . . . . . . . . .

 

[ChrisAU]

This is a great mod guys, easily the best bang for the buck mod on my truck.

 

[sewlow]

Update.

I posted, somewhere here on the forum, that after I had done this mod, I had to remove it. Reason being that the alignment shop would not have anything to do with the vehicle until it was removed.
I did not tell them about the mod when I took it to the shop. The tech. only drove it from the front of the shop to the rear. As soon as he got out, he popped the hood and saw the jeep shaft. He called me over and said that he knew of this mod in these trucks, but it only worked on pre-'97 models. Then he showed me why. Due to the '97+ models having a third universal behind the firewall, inside the cab, the shaft would have a tendency to move off-center, excessively. He demonstrated this by grabbing the shaft and moving it up & down about 2 or 3 inches off-center. (!) He said that during some situations, where the vehicle was being turned left-to-right-to-left, quickly, there would be excessive movement of the shaft and that not only would the steering be effected, but that there could be a possibility of the shaft moving so far off-center that it would have a tendency to bind. This is caused by the jeep shaft having an additional universal.
Damn!!!
But, there is a solution for the '97+ trucks.
This is a part for hot-rods, which have more than 2 universals in the steering shaft in order to clear frame/exhaust/suspension components. The part is fairly cheap, & is an accepted way to stabilize steering shafts. I've seen many. many hot-rods with this component. You just have to fab it up to work on these trucks. Usually mounts to the frame, but I've seen some that had to reach a bit further than the parts reach, so they have been modded into a turn buckle for the extra length required. With jam nuts, off course.
There are lots of different manufacturers of this part, with several I.D.'s to fit the appropriate size shaft. Usually in the $20.00-$30.00 range. I plan to do this, but at the moment, I have too many paying projects in my shop to work on my own vehicles. I will post up pix when it is done.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Flaming-River/Flaming-River-Steering-Shaft-Support-Bearings/1183260/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-3-4-Steering-Shaft-Support/1225469/10002/-1

This is another solution that I may try. A steady bearing mounted to the firewall where the shaft comes into the engine bay from the interior.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Firewall-Mount-Flanged-Bearing,2044.html

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Firewall-Mount-Steering-Shaft-Bearing-3-4-Inch-Shaft-Size,6845.html

 

[70stroker]

just ordered my shaft on ebay, 32 shipped, theres another one on there for the same price if anyone is intersted. Hopefully this does away with as much slop and i have read about. I rebuilt my whole front end a few months ago while lifting it and it still has the slop.

 

[JollyGreen]

It didn't work on my 97 either. The shaft wasn't near long enough.

 

[JollyGreen]

Update.

I posted, somewhere here on the forum, that after I had done this mod, I had to remove it. Reason being that the alignment shop would not have anything to do with the vehicle until it was removed.
I did not tell them about the mod when I took it to the shop. The tech. only drove it from the front of the shop to the rear. As soon as he got out, he popped the hood and saw the jeep shaft. He called me over and said that he knew of this mod in these trucks, but it only worked on pre-'97 models. Then he showed me why. Due to the '97+ models having a third universal behind the firewall, inside the cab, the shaft would have a tendency to move off-center, excessively. He demonstrated this by grabbing the shaft and moving it up & down about 2 or 3 inches off-center. (!) He said that during some situations, where the vehicle was being turned left-to-right-to-left, quickly, there would be excessive movement of the shaft and that not only would the steering be effected, but that there could be a possibility of the shaft moving so far off-center that it would have a tendency to bind. This is caused by the jeep shaft having an additional universal.
Damn!!!
But, there is a solution for the '97+ trucks.
This is a part for hot-rods, which have more than 2 universals in the steering shaft in order to clear frame/exhaust/suspension components. The part is fairly cheap, & is an accepted way to stabilize steering shafts. I've seen many. many hot-rods with this component. You just have to fab it up to work on these trucks. Usually mounts to the frame, but I've seen some that had to reach a bit further than the parts reach, so they have been modded into a turn buckle for the extra length required. With jam nuts, off course.
There are lots of different manufacturers of this part, with several I.D.'s to fit the appropriate size shaft. Usually in the $20.00-$30.00 range. I plan to do this, but at the moment, I have too many paying projects in my shop to work on my own vehicles. I will post up pix when it is done.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Flaming-River/Flaming-River-Steering-Shaft-Support-Bearings/1183260/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS-Performance-Products/JEGS-3-4-Steering-Shaft-Support/1225469/10002/-1

This is another solution that I may try. A steady bearing mounted to the firewall where the shaft comes into the engine bay from the interior.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Firewall-Mount-Flanged-Bearing,2044.html

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Firewall-Mount-Steering-Shaft-Bearing-3-4-Inch-Shaft-Size,6845.html

Those look like viable options, especially the last two.

 

[90chevstepside]

I've had my jeep shaft for several months and still haven't put it on

I smell a sticky, unless there's already one on it.

 

[Mike]

Very nice writeup, thanks for taking the time to make it work. Stickied.

 

[90chevstepside]

I've had my jeep shaft for several months and still haven't put it on

I smell a sticky, unless there's already one on it.

Very nice writeup, thanks for taking the time to make it work. Stickied.

I called it a minute early!