xschop

About $275 and worth every penny as the joint bodies are more compact and clear the engine plates even more. Also a whole lot easier to remove when dropping the X-member.

Dean924s

A bit of an update. I think I have found a manufacturer of a replacement universal joint that would be a direct replacement for the ones in the steering shaft.

For reference I measured things and come up with the following.

A = bearing diameter .590 inches
B = Inside dimension of U joint = 1.115 Inches. You need this for an internal C clip type U joint. I am hoping to find this type as it would make rebuilding a snap.
C = Outside dimension of the U joint = 1.675 Inches

I have found a u joint that has the following dimensions. It is a staked in place type that matches the OE one.

A=.591
C=1.614

Me thinks that this would be perfect.

Stay Tuned.

crooster

Thanks for the update Dean - I'm interested if we can find a source.

Dean924s

Another update.

I have found and ordered what I think is the OE replacement parts and will be receiving them this Wednesday. I have several rebuild able shafts that I am going to mess with and see if this is really do-able. Many of the Japanese cars use a similar U joints but the Yolks on the shafts are stamped steel making them very difficult (if not impossible) to rebuild. Also the Japanese units have very thin bearing caps as they are treated as one time use only parts. The bottom line is that they are not intended to be re built and that is why the parts are not available.

The Porsche units use a cast Yoke that is then machined to accept the U joint. Thus they are much stronger. However they still are pressed in and staked U joints. This means that you can not just bang out the old U joint and bang in a new one with a vice, hammer and a socket. You will damage the Yoke and or the new U joint. I already knew this but it was verbally reiterated to me when I made the purchase.

So people understand. These are very hard to find parts (not sold in the USA) and are specifically designed for steering shafts and will require access to specialize installation equipment. The up side is I have the required equipment to do the proper installation so I have decided to more forward and see if if it is doable.

I can not wait to get my hands on the parts and see how this goes.

The upside to this is that rebuilding the factory shafts means you dont have to take the yokes on the ends of the center shaft off. This means that the OE factory alignment of the Yokes in relation to each other and the shaft will be maintained. From what I have learned this is critical to not only the longevity of U joints but also to them functioning properly. Improperly aligned U joints can / will bind. This is a bad thing if you are say taking a corner. So I am quietly optimistic that this will not only work but will restore the rebuilt steering shaft to OE specs exactly.

V2Rocket

Has anybody done more research/prototyping of a differently shaped shaft for the V8, with more joints? I recall seeing IIRC a Renegade swap once with a bracket on the strut tower to hold an additional u-joint to clear headers.

arthropraxis

That was to clear factory exhaust manifolds.

JimV8

The steering shaft on the V8 conversion is major PIA. I spent many hours trying to get the left headers over the shaft. The greatest obstacle is the engine mount and after musch fuszin I threw out the engine mounts and started with two knowns, the manifolds and the steering arm. Because the front crossmember is dropped the length of the arm needs to be lengthened. The easiest way to do that is cut a couple of inches out and weld in the correct length replacement. The metal is nothing special so 1/2 or 5/8 dia. solid rod is plenty.

crooster

Dean - assuming all goes well, would you consider offering rebuilds as a service?

porshaowner

There are U-joints on ebay for the stock shafts

Dean924s

We will see how things go and / or if it is cost effective but the short answer is it is being looked at. I guess it would be good to know how many would be interested as shipping costs are a part of this equation. If I got enough interest purchasing them in larger quantities would greatly reduce the unit cost making it a lot more plausible. Instead of cluttering up this thread with posts if anyone is interested in this (either getting rebuilt with out a core or having there steering shaft rebuilt) drop me a pm or email me at smith(at)radio(dot)fm. This would be helpful to gauge interest. Just remember this is all in the exploratory stage at the moment. Proof will be once I get one done and on my car for testing.

And as I type this a knock at the door and look what showed up!!! A day early!!!

catamax944

This is great news Dean ,you are fast ,very nice work . Good luck with the rest , i really hope you are successful because i also need mine rebuilt

V2Rocket

Ok, I gotta know - how does the X piece get installed into the clevis? Serious bending? Cut and weld?

Dean924s

Magic.. .. . LOL Not all the complicated but to long to explain here and with out pix not really worth trying to explain here. You would be better off going to YouTube and search for how to press in u joints. I am sure there is a video that shows it.

I think the key to this being successful is how the burrs caused by the staking of the OE U joints is dealt with. There s potential to really screw things up if this is not handled properly. I am thinking that I will probably cut the original U joint out and press the bearing caps out the center. This will prevent chipping / damaging of the yokes that can occur if you try to press the bearing cap past the divots in the yokes caused by the staking. Then remove the burs caused by the staking and then press in the new units. Of course there is cleaning and painting that has to be done before assembly.

Dean924s

Do you have a link?

V2Rocket

Learn something new in less than 2 minutes...way easier than I thought it would be