Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I replaced mine last fall
when i ordered the part at first it seemed there was only one used
Dorman 31011
this puts my steering wheel out 180 or upside down
called and ordered the 31015.....wrong size

called dorman was told "they have never heard of this upside down before"
asked at a GM dealer "someone may have changed something"
before i turn my wheel around,is this normal?

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

When I swamped columns on my 79 it did the same thing. My solution was to drill out the plastic from the two holes on the steering shaft and pull the shaft apart. Once this was done I flipped the shaft over and reinstalled it.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I ran into this exact same problem. I happened to have discovered earlier during an ignition switch replacement that the PO had actually swapped the original '78 column for a '77 and I assumed that is what caused it. All I did was center the wheels, take the bottom of the column off the streering gearbox, and slid it up so the steering column could turn freely. Then I the centered the steering wheel and pushed the column back on the box. Took a couple of tries to get it centered correctly.
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

mine won't turn like that it's keyed

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

If it is the same as mine, it is only keyed on the side that connects the coupler to the shaft: the other side of the coupler (the part that connects to the gearbox) just slips onto the splined shaft of the gearbox. In that first pic you have there you can see a big fat nut on the left side of the coupler right next to where it connects to the gearbox. I just loosened that, banged the crap out of the shaft to break loose the rust, slid it off and turned the wheel. So basically, the WHOLE joint is still connected to the shaft (the new shiny bit you just put on and the ugly old rust side too); you rotate the whole assembly and then join it back to the gearbox.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

my gearbox is keyd with a flat side that only fits one way
and then are the two different sized bolts
thought i took more pics...nope

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is the rag joint for and why would it be a good idea to replace it?
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

it allows for flex between the steering shaft and box.. a really really low tech u joint really.

they become worn out and loose..

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Sounds like a useless vibration damper. I think I will try and remove the rubber and make myself a solid aluminum one on my lathe. Should kill some of my slop huh?
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

do you have actual slop? tighten up your box too.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

It sure helped to make mine feel better
driving along you could sorta wiggle the wheel left to right
looking under the hood the box didn't turn till the "pin " touched
the new one dosn't touch,i'd leave it rubber alumi don't flex
gee guess I could say don't 86 the rubber !lol

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

You can also swap in the steering shaft out of a Jeep Cherokee, XJ shaft swap. These have U-joints at both ends, and pretty much bolt in.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Did ya figure this one out? I just swapped mine out, same exact part number and all. Had to flip my steering wheel upside down to get it back together. Now, it is pulling to the right some. Ugh.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

No it's still upside down ,but drives fine,
I'm living with it, cause I' m going tilt, deal with it then
Only prob is I get caught flashing sometimes lol
Havn't seen any complaints , so I duno what ,but see if the tilt fix , fixes it
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Yeah, mine seems to work fine.. I have a tilt column stock too.. same problem as you! I tried tearing apart the old joint to just put a new pad in it. No such luck so far.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Does your colapsable shaft unbolt from the column up by the firewall?
If so you can unbolt it there and spin the wheel 180 then bolt it back together.
It should fit either way...
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Joe, you are my hero! I went and took a look, and sure enough there was a bolt! It took some serious tugging to get it off, and putting back on, but my steering wheel is back to normal! No modifications to the backwards rag joint needed!

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Glad I could help :)
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

You guys think that the rag joint I necessary? I know they are a cheap kind of u-joint/ vibration dampner. It seems lik the column to the box is very straight. I may pull the rubber part on mine and mill a aluminum donut for a replacement
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I would definitely keep the rubber. It allows for a little bit of flex when needed, where aluminum won't.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Does the J**P steering shaft work for these trucks? I know it made a DEFINITE difference in my GN... And it's a LOT less espensive versus making your own (have one with pto outputs on another rig...)

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Just a note, I have an 87 tilt column in my Street Rod with a "Flamming River" Double D coupler instead of the factory Rag-Joint. You will notice ALOT more vibration in the wheel. I don't care its a HotRod , But in my truck I wouldn't like it.
Desert

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I took off the belt for the power steering pump.got tired of the butter steering. Some vibration ain't Gona hurt at all. Rather that then slop
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Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

thanks gona check that out

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

You mean the XJ Cherokee column? Yes it fits. It cleans up a lot of slop.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I found this thread while researching options so I'm dusting this one off....


I lost the rag joint on my Dually Sunday night. It was only a few years old as I replaced it when I re-did the suspension on the truck. Now, it failed under extreme circumstances as I needed to straighten the front wheels but couldn't start the truck @ the time. I tugged on the wheel, the wheels straightened some but I needed a little more. Tugged on it again & snap. Rag joint coupler rubber ripped apart.

I put it back together w/another replacement piece but it leaves me lacking confidence in a 'worst-case' scenario. I looked into the Cherokee set-ups but I'm not doing the wrecking yard crawl for 20+ year old wearable parts. I looked up replacement stuff but online local auto parts don't break the models down into Cherokee XJ etc etc etc..... The replacement part that pops up on Oreillys doesn't seem to match my set-up either (3/4-30 spline X 3/4 DD).

Anyone found newer/better options that also work??

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I'm with SCOTI, sub'd for responses

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I used some Borgeson joints and a collapsible shaft on my Caprice Wagon project a couple of years ago. Other than a little extra road "vibration" it was much tighter and really gave it a good sporty feel.

However, the down side is that you'd better have a liquid cooled wallet as their stuff does not come cheap!

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I looked into the Borgeson stuff & it is pricey. But, building a better ride sometimes has higher costs associated w/the improvements. I'd prefer the improved steering response for sure as well as removing the rubber isolation ring that has & can fail again. But, I don't want to add to the transfer of vibrations if @ all possible.

I was also looking @ Flaming Rivers "Vibration Resistant U-Joints" as an alternative to combat or minimize NVH transfer. Just thought I would use this as an opportunity to see if others came up w/different ideas since this thread was last active.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I just installed the Borgeson 935 shaft. $199 on Amazon. Yes it's pricey, but it's safer, tighter, and not going to wear out in my lifetime.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/3Tb4MZK/IMG-20190712-160912.jpg upload image free[/IMG]

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

The xj stuff may be 20 years old but there's no parts on it to wear out. I avoid the junkyard crawl by buying one off eBay for $50. Super easy install. Steering is tighter and I'm way more confident in a solid u-joint than a brand new piece of rubber.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

when I bought my truck the steering wheel was upside down, I ended up putting a after market steering wheel on it and forgetting about it. is the steering shaft suppose to have the flat spot on the top or bottom?

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Ok, I'm open to possibilities.

How did you know what you purchased off of e-bay for $50 was in fact the right part? Did you purchase it from a vetted source/vendor?

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

I got mine from this place. No issues with price, service or product. Website says he has 10 available. You want the xj shaft from 84-96
.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jeep-Cherok...YAAOSw5cNYQbIM

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Thanks for the link. I did look before but the price ranges varied (as did the sellers). E-bay was kind of hit-N-miss for me before so I'm hesitant still.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

What did you do for the column end?

I haven't studied mine in-depth yet as I just quickly put it back together so it was mobile. I know the end of my column has a 1" DD connection that utilized a 3/8" bolt through it & the upper portion of the collapsible shaft. Your pic looks like it mounts straight to the column (splines possibly??).

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Its almost a direct bolt on to the column. You have to clearance the inner shaft about 1/16th of an inch so the groove allows the pinchbolt to slide thru. A round file or burr grinder did the trick in about 30 seconds. Both ends of the xj shaft are identical to the chevy.

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Ok, I guess it just looks different from the angles/pic. I checked out the link you provided. Seems he's getting closer to $100 a pop for the used set-ups listed now. I researched further & found new units for $25 more so I might just do that.

My thought is buy & try a new one. If I think there's too much NVH transmitted through the steering I'll re-sell the 'lightly' used part on E-bay or C-list & opt for the pricier aftermarket vibration reducing U-joints w/collapsible shaft. Either way, I'll have more confidence by eliminating future rag-joint coupler related failures.

I appreciate the info & feedback!

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Just ordered one from him for my '81 K10

Re: Steering coupler or Rag joint
 

Just make sure it's for the 85-95 xj. When I was looking at new ones they were going for around $270 but the newer ones 96+ were closer to $125.