Quote:
Originally Posted by joedoh
if you are using the stock steering box you will:
cut the steering shaft/tube about 3 inches longer than your desired length
then cut just the tube back to the length you want, leaving 3" or so of shaft sticking out.
you will need a bearing to put in the tube to center the shaft and give some support, if I remember your other thread you bought one for the top of the tube, it may work down low on the box.
cut/grind the shaft into a DD shape till a u joint fits it. (pay attention to phasing between the upper and lower u joints, you want the u joints to be "in phase" with each other. this will probably require you to have the steering pointing straight ahead and maybe do the following step first)
install your new column, install a u joint at the bottom. between the two joints install a dd shaft.
on an AD you cannot remove the shaft or the tube from the steering box easily. the cab is actually intended to be lifted off the steering shaft, no I AM NOT KIDDING. if you do it the way I outlined, you can cut the shaft and tube and just pull it through the firewall.
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Very helpful! I get it now! So this way I will need only one universal joint, right? Will connect the bottom of steering column that has a double D shaft to a ground-down-into-a-double-d-shape steering shaft.
FYI from my other post I'm glad you remember, I actually didn't buy the mast column bearing because I didn't think I would need it since I was going to replace the column. I can see now how I could buy a new one and use that down low to fill the hole in the mast column.
Actually, re-reading your post I think you say to get the DD shaft and put in between the two u-joints, one at the column and and one at the steering box end. And, considering my steering box was moved 2-3 inches over to make room for SBC exhaust, this would allow my steering column to be aligned straight in the cab and the u-joints can handle the misalignment. Great! Thank you!