Had this same issue on my 87 S15 years ago. What I did instead (thats a common mod) is replaced the steering shaft with one from a Jeep Cherokee that uses U-Joints instead of a rag joint. Best steering mod ever for that little truck.
I have an '84 Monte Carlo SS and a lot of people are doing the same mod for the same reason on the 4th gen Monte Carlo's. I haven't done it to mine yet, but when it gets to the point where I'm starting to notice sloppy steering, I'll just go ahead and do the swap.
@@razinhailsharp its a real solid swap. The only thing you have to do is heat up the Cherokee steering shaft to collapse it so it's short enough to fit in place
BY FAR the most comprehensive Master Mechanic on the Internet BAR NONE!!! Love the way You show thigs and explain AS YOU GO. LOVE how you get right up on things so I (Joe Weekend try-and-fix-the-Mrs.-car-so-we-can-save-a-bundle) can see EXACTLY what you're talking about. Found your site yrs ago and watch and LEARN even in my 60s and a career of 50+yrs working on trucks/cars. Sloppy old 03 S10 and NOW drives like a champ! THANKS (..and the Mrs. says THANK YOU THAT HE DIDN'T KILL HIMSELF WHILE DOING IT!!)
I have a truck at the shop with 294k and extreme slop in the steering. I have been trying to tell my boss that I have seen this problem before and it has been mostly a problem I the steering shift. I couldn't think of the part but Eric had me covered. 👍
I could not find a new steering shaft with rag joint for my 1988 GMC. And fitment seemed to be an issue for shaft and/or rag joints. I tried used connectors ,but they were dried out and worn too . But thanks to you folks on RU-vid, I found the answer. I pulled a steering shaft from a 93 Jeep Cherokee. With clean up and a couple mods, I now have a solid steering shaft in my GMC. WORKS GREAT!
Holy crap! Sorry for the language, I’ve been trying to figure out why my 93 Subaru wrx has loose steering and I couldn’t find information anywhere, found your video, even tho it ain’t the same vehicle I still know what’s up now, thank you!
on my '94 suburban,I was able to get rid of the slop at the steering box.There is an outer bolt that I loosened,Then an inner bolt I tightented,then re-tightened the outer.Piece of cake.I dont recall if there is also a rag joint.Thanks for you expertise,Eric!
I completely removed my rag joint in favor of a solid shaft with u-joints. Made an amazing difference and I don’t notice bump steer. My shaft came from an XJ Jeep Cherokee, no real modification needed, you just have to separate the XJ shaft to have the right length. Separate it by burning the plastic inside. You can research the swap yourself if you want to do it!
FRIKKEN AMAZING!...a bit of trouble shooting, swap out some old parts and the car is on the road again. I recommend occasional car enthusiasts to swap out some of the steering fluids if their vehicle has seen significant mileage over the years. A cheap fix with some basic tools and all done within an hour. The change is quite remarkable.
Eric, I appreciate your knowledge and the time it takes to make these videos. I learned on my dads '64 F100 when I burned the clutch. Easier to work on, back in the day. At 67 yrs young I still do what I can. Just changed my wifes struts on her 2008 Odyssey. Long 3 day holiday weekend (:-)
A customer of mine had a similar Issue on a old F150 the steering coupler was In good shape, however the worm gear In the gearbox wasn't adjusted correctly. Great video Eric \m/
I was thinking along the same lines. Many rear drive GM vehicles (but not all) have adjustable steering sector lash adjustments for taking away wheel slop.
i had the same exact problem with my '84 Camaro two years ago, (that steering shaft looks exact the same), No mechanic could know where the problem was, I had to find out for myself. I rebuilt the piece with the same rubber / fabric material since they did not sell that piece in my country. I learned some things there, in each part there is a notch that indicates the position that goes, from the base of the steering wheel to the steering box, each component has this notch. later I found out that using that entire part of an Astro Van or Grand Cherokee would have been simpler for me since I don't have many tools and those rivets are extremely hard to cut.
Sup Eric... Thanks for all your videos as they have helped us with our 97 Tahoe improvement project.. this one in particular. We replaced all the front end parts such as gear box, power steering, pit man arms, upper and lower control arms, shocks, etc. and still where having loose steering wheel issues. We will change out the entire coupling steering shaft and hope fully this fixes the issue. Anyways, thank you for your good and cool videos. Stay safe and stay healthy.
good job done...At some point GM started using a sliding sleeve. I had a e 2004 and there was a constant noise and slack. The dealer said all that could be done wast to fill the cavity with grease. Problem solved - for a couple of weeks. I was told GM did NOT have a fix. Just had to constantly fill with heavy grease...
That time of year I guess! I just did the rag joint on my 34 year old Grand Marquis. There was a bit of slop in the steering on that one, too. This time she got the works - balls joints, control arm bushings, new rotors and pads, and a new steering box. Should be nice and tight now, once I get it aligned.👍🍻
I did the same thing as Scott Waters below. I used the shaft from a Jeep Cherokee on my '81 C-10, and it is much more solid than the rag joint ever dreamed of being.
Thanks for jogging my memory. Many many years ago, "I'm an old guy " I heard about this problem and the fix but I didn't remember exactly how. Now I'm restoring A 57 Chevy and this helps tremendously. Thanks again.
@@tomrohn8607 RU-vid answered you. I have no idea what they're talking about. The only thing RU-vid got right is that I'm an old guy 👴 Sorry bout that. Now they'll probably remove this text. 🙄
Eric, I know this video is old but have reviewed it a few times. My problem is with my 4 speed TA 6.6 1979 Trans Am. The steering has become sloppy. I am in the throes of trying to access the top nut to remove the shaft so I can remove those damn original rivets in the rag joint. This has become a mental exercise for me. Accessing the nut from the top is not possible because of the engine width and closeness to the MC unit. The Z-bar clutch mechanism and rod from the clutch pedal is in the way for me to access the nut from under the MC unit. I keep taking parts off the car and just removed the driver's seat to get up under the dash to access the clutch pedal which I hope when released will allow me to get a straight shot to that nut with an extension and socket. What a can of worms so far. Had they used bolts on the rag joint at the factory this post would not have been made. BTW--thanks for all the helpful advice and hope your new 5000 square foot shop is a great fit for you.
How I did it: Access to the nut was achieved by turning the steering wheel just a bit that allowed me to come directly down from the top between the engine and the MC unit to get to the nut. Once the nut and bolt were removed it took a few minutes to tap the shaft out and a few more to pull the entire shaft from the car so I could dismantle the bad rag joint.
I’m installing a new rag joint in my ‘78 Corvette project car today. It was a rusty, raggedy dangerous mess. For a few dollars it’s an easy fix. I used synthetic grease on the splines to stop rust & smooth reassembly.
I'm an old guy who has seen a number of trucks in my time but wow, congrats on this fine looking truck! Hopefully I'll glean some more wisdom!😊 Liked, Subbed and shared - thanks Eric definitely will do this to my 200K plus miles 1993 sloppy-steering CK1500!
Been watching you for some years now. Thanks for all the effort. You empowered me to tackle projects and maintenance I never would have before. Thanks! Saw the video you did when designing the layout of your gauges and always appreciate that custom touch. During the test drive, a digital gauge is constantly bouncing around 13.1ish. Air/fuel, Voltage? Either way, my head would explode. Love my not digital gauges. Even notice it when I’m driving next to a car that has them. That constant fluctuation is distracting.
@@ericthecarguy Oh, I thought that was a volt meter and I was going to ask why your charging voltage was so low. Now I don't need to. By the way, I like your videos, they are helpful and entertaining. I've been fixing my own vehicles forever since I'm disabled and basically homeless so I definitely can't afford to pay anyone, I can barely afford parts, in fact I've been spending most of my SUBsistence income on rebuilding the front end of my Suburban for the past few years. And I really want to get a new transmission in my Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser and my Jeep Wagoneer. I have some nice vehicles, but I haven't had anything that's usable for a few years, it makes surviving 60 miles from the nearest store quite challenging especially since I'm disabled.
Just cost me $150 to get one sent here to New Zealand. The shipping is like 3-times the price of the rag joint, which sucks. But no more complaining, I need one. Great vid Eric, cheers mate.
I have a crazy amount of slop in my 2001 expedition I was thinking it was the gearbox thinking about rebuilding it changing it did not know this part existed appreciate you
workin on a 99 yukon denali, after rebuilding front end and replacing steering sensor i was lost on whats next, thanks man cheaked mine and its ruined like yours was. great vid
Thanks Eric! I too had to grind the rivets off and use a hammer drill to pop the studs out. The Dremel cutting wheels and accessory kit was $60, the new rag joint was $11 and the hardware was probably around $5. I even had to get a second rag joint because the auto shop sold me a too large one. Even with locktite the materials were under what I paid for a stupid Dremel kit.
Good stuff. Thanks. I just replaced the steering gearbox on a `99 GMC Suburban and I'll be damned if I can't get the cover slid back over the rag joint. Good time to go ahead and replace the rag joint so I can get that cover slid back down.
I had a mid 80's Ram that had a similar problem. It was a common problem with that generation truck. The wheel would have 45° of play because the CV type joint at he top would wear out completely. There was no master spline on that one and I drove with the wheel turned quite a bit after I replaced the joint.
About 10 years ago, I purchased an 91 Ford F-150 4x4 from a small dealer. I think i paid $1200 for it. The steering was scary sloppy. I went to the junkyard and found a rag joint from another Ford, it was maybe $15. It went from 3-5" of slop in center, to about 1/2". Best $15 that I ever spent.
My old Ford had a rag joint in its steering column and it was easy to replace but the ones I bought were not very strong and wouldn’t last. So I found an old tire and started cutting them out of it. It was a little thicker and stronger and would last a lot longer.
That part is called the intermediate shaft. A Drag link connects the steering gear box to the steering linkage. Anybody familiar with jeeps it is the bar that goes from the pitman arm over to the passenger side knuckle
I see the power steering tubing into the rack is still holding up well with all it's strange bends haha. Nice to see the improvement in steering reaction!
Eric, love your knowledge and videos , your the man. I need to replace a rag joint on a 1993 full size blazer but the link for the one you used on ebay no longer comes up. Would you have that part # ...?
My 2003 F250 had the same problem but tightened up on turns. Steering box was worn out in the "center" position. Installed a Ford reman and then she was as tight as the day it drove off the lot.
you should look into a jeep cherokee xj steering shaft. i swapped out the shaft on my 89 k5 blazer and it was amazing. i paid ten dollars at the junkyard. you eliminate the rag joint and the worn out upper uofu-joint. it took about ten minutes to swap it.
I'm about to do a front end rebuild and I'll be doing a U-joint instead of a rag joint. I'm using a custom made one from Derek's Steering Shafts on FB instead of the Jeep shaft but either will do. Word of warning to anyone, 97-98 trucks cannot do the Cherokee mod. There's a "blob" joint behind the firewall where the upper shaft goes in. It could in theory make the steering shaft bind up. Make sure you are careful if you do delete the rag joint.
Thank you Eric great video enjoyed it I like your truck I have a 94 K 1500 that I've had for God forever and I'm trying to put it back together properly it needs a lot of stuff I like your gauges I'd like to do something like that as well and I wanted to know what kind of ignition you were running I'm going to follow some of your videos and see what's going on keep up the good work thank you so much
Bought my Truck used Test drove it down a few side streets Hard brake stomp on the gas ..no real issues did not notice the light slop Untill driving it home Canadian winters are famous for people sliding into curbs Add in years of wear and tear The rag joint was "pooched" Bought a u-joint set up no slop very little vibration ..
What did you end up doing about the top boot? My 92 Blazer is in the same boat. Now that I know what it is, I can't shrug it off with a "eh all GM steering is loose, it's fine", of course now with every turn l make, I'm playing out my deaths scenario in my head.
Just did this last month on my 98 k1500. It wasn't too bad. Got my rag joint from autozone and had to buy bolts separate to put back together. Couldn't find this part any where. They wanted to sell the steering shaft for $187.00. Rag joint was $10.00 plus extra bolts.
I COULD do this myself, however; It is winter, snowing, and I do not have a garage (I live rurally) - I would prefer to bring this into a mechanic. How much time do you think? 2 hrs?
Here's the one on the gauges, but I did an entire series on this truck you might like. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i5Zy04iBvzI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kCepnacqRuI.html
if its just a little loose tighten the sector shaft top in the center, allen bolt after loosening the holder nut thats around it. Do only a small adjustment because it will cause the steering box to wear out faster.
You can also buy just the rubber piece for about 10 bucks Dorman help kit 31002. also has a couple bolt to replace the rivets and some of the shield things, not sure why you need them. I found out this weekend it's lot of work because you have to cut all four rivets and I didn't have a die grinder. And I'd suggest using a straight one like you did but with a burr or stone rather than a wheel to get into the recessed area the head is in. That would have made short working of it. Drilling was not fun!
Man eric why cant you be working on the exact make an model that im having the issue with? Tell you what ill gladly donate my vehicle to help others...lol
2:36.. I know most things are self explanatory, but when giving a tutorial video, something as simple as showing how to release the plastic cover on the lower joint can make the world of a difference for someone who isn't confident in their mechanical skills. I've watched a few of these videos and no one else showed that process, as simple as it may be. I've been building performance street cars for over a decade now, and I can tell you that when working on a car that you've never worked on before, every bit of information makes the job just that much easier. People that don't work on cars don't realize how much of it actually involves using brain power and not just forearm strength to turn nuts and bolts lol. I had a buddy who gave up on stabbing a distributor on a late 80's GMC because he's used to working on ford's where the oil pressure pin just drops in before the distributor, but on the GMC, the oil pin is already in the block and it must line up with the distributor or you will never get it right. I don't know why he didn't just Google it, but it took me 5 seconds to get my big head back there to see in the hole and put a screwdriver in there to line up the slots and it dropped right in.
