Steering rag joint and column questions?
 

Was working on the LeMans today and noticed the rag joint. It looks like the lower steering shaft is pushed backwards an inch or so and the rag joint is all out of wack. Do I just need to replace the rag joint and tap the lower steering shaft back into place? How does the '67 energy absorbing column work? Does the lower shaft just telescope in/out of the upper part?

If it’s like ‘68, the steering shaft is telescoping and two parts are bonded by breakaway plastic so they collapse in an accident. Might be hard to get the halves of the shaft to stay where they’re supposed to be, and it may not be safe, if that bond is broken.

I would give it a few whacks and see if it would slide down into place. The 2 tubes just slide into each other. I think there was a plastic pin that locks the 2 shafts. Seems like I used a old nylon power antenna mast piece to lock the 2 shafts together.

Have you looked at the column under the dash? There is a good 3/4” of adjustment at the 3 mounting points. Make sure to loosen up the firewall pass through if you try to move it

The column definitely needs to come forward. Those pins need to be engaged with the flange for safety. I would not drive the car as-is.

That's what I was thinking, thanks for confirming. I was replacing the leaking power steering pump and I looked down and had a WTF moment when I saw the rag joint. That def needs replacing. I tried to pull the column backwards to remove the rag joint. Even after taking all the column bolts out, that lower steering flange is trapped between the suspension and the headers. So I went after the steering box and got it dropped down enough to get the rag joint out.

So when I get it all back together, if the column won't move forward enough, it's OK to whack the steering flange a few times?

Oh, which rag joint is correct for 67 Lemans with power steering? Is it 13/16 with 31 splines?

GMT400 trucks are notorious for failed rag joints. The repair for '88 to '94 trucks is to install a lower shaft and the lower bolt, from a C3500HD. That shaft uses a small U-joint instead of a rag joint. Makes the steering MUCH more precise. The repair for '95-up GMT400s is more complex due to a change in the steering column.

Anyway, I put the C3500HD shaft in my '88 K1500. There's no plastic to secure one piece inside the other. Needs a lil' pop with a small hammer, or even a fist, to get the pieces to slide.

I bet yours is the same. Tap the lower shaft towards the steering gear, should be good-to-go IF the rag joint is still any good. I get suspicious of them now, having seen what happens with the GMT400 trucks. The "rag" gets weak--sloppy--and the steering shaft bangs against the safety-stops before the motion is transmitted to the steering gear. You can tell that happens because the safety-stops get polished from repeated contact.