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Steering Joint Upgrade

How to get your steering rack back on track

Wear on your steering system may not show up all at once. You just adapt to it until one day you realize you've got a whole lot of play in the steering wheel; or, worse yet, too much play in the wheels.

Problem

The culprit in sloppy steering is usually the flex- or U-joint that accommodates the angle difference between your steering shaft and the steering box or rack and pinion system. That's particularly true in an older car that's seen a lot of miles and needs some restoration work. It can also show up sooner in a sports car that's been driven hard, and a truck or SUV that has been lifted or fitted with larger than stock tires. In any of those latter cases you've added extra stress to the U-joint, so your steering accuracy can flounder in as little as 4,000 miles.

Solution

Never fear, there is a simple solution. Try replacing the stock steering joint with an aftermarket single-needle bearing unit. Often warranted up to 30,000 miles, this type of U-joint is lubed, sealed, engineered to prevent loosening and adjustment malfunction, and can last as much as ten times longer than non-needle bearing joints. Depending on the application, they are manufactured from steel, stainless steel, or aluminum. The steering assemblies are designed and CNC manufactured to meet or exceed OE requirements.

Just about any type of vehicle can be accommodated with an application-specific combination of telescoping replacement shafts, U-joints and vibration-reducer upgrades. Take, for example, an older Jeep CJ that pre-dates dampening between the steering box and column. This hypothetical, lifted Jeep has vague steering, and every bump of a washboard trail is transmitted through the steering wheel to the driver's hands, arms, shoulders and entire skeletal system.

Simple Installation

The answer, depending on the model year, would be a replacement telescoping shaft assembly with two precision needle bearing U-joints with vibration reducer. The assembly can be installed with conventional tools and the result is positive, safe steering. No more wandering in crosswinds; no more wondering where you're going to end up when the vehicle hits a bump.

The effectiveness of a new steering joint, however, is still up to you or the shop that restores your vehicle. Over the years we have seen steering systems that should never have been installed in a car of any type, from the use of 1/2-inch drive socket flex joints to amateur welding of the joints directly to a steering box. Another dangerous situation is a U-joint operating at angles outside of its design parameters.

Homework

The steering and brake systems are the most important components of your car. Yet many times connecting the steering box to the column seems to be an afterthought. Your car must be designed as an integral unit with the steering box or rack and pinion, engine, exhaust, steering column and connecting U-joints and shafts in a safe working relationship.

If you're not sure whether your resto project can be upgraded with an aftermarket steering joint, do some research. Borgeson is one company that manufactures aftermarket steering universal joints in the street rod, racing, specialty automotive, and pick-up truck markets. The firm supplies steering shaft assemblies for a broad range of vehicles, including pick-ups and SUVs with suspension lifts up to three inches.

On a street rod resto, for instance, any of the company's 3 "Double D" (a round shaft with two flats) yokes, 13 different spline size yokes, and the new '94 and later Mustang rack "V" yoke can be combined to mate components from many different manufacturers. They operate at angles up to 35 degrees. For example, using these components you could easily connect a GM column to a new Mustang rack and pinion or a Ford column to a Saginaw box.

If that doesn't do the job on your resto project, you can use an offset steering gear. It's the ultimate problem solver if you can't come up with a combination of U-joints that will clear obstructions such as the cylinder head, exhaust headers, or the brake pedal. A typical offset gearbox has in-and-out, 3/4-inch DD shafts that are offset a full 5 inches. An offset steering gear can be mounted on either side of the firewall and rotated to give the optimum angle for your steering system.

So, if your front wheels take a while to respond to your steering wheel, think about replacing that old joint with a new single-needle unit.

Resource

Borgeson Universal Co., 187 Commercial Blvd., Torrington, CT 06790-3098, (860) 482-8283, www.borgeson.com