Yes, thank you! These universal joints from jeeps are from a vehicle with a uni-body construction. Years ago my rag joint was shot, the jeep conversion seemed like a decent option with e decent price. At the time, the OEM rag joint intermediate shafts where going for $200. As long as the jeep shaft would telescope during operation, I was happy with that. But now I am having some play where the shaft telescopes. I am thinking about going back to the OEM rag joint. With the added shroud that surrounds the rag joint, I would think this would help with direct heat protecting the rag joint.The issue Jimsmonte is talking about is body to frame movement. It's real no matter how good your body mounts are. Every bump your car hits, I guarantee there is some distance change from steering box to steering column. Without a slip joint, there are bearings in that system that will not be happy.
The rag joint is not meant to deal with length change. It's a coupler that can account for any angle variance. The joint at the top by firewall is a sliding couple. This is what the Jeep and Astro upgrade do not account for.
I'm not here to say a rag joint is better than a universal joint but if there is no slip joint coupler then OEM for me.
Comparing a broken or worn rag joint to a universal joint is a poor argument.