How to- Grand Cherokee steering shaft for G body

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81cutlass

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Feb 16, 2009
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Since the info probably will get buried in my build thread and the info isn't posted in it's own thread that I found, I thought I would help people out.

Want to replace the rag joint in your G body and have a salvage yard close? Jeep grand cherokees are direct swap. 93, 94 for sure.

POTENTIALLY 95 depending on when it was made.

You can tell the difference easily between early 95 and late 95 (post redesign) by looking at the grill. One goes straight across, one goes down between the headlights
93-94 and early 95
upload_2018-5-5_14-1-42.jpeg


Late 95+
upload_2018-5-5_14-2-21.jpeg


That being said, many of these are missing bumpers and grills from collisions. An easy way to tell from the outside is looking at the fuel door. The 95+ has a finger grab hole to open the door, 93- early 95 have a pull cord by the drivers seat by the door to open the door (think like opening a hood)

Also, a 95 can look like a correct 93-95 body style and STILL have the wrong shaft. I took a shaft off a 3/95 production jeep with all correct signs and still had the wrong one.

When in doubt go 93-94, be cautious on mid 95's.

Look for the steering shafts with steel ends. The aluminum ends appeared on 95 production and are wrong.

Also, I6 4.0 jeeps are easier to remove than the 5.2 v8's.

95+ left, correct 93-94 middle, stock right. This is the steering column side. The aluminum one has a smaller D shaft steering column size.
FT0lSxgnE9OKSbIB1fS2eLzwuaA35NdipqE3h6TscCc4_fv8FngqSwK9Hrb0JXC49Ibr-aUS-X9w1WvQyVcamLL72TXHEu9I4mLss_d3tAl55w2MgZReI15eXvo8Ap4Kmi3aRwjSvNCy3yXlmD3ZcoRFlq3WKvVsr1Fn5EfsiT4xBhSA3Rn7nG4RdKI51NKncnRCAsDchZsHBXt-aVRpq9gFXZcwGZjNlFv0DT9vJZUa3GCwJ9-X8CcvM5wCydfvPT9r-5M8zJ8WF0o4FERbtvchVZqX6gccjjlqQcNKl3nfNJVVTWlckCJCw0QTOW9RfNWP4W5so07zU2iLmb7qfnATTvg2i-2d0adQzihQ7aR1C337B9xsh2ooG_JOYd5J7ncH0W7keyUXKcCgLaASLo1prrJveorujRP8RFlspxdXGFIf4MqycqkVIG3HcaeBPDqkXyb89BJeVDFd-_tqSyw2AiHn1CKYzhg6HJOGXtPBgnIdt1VLLgzQ_ErkSHB2z8zz3uSv7HOvdXUq6QzBNb0W9M3VL8PAcr0JyZ-sD-bzwst075b1GLgnHvgay7s5eQ0gjM-TMbe9OQW4Yy7ZpEzTwdi5c6XW3zFLEpE=w944-h708-no


Installed, no mods needed. Remove bolts, hammer/pry out, install new one.
drrr95EHFSqeuZWkiIbFnoJO60vsZiSCVxR6t22t_uE32PyDPTopnsQSywaXkqloOugGDsyNGQAYmeALiNLQ-0AQTS0QZEwBB2maRHwtVzF4V3P8ITFidzgWrL6QXW1jRT-cFEQe9uYTZRj3mWOkY-ziL8MJ70k749FaHHJGtNt9T2G8lgl-wkZbY8gkMR8YqPZDiCkYyKtcof-yQ4K7E9iuF4QDsVU82jIOde_lr4zemBwv1TMFBDeB6LLzN1F-IJyktKIcTwiuWmC6xCrSFzP1KHi2bYppPdz-FN9F0VBwPSiTAYL-or2oGmGkUqURlgvG6Q4gayCE19a1b0OWBVUks5Ch-19ll9rrt9XR85JDX3L8myClAVo72OrBbP8c86NixOvJCSMNB077OcgLL75i9PjjVT1AVKaz3uuVwsZh3W6iCp0F4yPQiMcZFjelXJmob3Iz3PFsoVJd_0hFLMa-su98swYlosS-MxcBk34iaIM14JqpQYu-JWvmetqah4DF3YdHHIntphS43jN8rLafaStemmtBiQx-FYSjeUXESR4EeTNe4VyG3PWzmG_RozN-QokM-uDZr1GTuTBkZFTgM33r-cVmIXZ2lW4=w711-h947-no
 
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87National

G-Body Guru
Apr 15, 2009
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I've pulled a few of these over the years. Late 80s to 90s Cherokees also have the correct shaft. I just look for the stamped steel ends on this era jeep when I go to the yard.

A couple of additional tips:

At least in northern salvage yards, the shafts rarely compress while in the jeep....which makes it difficult to remove. On stubborn shafts, I will remove the steering column and pull the shaft (attached to the column) through the interior of the vehicle.

Be sure to take the bolts with you.....they are unique to that application.

It helps to notch the male end of your gbody column for the top shaft bolt. This link shows the notch:
http://www.montecarloss.com/community/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=948632#Post948632
 
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Gremlinsteve

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Mar 6, 2018
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I did one of these on my elky
Firmed up the steering nicely
I'm not sure I would need a f41 box or not now
 

Longroof79

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I'm using one from a late '90's-early 2000's Jeep Cherokee. It looks identical to your Grand Cherokee shaft.
 
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Longroof79

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Honestly, as far as steering "feel", I think it's psychological unless your rag joint is within an inch of it's life.
Maybe when the rag joint shafts were new they had more of a positive feel to them, but when they're 30+yrs old and worn they got to have some give to them. It's probably less work to replace the shaft than replace the rag joint.
 
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oldsmobile joe

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Nov 12, 2015
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rag joints also tend to develop a knocking noise.
 

Longroof79

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81cutlass

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Feb 16, 2009
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Western MN
Maybe when the rag joint shafts were new they had more of a positive feel to them, but when they're 30+yrs old and worn they got to have some give to them. It's probably less work to replace the shaft than replace the rag joint.

Yep, mine had about 5 degrees of obvious slop left to right. My tie rod ends are pretty shot too so it would have been interesting to test back to back with good steering parts. Its tough to note if its a lot better but it had to do something for as much as it moved.
 
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1evilregal

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Apr 23, 2009
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I'm using one from a late '90's-early 2000's Jeep Cherokee. It looks identical to your Grand Cherokee shaft.
good helpful hint, in case you can't find a Grand Cherokee: the regular Cherokee's that have the correct shaft will have the GM style steering columns (look at the ign lock, should be same as the g-bodies, not the big plastic angled lock).
 
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