Jeep Shaft Heads Up !!!

[GuysMonteSS]

If any of you guys have a Jeep shaft like mine you may want to take it off and check it over really good.
Mine came apart yesterday as I was out for a drive,fortunately I was going slow.It was scary turning the steering wheel and the car didn't turn.
I had got mine from someone on one of the forums several years ago,I don't remember who I got it from now.
But it turns out that ones like mine are a three piece shaft.There is the first part that bolts to the steering column,then the second piece that presses into the first with a big rubber bushing,then the bottom telescoping part that goes from the steering box that goes into the second piece.
It would appear that the big rubber bushing wears out after time and will allow the second piece of the shaft to slip out of the first piece,and then you don't have any steering.
After I looked it over and realised what had happened,I took the whole shaft over to my friend Leon and showed him.Leon is a very interesting man and he actually owned the Monte twice many years ago.
Anyhow,Leon wanted to drill and tap the shaft and put a bolt in it,but I thought it would be better if we welded it,so Leon fired up his MIG and welded it together.It isn't going to come apart anytime soon now !!
Heres a couple of pictures.

Guy

 

[pontiacgp]

I'm glad that you came out of that unscathed. It's a good warning for the guys using the Jeep shaft. I hope everyone who has one stops driving till they do the repair

 

[565bbchevy]

It's good to hear both you and your Monte are OK.
I bought my new Borgeson collapsible steering shaft with universal joints before I even knew about the Jeep shaft "upgrade" but I never regretted spending the extra money for IMO a better designed product that I could also adjust it to fit my car.

 

[Texas82GP]

I don't understand where the failure point is.

 

[melloelky]

that could've gotten ugly, glad you're ok.thanks for the heads up.

 

[pontiacgp]

I don't understand where the failure point is.

this section here

 

[565bbchevy]

So the upper part of the collapsible shaft is just a press fit into a rubber bushing in the larger housing?

 

[fleming442]

I'm confused too. I drive the snot out my car, and certainly don't need that happening!

 

[Ribbedroof]

Call me Negative Ned, or a whiner or whatever, but this is why you won't find junkyard used parts of unknown history, condition, or mileage on any safety-related system on any of my cars. I question the idea of "freeing up" the collapsable feature of the shaft as well.

IF you're going to put a non-original steering part in your car, I would strongly suggest buying new. People complain that they're expensive, but will spend thousands of dollars on stuff that carries minimal safety hazards.

I question the design of the shaft if indeed there is no steering after the failure, as every OEM coupling I've seen has some capacity left after a failure, albeit usually very sloppy. I lost a rag joint on a 67 F100 once that resulted in a lot of slack, but the design did not allow total loss of steering

 

[GuysMonteSS]

So the upper part of the collapsible shaft is just a press fit into a rubber bushing in the larger housing?

Yep,that's all that holds it together.
Guy