Jeep steering shaft

[Slowpoke]

Have not used a

.Have not had any experience with the Astro shafts. Are they plug and play or do they need a little fussing?
I bought the jeep shaft many years ago and held on to it untill recently. I can say it does improve the feel of the steering.
Maybe I could take a look at the Astro shaft. I'm looking for something that has a more factory look while still being better than a rag joint shaft.
Ok so what's the consensus? What appears more factory but is a double u joint shaft? Price consideration also. Hooker or Astro?

I should still have a couple astro shafts kicking around the garage. They swap right in but if you want the steering wheel to stay straight just have to grind the top wedges and reclock it and weld it back on once u do. Or run as as is but wheel will be off center. You can kind of see the weld one I did in the pic.

 

[gearhedjon]

one of the other beef's i have with the jeepster shaft is most of us are aiming to get one from the junk yard or an ebay seller etc etc.the rubber inside has a service life like everything else.chances are it's in ok shape because it's relatively late model(compared to the metric chassis we're all using)probably hasn't seen the heat/cool cycles as our stockers have but why bother as it's a safety issue.if you're set on the jeep model,spring for the new one and it'll outlive you.yes i'm sure the rag joint'd shafts we're all removing isn't shot juuuuust yet but i can see the attraction with these swaps.that said i perfer my astro shaft vs the jeeper.and for those of you not sure what the swap intails,here's an article.

Driveway Tech: How To Swap A Jeep Steering Shaft Into Your GM B-Body or G-Body Car With A Trashed Rag Joint - BangShift.com

We’ve been piling up the miles on Buford T Justice, our 1987 Chevy Caprice project recently. Having completed the suspension upgrade and installed the new wheels and tires, the thing is a riot to heave into the corners and scare the kids, passengers, and passers by with. That being said, there...

bangshift.com

Nice write up. What needs to be done to the Astro shaft?

 

[melloelky]

Nice write up. What needs to be done to the Astro shaft?

so what needs to be done is that lower u joint needs to be removed from the shaft and turned a 1/4 turn and reinstalled. if not the the steering wheel will be 90º off. the lower u joint and the shaft are peened together, so those pieces need to be separated. You can grind the peened part off or fold them back with chisel.You need to tap the u joint with a hammer to get it off.clean up the end of the shaft and reinstall the shaft 90º from it's original position. Then you can tack the end of the shaft with a weld or peen the shaft over the u joint housing to keep it in place.welding is a piece of mind,not to say peening isn't an option.the other thing involved is on the top of the the steering column shaft itself.there needs to be a grove filed/ground down a little to allow the bolt to cross the upper side of the steering shaft.seeing as this's a popular swap on f-bodies/s-10's I'm sure if you need more info or even a visual aid on the process i'd bet there's some to be found on You tube.

 

[gearhedjon]

so what needs to be done is that lower u joint needs to be removed from the shaft and turned a 1/4 turn and reinstalled. if not the the steering wheel will be 90º off. the lower u joint and the shaft are peened together, so those pieces need to be separated. You can grind the peened part off or fold them back with chisel.You need to tap the u joint with a hammer to get it off.clean up the end of the shaft and reinstall the shaft 90º from it's original position. Then you can tack the end of the shaft with a weld or peen the shaft over the u joint housing to keep it in place.welding is a piece of mind,not to say peening isn't an option.the other thing involved is on the top of the the steering column shaft itself.there needs to be a grove filed/ground down a little to allow the bolt to cross the upper side of the steering shaft.seeing as this's a popular swap on f-bodies/s-10's I'm sure if you need more info or even a visual aid on the process i'd bet there's some to be found on You tube.

Thank you for the information.