steering coupler

70dart65coronet said
i see this is a very old thread...but does anyone know, what the purpose of the steering coupler is (other than connecting the steer gear to the steering wheel) ? Is there some kind of break away in there so if you get in a wreck it doesn't break your arm if you hand gets caught in the spokes of the steering wheel? I am thinking about changing to a borgeson, but i would like to understand its purpose first. I have hooker headers and the guy i bought it from took a grinder to the original coupler to make clearance, and now the dust gasket shield doesn't stay on any more.

The box coupling has lengthwise travel/movement inside for 2 reasons. Mostly because unibodies flex. Allows for wider build tolerances too.
The collapsible column shaft is 2 pieces, one slid inside the other with plastic sheer pins holding it together. Those should only sheer in collision. Without the box couplings movement those sheer pins would wear to eventual sheer.
As for a sheer point in wheel rotation... nope. No matter how bad one is wrecked, the steering wheel still would steer the front wheels as much as body damage, etc.., will allow.