Check Your Steering Dampers

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Ace

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I know A-Bods don't use these, but many other vintage Mopars including even late model pickups do. They also go by the name "rag joints." It was enough of a scare and safety issue I thought I'd post it up for you to see:

http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/PhotoAlbum/Cars/Pics/red_betsy_25.jpg
http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/PhotoAlbum/Cars/Pics/red_betsy_26.jpg

I was concerned after I noticed an unusual amount of play in the steering when I got the New Yorker out for a little exercise for the first time in a couple months yesterday. It had been awhile since I'd driven it and just figured maybe it was getting time for a new steering box or maybe some front end work. What I found was absolutely petrifying. If this thing let's go going down the road you are just along for the crash.

Really dodged a bullet that time.
 
I happened to have one onhand from a parts car I stripped and junked a couple years ago. And I took the extra step of reinforcing the replacement so it cannot come apart like that. I applied some polyurethane adhesive around the outer circumference and snugged a hose clamp around it. It can crack all it wants now, but should not be able to come apart like that.

I don't know why they didn't engineer them more that in the first place. How is a chunk of rubber ever going to last in an application like that? What were they thinking? Guess it lasted long enough to get out of warranty.
 
Replaced quite a few of those while working at the Ford store. Theirs needed a jumper wire over it too so the cruise buttons and stuff in the steering wheel had a ground.
 
Yep. There's a little spring that goes under the bolts joining it from one side to the other.
 
I know they sell a urethane replacement for the rag joint in a 70 Mustang, always wondered if it would work for the Mopar application. I think mine came from the Paddock.
Yeah, I strayed from the brand....ONCE.
Alan
 
VW used rag joints in the old Beetle. When driving around with the body off, it let you have a real co-driver.

So that's what they use to dampen road feel. The best solution would seen to be to weld a cv joint in place of the rag joint. Several rack and pinion setups do this to get the angle between the steering gear and steering wheel right. You'd feel everything that made it past the steering gear with recirculating ball.
 
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