Sure, as long as you're so confident that it would never slid off the steering box that you'd bet your life on it.
Notice how ALL the couplers and steering u joints out there with splined ends have a set screw? Even the aftermarket ones?
Steering coupler question
- Thread starter EDMOPAR
- Start date
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Sure, as long as you're so confident that it would never slid off the steering box that you'd bet your life on it.
Notice how ALL the couplers and steering u joints out there with splined ends have a set screw? Even the aftermarket ones?
74DartSwinger360
The Brat Pack
Thanks Redfish! I had lost the link as well
Woods74
Broke Senior
Sure, I understand that part of it, but what are the chances that it would just slip out like that? 1"? Steering wheels don't usually flop in and out like that, minus a major accident that would probably be catastrophic to other components as well first.
How about setting the set screw depth a little shy to allow a little movement over that center section?
I'm not trying to break your balls, or discount your hard work, I'm just spit balling another solution.
Thank you for your contribution.
rayer:
How about setting the set screw depth a little shy to allow a little movement over that center section?
I'm not trying to break your balls, or discount your hard work, I'm just spit balling another solution.
Thank you for your contribution.
rayer:
Sure, I understand that part of it, but what are the chances that it would just slip out like that? 1"? Steering wheels don't usually flop in and out like that, minus a major accident that would probably be catastrophic to other components as well first.
How about setting the set screw depth a little shy to allow a little movement over that center section?
I'm not trying to break your balls, or discount your hard work, I'm just spit balling another solution.
Thank you for your contribution.
Honestly? I have no idea what the chances are. 1" might be plenty. I truly don't know how much axial movement there is. If I had to guess I'd say its probably only +/- a 1/4" or so, and that's probably generous. Driveshafts are a lot longer and deal with a lot more movement because of the suspension travel, and they're what, usually 4-6" worth of engagement at the top end?
To actually know you'd have to test the deflection of the front end of one of these cars compared to the deflection of the steering column mount and decide how much of that would translate into axial movement on the end of the steering shaft.
I can tell you that the steering box input shaft splines were NOT designed for that, they're far too shallow and fine to be part of a sliding joint like that. It wouldn't take much wear at all before the splines broke down and the coupler would spin on the shaft. Output shafts designed for slip yokes are what, usually 26-30 splines on a 1.25" shaft? Doesn't sound like much, but its a huge difference in the strength of the splines. Not to mention the input shaft isn't splined that entire 1", it has a rounded end and a fairly large keyway. Plus, with less than 1" of engagement you'll see a lot of radial forces on the end of the shaft if anything does move.
But yeah, not a chance in hell I'd ever do that. Not worth it on any level. You're saving what? A little wear and tear? And risking losing the ability to steer your car while in motion?
Stick with the stock coupler and dimple the header. Or change to a weld on u-joint and pin it, and wait and see how long it takes to wear out the bushings, bearings, u-joint or steering shaft. Realistically, that would probably take a long time. Maybe even 10's of thousands of miles. I just didn't want to deal with it later, and I put about 10k miles a year on my daily. Which is why I spent more time and money than I probably had to coming up with a solution that I think addresses most of the issues at hand. Not saying it doesn't have its own problems, I'm sure it does. But I also think it does a decent job of eliminating the stock coupler while still addressing forces the factory obviously considered.
I just thought I'd put it out there so that other people could at least make an informed decision about how they were converting their cars. I mean, Flaming river sells a conversion steering joint that eliminates all the axial slip in the system. Apparently they aren't worried about it. Or maybe they did the math and decided they would sell more steering boxes and conversion joints if they did it that way, I don't know.
Woods74
Broke Senior
Thanks for taking time for response, rock on.
Psychoduster
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I know... old posting, but I need some information.
My Duster has full length headers and the well known problem with the steering coupler and the header.
Has someone the diameters an numbers of splines in mind - I want to go with a bryke coupler.
Car is a 1973 Plymouth Duster with power steering.
I know... old posting, but I need some information.
My Duster has full length headers and the well known problem with the steering coupler and the header.
Has someone the diameters an numbers of splines in mind - I want to go with a bryke coupler.
Car is a 1973 Plymouth Duster with power steering.
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