Tiny pin in steeing pot kit?

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idrift

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I'm replacing the steering box in my car and decided to also replace the
shoes and seal on the steering pot. In the kit came this little bitty pin,
where the heck does that go? I don't see it in the service manual etc.
Do you need it? Looks like it must retain something?

Does anyone ever replace the pin that holds the shoes? It looks
hardened and shows no wear.
 
Clean the grease off the outside of the steering coupler and look closely along the very edge of the flat sides and you'll see it. That tiny pin needs to come out before anything else can be removed.

Coupler 02.JPG


Coupler 03.JPG
 
The guy before me must have taken it out because it's not in there anymore.
Should I put it back in or leave it out. Seems fine without....
Did you replace the the pin that holds the shoes on? My shaft is in the car
so I was thinking I'd just replace the seal and shoes.

THanks.
 
The lil' pin is the only thing that keeps the column from pulling off of the coupler...best to put that in there.
 
What about he 4 bolts that hold it in place to the column? There's a lot of
travel on those and they have to come completely out to remove the shoes?
 
that lil' pin will take no effort to install and the peace of mind is an added bonus and if you ever have to pull the steering column out it will keep the gut's from spillin into the dirt or getting lost :cheers:
 
idrift said:
The guy before me must have taken it out because it's not in there anymore.
Should I put it back in or leave it out. Seems fine without....
Did you replace the the pin that holds the shoes on? My shaft is in the car
so I was thinking I'd just replace the seal and shoes.

THanks.
Click to expand...



If you want to be driving down the road then all of a suden have no controle of your car and crash then go ahead and leave it out. If you like your car and want to keep it in one peice then put it in.
 
Actually, there's really no possibility for the steering shaft to pull out of the coupler when its installed, because there is virtually no front-to-back movement. The large split pin driven through the lower end keeps the coupler fastened to the steering gear box's splined output shaft. The upper end of the steering shaft is held in the column housing with another large solid pin. And the whole column assembly is bolted to the firewall.

I have always understood that the coupler was designed to be a flexible connection between the shaft and the gear box to minimize vibration to the steering wheel, and in case of a front end collision, it canl absorb some of the impact.
 
idrift said:
What about he 4 bolts that hold it in place to the column? There's a lot of
travel on those and they have to come completely out to remove the shoes?
Click to expand...

Which 4 bolts are you referring to?
 
'74 Sport said:
Actually, there's really no possibility for the steering shaft to pull out of the coupler when its installed, because there is virtually no front-to-back movement. The large split pin driven through the lower end keeps the coupler fastened to the steering gear box's splined output shaft. The upper end of the steering shaft is held in the column housing with another large solid pin. And the whole column assembly is bolted to the firewall.

I have always understood that the coupler was designed to be a flexible connection between the shaft and the gear box to minimize vibration to the steering wheel, and in case of a front end collision, it canl absorb some of the impact.
Click to expand...


You tell that to my car. It don't seem to agree with you.


I was going into the gas station going about 3 mph luckly. When all of a suden I had no stering. So I get out and look and see that the stering shaft had pulled back and the guts of the pot coupling had fell out on the ground. Now I allways run that pin and allso safty wire the thing to gether.

So in short.

You are wrong.
 
I will admit that the steering components I am familiar with are the '73 - '76 Dart Sports and Dusters I have worked with. Perhaps yours is a different model with a different setup that allows such a significant slippage.

However, I'm game to learn something new. Maybe you can explain to me how yours works that it could have that much play in the length of the steering column shaft.
 
Burntorange70 said:
You tell that to my car. It don't seem to agree with you.


I was going into the gas station going about 3 mph luckly. When all of a suden I had no stering. So I get out and look and see that the stering shaft had pulled back and the guts of the pot coupling had fell out on the ground. Now I allways run that pin and allso safty wire the thing to gether.

So in short.

You are wrong.
Click to expand...

Theres got to be a bunch of extra play in the steering column for that to happen. Perhaps a collapsed column.
 
I tried to slide the colum back that far so the guts would pull out and I had to
remove the 3 bolts that tighten the adjusters and the 4 that hold the column to
the adjuster bracket so I guess I find it hard to think that small pin is for that
purpose. More like Waggin suggested and keep the parts from falling on the
ground during removal. The shear strength on that pin is not very much
especially installed on only one side. Any cantilever force would be able to
shear it off, that's why pins used for security purposes like the one that
retains the pot to the steering box go completely through both sides.
 
I agree, that pin is not for safety. I can calculate the shear force on that
if you would like, you might be surprised how little it is for a pin that diameter
in an aluminum housing with a pin hole to wall thickness of less than 1/8".

The engineering behind that pin is not safety related, if it were the housing
would be longer and the pin would retain in a different way.
 
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