Solid steering shaft; worth it ? DIY ?

[Rusty67]

I'm wondering what peoples opinions on the aftermarket solid steering shafts are. I'd provably go with a Maximum Motorsports unit if I was going to pay for one that was already made. Are these things worth the cash ?

The other thing is, these pieces look like they are stock shafts with a specific u-joint welded onto the end. I don't think it would be all that hard to replace the rag joint on a stock shaft with a u-joint as long I you could find one with the right end. It would simply be a matter of cuting the shaft at the right spot and welding on the new piece. Since the stock shaft is colapsable anyways, if you ended up a 1/4" too long you could just take up the extra slack by pushing the shaft into the colapsable section or even hacking off the difference at the other end to even it out. I suppose the only other issue would be making sure that the u-joing that connects to the rack is aligned properly so that my steering wheel is straight (this is provably the hardest part).

I was actually thinking of ebaying a shaft, looks like I could get one including shiping for under 50 bux. If I could modify another shaft I could install it when ready and minimize down time to the amount of time it takes to swap the shafts out.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

For fox bodies they are worth it, because the stock one is a POS and really old. My 91 notch has one in good shape and it has a TON of flex in the rubber.

For 94-04 cars...I don't think they will be as worth it. I took my 96 Cobra (54K) stock shaft off. I replaced the bearing in the firewall with a new unit. I also picked up a brand new 03 Cobra steering shaft from Blue Oval Industries for 34.95!! It wasn't much tighter than my 54,000 mile shaft. Both shafts had very little movement at the rubber rag joint. What I am saying is that they are built well from the factory. 200 bucks is hard to justify spending to have it "maybe" help steering.

I suggest polyurethane rack bushings. ($10.95 or so) Grabbing the top of the rack and rocking it back and forth, I had some movement there because of stock rubber bushings. I installed the poly rack bushings...NO movement at all, NONE!! I would suggest those. I haven't driven the car yet, but I can already see it will be an improvement. The rack moving side to side and back and forth is bad!

 

[Rusty67]

My car has well over 100,000 miles on it and I gota say that the rack bushings are just fine. When I pulled the rack off to yank the front arms the bushings were basically new. The only flex in the current rack bushings is the natural flex inherient in all rubber bushings.

Do you think that poly rack bushings will cause an increase in roughness in terms of bumby feedback through the steering wheel ? I've heard this happens in some cars.

Also, I've seen poly rag joints. Maybe there is a poly rag joint available for our cars ? They have them for the classic Mustangs. That would be an almost solid shaft at that point.

 

[SilverBullet00]

If you have long tubes, they say you really need a solid shaft so the heat doesnt melt the rag joint and you loose steering.

I really need to do this, as my steering shaft runs right through my primaries!

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

The only flex in the current rack bushings is the natural flex inherient in all rubber bushings.

Do you think that poly rack bushings will cause an increase in roughness in terms of bumby feedback through the steering wheel ? I've heard this happens in some cars.

That is a really good point. My buddy at work said the same thing. I haven't driven it yet like I said. Maybe I should put the stock ones in, drive in in the spring, and then put the polys in and see. It only takes a few minutes on the hoist. any body driven them yet?

 

[Rusty67]

If you have long tubes, they say you really need a solid shaft so the heat doesnt melt the rag joint and you loose steering.

I really need to do this, as my steering shaft runs right through my primaries!

Well, I suppose if that was the case then a poly rag joint wouldn't stand up over time. It would provably last a little longer then a standard rubber one but it would eventually melt just the same.

For those who don't have headers that cause steering shaft interfearance I wonder if this would be a good option ?

That is a really good point. My buddy at work said the same thing. I haven't driven it yet like I said. Maybe I should put the stock ones in, drive in in the spring, and then put the polys in and see. It only takes a few minutes on the hoist. any body driven them yet?

Thats why I love living in LA, it was over 80 yesterday and sunny all day long =) Let us know how the poly rack bushings work out.