Well, here is a popular 'd' joint that about as treacherous as anything i have ever seen. There is nothing but to set screws holding this mess together. Looseten a setscrew and the universal joint drops off the steering shaft! Don't pay attention to the surface rust, this was assembled some time ago, the truck never finished and been sitting in a shop. When i made the new firewall i loostened the set screw to remove the steering column and the thing just fell apart. That was a 'holy shit' moment, when i put it back together i'll drill for a thru boilt. The scary part is the joint joining the steering column, when that set screw come loose the joint will drop off the steering column shaft, nothing holds it together. The pic is poor but all you guys should recognize all the parts.
The scariest unknown is how many of us are looking at these pic's and saying, " That's nothing, I've seen worse ".
The joints are properly phased. This is pretty much how the manufacturer recommends installing this setup. However, you can tell by the depth of the setscrews, that the shafts were not drilled with dimples to allow the setscrews to go to the correct depth. When this is done with the proper size drill bit, the set screws will be very tight, practically galling into the shaft. When combined with red loctite and the locking nut, they are very secure. I have been doing this on my builds and have logged thousands of safe miles, and easily pass NSRA safety inspections, where they scrutinize the steering system. With the quality of some of the welds I see on cars, the set screws alone, are probably a better solution.
Those rag joints do seem cheesy, but they are durable. And, they always have limit stops. OEM steering parts are tested to loads that would amaze most people, and they are required to tolerate those loads for many cycles. Although the minimum durability of some safety related parts will vary from one manufacturer to another, safety critical parts always have some amount of reserve to account for severe use and adolescent males.
You think that's scary. Back in the early 70's Tubby Cloud use to run a Snap-On socket universal in his low 10 second Maverick at Fremont drag strip w/ a 427 up front. Over 130 MPH, I don't know how tech would even think about passing that today!!!
Yes , it's been converted to rackpinion and the front is from some 70 GM AND yes they did drill an extra hole for the tie rod on both side. The spring is for the flip front end. I'm done bashing this car,the owner realize that everything must be redone and he assure me it will. Pat
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