87 Intermediate Steering Shaft too short???

[TABrinn]

Last month I bought an 87 Ranger STX Super Cab 2wd that is pretty much a Basket-Case of half-way done repairs, a rats nest of wiring and vacuum hoses, and missing hardware.

It looks like the PO started to replace the rag joint but the DD-shaft from the Steering column is about 2" too short. I tried soaking everything in PB Blaster, and forcing the DD shaft to extend from the collapsible portion of the column, then tried to extend the intermediate shaft too. Nothing budged! Maybe PO got a new Intermediate shaft from Junk Yard with wrong dimensions??? Is there supposed to be a rag joint at the top and bottom of the intermediate shaft? Isn't one end supposed to be a Universal joint? I really don't see a purpose of 2 rag-joints.

If anyone can share a good pic or drawing of the Intermediate shaft assy. for a 1st gen 2wd Ranger that would be great! I'll see if I can finish removing it tonight and post some pics.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

83-88 had two rag joints

89-?? had one rag joint and one u joint.

I have a bodylift in my truck I modified the steering adaptor (soldi bar) to fit a second gen intermediate shaft and ditch one of the u-joints.



Went from this:



To this:



Watch the clocking of the ends because there is some variance but there are Jeep Cherokee XJ intermediate shafts that can be shortened to work and have no rag joints. I snagged one and the orientation wasn't right so pay attention if you go this route. The shaft will also be way long and will need modified.

 

[TABrinn]

83-88 had two rag joints

Went from this:



To this:

Thanks, 85_Ranger4x4, set my mind at ease, somewhat! The DD Upper-Shaft is still about 1.5-2.5" too short. And the clocking appears 90-degrees off. In the Top Pic of the shaft installed, is the open end of the coupler aligned with the rounded part of the shaft or the flat part? There is a small hex-head set screw 9in the shaft too, presumably just as a safety measure to keep the coupler from sliding off in case the bolt comes loose.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Thanks, 85_Ranger4x4, set my mind at ease, somewhat! The DD Upper-Shaft is still about 1.5-2.5" too short. And the clocking appears 90-degrees off. In the Top Pic of the shaft installed, is the open end of the coupler aligned with the rounded part of the shaft or the flat part? There is a small hex-head set screw 9in the shaft too, presumably just as a safety measure to keep the coupler from sliding off in case the bolt comes loose.

Yeah, the intermediate shaft pinches the flats on the steering shaft.

 

[Curious Hound]

Did the previous owner install a body lift?

There are several variations over the years concerning rag joints, u-joints, and other intermediate shaft details. It isn't too difficult to build your own intermediate shaft using Borgeson u-joints or mixing and matching various junk yard shafts. Some details in our tech library and peoples build threads.

Post in thread '1993 Splash in SC'

Oct 28, 2020

Steering sure can be a pain. If it wasn't so important, I'd ignore it. After the trail ride, my steering felt really loose and free on the road. Don't know why considering how I babied the truck in Indiana. Anyway, I took a look at things and discovered one of the rag joints torn to 50% strength or less. Hmm. I had read an article on TRS a while back that mentioned a certain year(s) of Explorer having regular u-joints for the intermediate steering shaft. Had also read about buying brand new u-joints.

Well, brand new Borgeson needle bearing u-joints run just over $75. Ouch. What about that...

• Curious Hound

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