1990 steering shaft modification

[Copper351]

Has anyone modified/made a new steering shaft for header clearance? My 90 5.0 swapped Ranger has Advance Adapter headers on it and one is cracked. I would like to replace with new but as you can see in the photo it has been "clearanced" for the steering and I dont want to do that if I buy new ones. Im thinking maybe a new shaft could be made and a U joint with splines be used at the steering box. I would assume a U joint would be available that could go right on the shaft coming out of the box. Has anyone dealt with this???

 

[19Walt93]

My 93 had the rag joint at the top which put it too close to the exhaust manifold on the 351. I adapted a Borgeson u joint to the shaft in place of the rag joint. I'm not impressed with the looks of those headers, have you considered 289 Hipo exhaust manifolds?

 

[Copper351]

Yea Im not impressed with them either. I am just getting to looking at replacing them (I didnt build the truck) as I have been tidying up things on it. im just now to the exhaust. Are you talking stock original manifolds or like the try Y header type?

 

[Snoranger]

Early build ‘90 Explorers had a 2 u-joint steering shaft that would be a direct swap. They’re extremely hard to find as they were only used for a few months before they went to a rag joint.

 

[19Walt93]

Yea Im not impressed with them either. I am just getting to looking at replacing them (I didnt build the truck) as I have been tidying up things on it. im just now to the exhaust. Are you talking stock original manifolds or like the try Y header type?

I was talking about manifolds, they're reproduced now so you can get new ones. The tri Y's are supposed to fit,too but I used manifolds with 66 Galaxie part numbers that I bought at Carlisle. I think the hipo manifolds would work on my 351 also but being a Yankee, $40 for used manifolds vs $300 for new ones wasn't a hard choice to make.

 

[Daniel Black]

For what it's worth, Tri-Ys fit great on my '87 with a 302.

 

[Copper351]

Thanks. DO you have any specifics? What trans? Were there any fitment issues? What motor mounts? How are they underneath? Thanks again.

 

[Daniel Black]

I use a manual transmission with the big bellhousing for a 164t flywheel. I have the Trans-Dapt motor mount kit. The rear tube on the passenger side is very close to the frame. A lot of people make a small notch for clearance. I didn't and it does hit the frame sometimes so I will when I swap motors again. I have about a piece of paper worth of clearance but the motor does twist over and hit it sonetimes. Underneath the collector comes out basically in line with the crossmember. I needed pipe to go up and curve to get around the crossmember. And as with most long tubes the pass. side points more toward the trans than straight back for some reason. I still have the old style crossmember with two big rubber bushings that hang under the frame. The newer style that bolts straight to the frame might make it better, or worse. I have the new style but haven't put it in yet.

 

[Copper351]

Thank you. that helps a lot. my truck currently has Advance adapters from previous owner and several tubes are cracked at the welds and I dont like how they fit and how they "clamp on" in the rear. I thought about a set and weld V bands on them but they still have fitment issues around the steering. Thanks again!

 

[Shran]

If you're good at fabricating things, those u-joints are used on certain garage door openers and can probably be obtained from a garage door service place. Could even junkyard hunt a bit and grab bits and pieces of various shafts, the steering boxes in our trucks were used in everything from RBVs up to F350's, ambulances, etc... may be able to find enough pieces to build something that has two joints.

I have 1970's truck manifolds on my 302. They tuck up against the block real nice and I have tons of space to work with. I'm sure they were found on other applications too, just happened to be on a donor rig we had rolling around for a while.

 

[Copper351]

thanks!