Alternatives for intermediate steering shaft 1992 2wd

[e21pilot]

My 1992 4.0v6 2wd extended cab Ranger is getting closer to 300K miles. But, it has a lot of play in the intermediate steering shaft. It's at the point where you have to oscillate the steering wheel back and forth to get it go straight. I know this part is no longer available. Is there a steering shaft out of another Ford vehicle that will fit and won't have any wearing parts like the rubber rag joint?

 

[Curious Hound]

My 1992 4.0v6 2wd extended cab Ranger is getting closer to 300K miles. But, it has a lot of play in the intermediate steering shaft. It's at the point where you have to oscillate the steering wheel back and forth to get it go straight. I know this part is no longer available. Is there a steering shaft out of another Ford vehicle that will fit and won't have any wearing parts like the rubber rag joint?

Yes. You can get real u-joints. Some parts can be sourced from a junk yard. I recently rebuilt the intermediate shaft on my 93. It’s in my build thread. I’ll see if I can get a link for you.

start at post #124

1993 Splash in SC

One thing that was brought to my attention with the flag deal, some parks require the flag to be on the front of the truck. Badlands just happens to not care as long as it is 2' above the the truck. So if you come up with a good way to do it you might be farther ahead mounting it towards the...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[e21pilot]

Thanks for the response. You are much more ambitious than I am. I was hoping I could just pull a steering shaft from some Ford vehicle in the salvage yard and use that. I have replaced the rag joints some years ago and I was hoping to find something else with universal joints that I would not wear out. If anyone know the years/models that would have this, please post.

 

[Paulos]

I recently replaced the rag joints in my '87 Ranger. Before I did, I did some research on different shafts, new shafts, etc. I concluded that with a 30+ year old truck it was going to be near impossible to find any compatible replacement at a wrecking yard that would not already be worn out, or close to it. I found a couple websites that sold the parts to make your own custom intermediate shaft with u-joints, but due to the cost I decided to just go with replacing the rag joints.
Here are a couple links if you want to check them out. You would have to buy the correct joints and rod to connect them. It looks like it would definitely be a better way to go than rag joints. $$

U Joints & Drive shafts

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[Curious Hound]

I was hoping I could just pull a steering shaft from some Ford vehicle in the salvage yard and use that.

I was hoping for that, too. It just didn’t work out that way.

 

[e21pilot]

Thanks for the links. I will have a look. Even though these trucks are old, there were a lot of them out there. I recently came across a 1991 in the yard that was low miles and very clean on the inside. Probably belonged to an old timer and sat around a lot in a garage. Only reason it was in the yard was because of a collision. I should have taken the intermediate steering shaft from it but I missed my chance.

 

[kunar]

1984-1994 jeep cherokee steering shaft has ujoints on both ends and fits the steering column and gearbox. Only caveat is that the telescoping inner section needs to be cut down because the whole assembly is too long. It's pretty self explanatory once you've got it in your hands. This is what I'm using on my v8 swap, because the rag joints were too close to the header. I paid about $50 on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143742461786

 

[e21pilot]

I had some time today so I went on down to the local auto parts recycler and it turned out to there were several first generation and a bunch of 2nd generation Rangers on hand. Only problem was they all had steering shafts with one or two rag joints in them and I wanted to get something that wasn't going to wear out. I didn't know about the Cherokee post above but at the end of the yard I did find a first generation Aerostar that had dual universals and looks to be long enough that it might fit. At just $14, the price seemed right to.

I have no idea if the upper and lower splines will match my 2WD Ranger or if the length will work as-is. The other question I have is about the universals. They seem tight on this shaft and I wondered if they will last forever? If not, do they fail suddenly or do I get some warning? I tow a lot with my Ranger and don't want to be in a towing situation where I loose my steering!

 

[bobbywalter]

Aerostars were my go to...but Jeeps and gm are what I tend to rob now. Cut to fit.