Steering shaft coupling

[phybere]

I have a '94 4x4 ranger, and need to replace the rag-joint in the steering shaft. The price from ford is $200, so I bought just the rubber bushing after-market for $10 or so, but now I've found it's the wrong size. Does anybody know what size is required, if it's made, or where to find it?
If this doesn't work I'll probably try to find one in a junk yard. (I've also seen it mentioned that an aerostar u-joint fits a ranger, anyone know the details?)
Thanks

 

[brendank]

$200 is a ripoff, and the u-joint is a better system IMO anyways. I don't know about the years on the aerostar, but I'm pretty sure they're all the same. When I pulled mine, there were a TON of aerostars in the junkyard, and they all had the exact same setup.

 

[phybere]

Did you replace the rangers steering shaft with the aerostars, or does the aerostar u-joint fit on the ranger steering shaft?

 

[phybere]

Went to the junkyard today and was looking at a '91 aerostar's u-joint: http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj135/phybere/?action=view&current=aerostar.jpg

I'm not sure if it will work in place of my ranger rag joint which looks like this: http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj135/phybere/?action=view&current=ranger.jpg

The ranger lower steering shaft is square, while the aerostars is round (semi-square where it goes into the u-joint)

To those who have done this, do you just crank down the bolt on the u-joint to tighten it around the square steering shaft? Also, how did you remove the bracket that's attached to the rangers lower steering shaft?

If anyone has a picture of one of these in their ranger I'd appreciate it if they would post it

Thanks

 

[TrexMex]

Went to the junkyard today and was looking at a '91 aerostar's u-joint: http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj135/phybere/?action=view&current=aerostar.jpg

I'm not sure if it will work in place of my ranger rag joint which looks like this: http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj135/phybere/?action=view&current=ranger.jpg

The ranger lower steering shaft is square, while the aerostars is round (semi-square where it goes into the u-joint)

To those who have done this, do you just crank down the bolt on the u-joint to tighten it around the square steering shaft? Also, how did you remove the bracket that's attached to the rangers lower steering shaft?

If anyone has a picture of one of these in their ranger I'd appreciate it if they would post it

Thanks

Hi, I'm reviving this thread since I'm going throught the same problem right now. The rag joint on the upper part of my steering shaft is pretty much gone.

Did you ever install the aerostar shaft into your truck?

I got an shaft from an F150 that has a U-joint for the upper part, was thinking to have this welded to my shaft in replacement of the rag joint coupling but I don't know if this is safe or not... any comments/suggestions?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[MAKG]

This is an absolutely critical safety system in the truck. It is a single point of failure; if the weld gives, you (and anyone unlucky enough to be around you) are in some serious trouble. If it has not been reliability-tested in any particular configuration (which includes welds), do NOT use them.

I've seen folks maimed by redneck repairs like you are proposing. Don't go there. You can try to find a good one at the junkyard, or if the Help! replacement joints don't work, bend over and do it right.

 

[TrexMex]

Thanks for the advice. I actually made thew fix yesterday using the help! rag joint replacement. Had to use a different screw/nut/bushing configuration though, and red loctite just to be sure it will stay in one piece. The feel has improved a lot and I will re-check in a couple of days and weekly for a while to make sure it's holding up as intended.

Couple of pics:

View attachment 1020

View attachment 1021

Again, any comments on this setup are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

 

[warrior24]

Did you have to drill out the old bolts that hold the rag joint in?