Steering shaft, Wheel studs

[Worlds Fastest Comanche]

Been doing some work on the Race truck, one issue we had was that when we removed the power steering box and put the manual steering box in, it did not have a flat on the shaft for the Ujoint coupling to fit over, My son took a cut off disc to the shaft on the box and removed a good chunk of the shaft. I was not happy, you don't want flakey steering at 150mph.

 

I purchased another manual box (GM 70's vintage). The Ujoints on the steering shaft were shot, they didn't have any rotational slop, but the U joint body would slide back and forth in the yokes. I still had the problem with the flat on the factory coupling. I looked at purchasing a replacment Borgeson http://www.borgeson.com/ shaft, but they wanted like $389.00 for it. I ended up purchasing new U joints and a Borgeson 24" telescoping shaft. Each item was about $75.00, so $225.00 for the 2 joints and the shaft. It all went togather pretty easy, i had to cut about 6" form the shaft. I did look at the stock shaft, and it looks like it could be reused. The end near the steering box is set in rubber to reduce vibration, but if you remove that joint, and clean the shaft up, a standard 3/4" Double "D" style u joint will fit. Borgeson does make a anti vibration joint if you wanted that feature.

The steering column on my truck has a 1" Double"D" shaft, and the factrory steering shaft also was a 1" double "D" So again, you can purchase a Ujoint with a 1" double "D" on both ends and replace the factory joint. The Borgeson joints for the 1" double "D" have 1 short set screw and 1 long set screw. you need to drill one side of the shaft so the long set screw will seat aginst the oppsite side if the tube. This acts as a mechanical lock and does not crush the tube.

 

On the steering box end, you need to make sure you get the correct U joint for the steering box you are using. Most of the GM steering boxes are interchangable, so you can go with a variable ratio, or quick ratio, or whatever. Generally the box will have a 3/4" shaft with either 30 or 36 splines. My manual box had 36 splines. So the U joint i purchased was 3/4" double "D" to 3/4" 36 spline.

 

If you want to save some money, you can get the joints from Speedway motors http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steering-U-Joints-3-4-30-Spline-Small-GM-P-S-1978-and-Later,31389.html They are about $65 dollars Vs $75 for the Borgeson stuff( From Summit)

 

Another item I had to address was the length of the wheel studs on the rear. They are very short (on the D44) and the stud does not pertrude from the lug nut enough to make the tech people happy. I ordered some Moser Engineering #8368 studs. They are about 1/2" longer than the stock ones. I have not received them yet, but they say the Knurl diameter is .625 on the new ones and the Knurl diameter on the stock ones is .620 I don't know if .005 is a big deal, hopefully the hole streched when the stock ones were pressed in, and the new ones will go in without a problem. The worst is i will have to drill them out slightly. The studs were about $18 for a set of 10. Might be a good replacment if your stock ones are shot or too short for aftermarket wheels.

 

Still some other items to address, but these were 2 of the big ones.

[Eagle]

Another item I had to address was the length of the wheel studs on the rear. They are very short (on the D44) and the stud does not pertrude from the lug nut enough to make the tech people happy. I ordered some Moser Engineering #8368 studs. They are about 1/2" longer than the stock ones. I have not received them yet, but they say the Knurl diameter is .625 on the new ones and the Knurl diameter on the stock ones is .620 I don't know if .005 is a big deal, hopefully the hole streched when the stock ones were pressed in, and the new ones will go in without a problem. The worst is i will have to drill them out slightly. The studs were about $18 for a set of 10. Might be a good replacment if your stock ones are shot or too short for aftermarket wheels.

The stock studs don't protrude enough?

 

What's wrong with the tech people? The only threads doing any work ar the threads that engage the threads in the lug nuts. Anything outboard of that is wasted metal. If you have a wheel that loosens up enough that the lug nuts are unscrewing themselves from the studs, that extra length isn't going to help you one bit.

 

Idjits.

[Worlds Fastest Comanche]

The rules require that you run a lug nut with a 1" hex. The nut is taller than stock, and sits about flush with the end of the stud. They want to see a few threads sticking out.

[HOrnbrod]

Rule of thumb is 5 full turns of the lug nut is enough. I realize your rules are not rule of thumb though. :D And you are right - the rear studs are too short. I had to get rear wheel studs .5" longer also when I converted to rear wheel disk brakes to make up for the backing plate thickness and new alloy wheels. Got them from a local machine shop from his Dorman stud box (I believe they were Ford wheel studs) and pressed them into the axles w. no problems. 50 cents each. :cheers:

[Worlds Fastest Comanche]

Do you have a D44 or D35? A dorman 610-441 will probably work. the shoulder on the stock stud is 13/32" and the 610-441 has a 15/32" shoulder. I don't thnk a 1/16" (.0625) would make much difference. The dorman stuff is cheaper, but hopefully the Moser stuff is better steel.

[HOrnbrod]

I have a D35 c-clip so it was easy to pull the axles. The shoulder was slightly larger than the originals but they went in okay. :D