dkyleb

tl; dr:
Steering shaft extension too short, need to get 1/4" from the upper clamp, upper clamp won't move. Am I trying the right clamp? Any tips? (see pics below)

Hey guys,

Installed a 3" body lift today on the ol' girl. Well... part way installed it. Got the blocks in, and have just been working on extending everything that I need to with a whole 3" space between the body and the frame. I'm beginning to think that 3" was a bad idea. Oh well, it's done now. Mostly...

Here's my issue:



As you can see, my lovely, hand-crafted 4crawler steering extension is about 1/4" too short, so I figured I could get that 1/4" out of the upper clamp. Found the upper clamp just below some intake plumbing (V6) and sprayed it down with some PB and finished some other deeds.

Well, I took the bolt out and started yanking on the steering shaft. Nothing. Resoaked it, let it sit, tried again... Nothing. I repeated this for the rest of the night, and it's still stuck. And now soaking in PB for the morning.

I tried sticking a pry bar between there to open it up again, it didn't do much and I really didn't want to smack the splines. It's a REALLY tight area in there, and I've yet to figure out a way to get a hammer in there.

Am I attempting to extend the proper connection?



And a bit closer...




Gunna go at her again in the morning and see how I do. I'll be on here frequently, so please post any ideas or knowledge that you have on this. Even if it's just a little bit, it may be the key. I messed with this thing for ~2 hours tonight

Thanks,
Kyle

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Email 4crawler..

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

See the two little holes on the steering shaft? Plastic pins. Drill them out like with 1/8" drill bit.








:wabbit2:

dkyleb

edit: The splined end of that shaft is where I'm stuck at, so I can't even get the thing out of there if I wanted to...

Unfortunately, mine is the fixed length shaft, otherwise I wouldn't need the extension.



I'll email 4crawler today.

abecedarian

Did you forget the rag joint?

dkyleb

What am I forgetting..? I disconnected the connection between there before I even started lifting it. Am I supposed to remove more in there, or add something else?

abecedarian

Starting at the steering box, you would have the rag joint, then the spacer then the shaft up to the steering wheel...
or the spacer, then rag joint, then the shaft...
... if I'm not mistaken.

dkyleb

Well guys, I got it done.



First, I took out the nut on the clamp that connects the rag joint to the splined shaft coming out of the steering box. Then I was able to bash the rag joint up the shaft a little bit, allowing me to just barely get one bolt through the joint, extension and out the other side. I started the nut on there, and kept tightening it, pulling the joint farther up the splined shaft. After the nut was threaded a bit, I turned the steering wheel to get access to the other nut and that one went with ease. I tightened up both ends, then put the bolt back into the clamp and tightened that up as well.



It seems to be much easier getting that extra 1/4" out of the shaft coming from the steering box (name..?) than the upper clamp that is near the firewall (shown in pictures in original post). I couldn't get that clamp to budge AT ALL, even after hammering it, soaking it in PB, etc.

Thank you very much for your help everyone, especially the extremely fast help I received from 4crawler, who offered me multiple solutions.


-Kyle

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Those clamps may vary with different generations. On my '85, that bottom clamp can't separate as the bolt fits in a groove in the shaft. So that clamp looks like the upper clamp on mine, but whichever clamp moves enough is the "right" one to use. As noted, we tend to make the extensions a bit shorter than needed as it is much easier to pull the shaft apart farther if needed than to try and compress a too long shaft, especially if it is rusted as yours appears to be. Problem is if the male part of the shaft splines are rusted like yours, the female splines inside the clamp are also rusted and that rust makes the ID of the clamp smaller than the male splines, so nearly impossible to force the shaft to become shorter without tearing it all apart and cleaning all the insides out (I know, I did that with mine at one time and it took a few hours to do all that).

dkyleb

Well, that makes perfect sense! I took a look at the clamp closest to the firewall and sure enough the shaft has a groove in it where the bolt goes through the clamp! I saw the splines and some extra length, so I assumed it would move.

bensyota

dkyleb, can you please post a quick before and after pic of the truck. i just pulled my motor out and want to do this. figure it will be the easiest now. just dont know how high to go. what all extensions did you have to purchase. if i remember correctly, 3" needed them all?