Mopar Muscle Association UK

Just in the process of replacing my steering box and noticed that the
steering coupling only appears to have teeth a third of the way round
seems strange to me is this normal the area in white is where the teeth are the rest is smooth

Is that the rare "slip o'steer"? Don't know, matey! Is it the column side, or the box side?

I'm sure that's correct,after all it's budget American car design at it's best Splines all round? buy a Rolls Royce

I don't even recognise the part and I thought I had seen everything on these cars.

OK this part should be splined all round the inside

it has 1 master spline that is fatter than all the rest

the highlighted bit has been hacked at by a chisel by the look of things to mark where the master spline is to make it easier get the thing onto the splined worm shaft of your steering gear

the thing bolts on to a rubber ring which in turn bolts to a smilar disced part on the column end.

basically steering wheel/column is insulated from steering box by rubber ring

the rubber ring was standard on most US cars from the big 3 from the 50s up until the necessity for proper collapsible columns came in on the 70s

the kit costs £11 off US ebay and is made in china. if you sniff the rubber bit for long enough it makes you feel a bit funny in the bottom of your tummy. like climbing the ropes in the school gym did

if you buy one off a specialist it will cost ya twice the price.

the part you show is standard fitment on all US and Oz Mopars
unless they were

1) an Oz RT with a 16:1 steering box
2) a US RT or other sporty model that had a 20:1 steering box instead of a rudder

in these cases the part is deeper to make up for the fact that the worm gear on these special boxes is shorter.
but it dosen't stop there; if Mopar didn't have the deeper part they just fitted a longer steering column. they did this randomly just to confuse you and me-
and you will also find people have mixed and matched parts when doing column shift to floor shift conversions using a mixture of later column tube with early column to make space for on-stalk lights/whiper control in which case this part fits with an RT or special steering box


I think

main thing is if the splines are worn in any way or you suspect its cracked or damaged get a good second hand one and
a new smelly rubber ring from china

Dave

Dave999 wrote: if you sniff the rubber bit for long enough it makes you feel a bit funny in the bottom of your tummy. like climbing the ropes in the school gym did

Thanks for the replies, sorry forgot to mention this is a truck
Ive contacted a guy in the states that sells parts for these trucks
and his not sure I'm getting a bit paranoid about the whole thing
the part shown goes to the steering box shaft.

Dave999 wrote:sniff the rubber bit for long enough it makes you feel a bit funny in the bottom of your tummy. like climbing the ropes in the school gym did

LOL the randomness , I love it.

steve h wrote: the part shown goes to the steering box shaft.

yes Indeed,

i'll be a bit more sensible.

firstly i know nothing about trucks
however i can't think there is much difference given that the steering boxes followed the same design just bigger (in some cases)
i have a collection of old and NOS steering box bits.
truck sector shaft
couple of wormshafts and ballnuts from 1959 and 1961 US Mopars
all of these parts are the same in this area as the australian equivelents from the 70s that i use on my car.
so i'm guessing once Mopar designed a method for connecting a steering box to a column they probably didn't change it that much.
I know aussie Dodge DN 1/2 tonner and 1 tonner trucks used exactkly the same setup as the cars did........

Either way i think it needs to fit to the steering box shaft in the correct orientation, because it connects to a non adjustable part of the steering column.

so if you take this bit off and do not remove the steering wheel, putting this bit back in, in the same orientation ensures that the steering wheel is centered. i.e a two spoke wheel has the two spokes horizontal provided the driving wheels face directly forward. and your steering lock will lock in a sensible place and your self cancel self cancels equidistant from dead ahead.

if the input shaft to your steering box is splined all round,this bit should be splined all round.
if the splines are gone then i'd suggest it has come loose, the splines have worn badly and the truck was on its way to an accident

if by any chance the steering box input shaft is not splined and this part is not splined then i guess you just bolt up the clamp.


However i'd also suggest that a joint like this should have some safety mechanism to stop it spinning should it come loose (no steering is a bad thing). I really can't belive that a manufacturer would leave the job of ensuring the steering works, up to the mechanical friction between two smooth parts clamped together.

Does the bolt that passes through, lock this part to the steering shaft like a cotter pin on a bike crank?

Or is your steering box shaft indented right round approx 1/2 an inch down just to stop you pulling or pushing this joint up and down the shaft once the bolt is inserted?


I'd be inclined to get another if you are suspicous

Dave

Dave999 wrote: Or is your steering box shaft indented right round approx 1/2 an inch down just to stop you pulling or pushing this joint up and down the shaft once the bolt is inserted?


I'd be inclined to get another if you are suspicous

Dave

Cheers for info dave
yes the shaft is indented all the way round
the part highlighted in the pic is where the splines
are but they seem perfect , so i would have thought that if it
it had slipped at some stage these would also be worn ,i
will try to locate another one to compare

Can anyone tell me where to get a piece of that rubber that Dave was talking about?

I'd like to try that while wearing some of Kev's patches and wearing a false beard fashioned from some Meccano.

I can get you a cheap far east bicycle inner tube May deal on Meccano.

Mine isn't rubber, it's a kinda fabric / cardboard type material

Kinda like this one: http://www.hemiperformance.com.au/store ... oduct=SRRK

no one ever heard of a rag joint or am i just showing my age