Steering shaft U joint

[Randalla]

After getting my car back together and on the road I noticed when turning the steering wheel that there were points in the rotation where it seemed to be catching (not working smoothly). Upon inspecting the steering shaft while turning the steering wheel (with the hood up) it appeared that the steering shaft itself was bent and that was what was causing the friction. A new steering shaft did not solve the problem...so I'm back to the drawing board. With the steering shaft pulled out of the U joint, it seems the U-joint is only moving in one direction, which puts pressure on the shaft, making it look like it's bent. Never seen a U joint that did not move in both directions. The steering U-joint should move up and down as well as left and right shouldn't it? Anybody else ever run into this?

[AidanDawn2000]

After getting my car back together and on the road I noticed when turning the steering wheel that there were points in the rotation where it seemed to be catching (not working smoothly). Upon inspecting the steering shaft while turning the steering wheel (with the hood up) it appeared that the steering shaft itself was bent and that was what was causing the friction. A new steering shaft did not solve the problem...so I'm back to the drawing board. With the steering shaft pulled out of the U joint, it seems the U-joint is only moving in one direction, which puts pressure on the shaft, making it look like it's bent. Never seen a U joint that did not move in both directions. The steering U-joint should move up and down as well as left and right shouldn't it? Anybody else ever run into this?

I also thought the shaft was bent on mine but it turned out the u-joint was completely frozen. Check the parts wiki for crossover #s. There are cheap options for both early and late styles.

[Linda]

Maybe this will help:
http://www.311s.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... lit=Ujoint

Linda

[Mainer311]

Moog/Precision, P/N 338 for early style steering gearboxes. Just replaced mine this spring. It requires very slight modification to get the snap rings to fit properly.

[Linda]

I didn't see the Precision/Moog 338 added to the Tech Wiki . I think it should be, with adjustment advice as noted.
Linda

[notoptoy]

Added

[patrick]

I found this thread working my own project, and wanted to add my findings. I just replaced the u-joint cross on my late style steering box with internal c-clips. I found a direct replacement here ($10 including shipping): https://www.driveshaftparts.com/UJ1625. Key dimensions were the 16mm cap diameter and 25mm between grooves.

[drieseck]

Patrick, good info, thank for posting.