furious70

My coupler began to tell me yesterday that I won't be able to continue to save up money for the shaft replacement much longer, it's gonna come apart and force my hand :P

So who's got the best deal on them, and are there any 'special' tools needed to do the job? All I've got at my house is simple wrenches and socket sets, all the 'good' stuff is in the shop in Iowa.

Alec

The rag coupler at the top is held together with twelve -pointed machine screws that thread into the coupler plates. The coupler is held onto the input shaft of the steering gear with a roll pin. I had a heck of a time getting the roll pin out -- especially since you don't want to beat too hard on the shaft. To put it together you just need an allen wrench and box end wrench to tighten the set screw. Pretty easy. And make sure that you keep the steering wheel centered while it is all apart, or you will tear apart the coil for the horn, etc.

Bushy

You could probably use a dremel tool, a drill with a #30 or 1/8" bit, a large screwdriver, a cheater bar, and some tongue hanging out.......

Here's the "how to" I made for just this thing...

Here are the part numbers which should be double checked as they may be supersceded...J8130157 SEAL SERV KIT 82042

To change the steering shaft, the first thing
I did was remove the front wheel. Make sure to turn the front wheels so
you have good acess to the roll pin on the steering shaft before you jack
the truck up. Next, take a pair of vise grips or pliers and pull out the
orange plastic piece that is inside the roll pin. If it breaks off, you
can use a small diameter punch to drive it out. To drive the roll pin
out, you need to hold a block of steel behind the shaft to absorb the
blows from hitting the roll pin. If not there is a chance you could
damage the upper set of needle bearings on the stub shaft of the steering
gearbox. A 2lb hammer head or a chunk of steel stock will work fine. You
just don't want the bearings inside to be taking the force of the blow
when driving the roll pin out. I know this from experience as I ruined
the oil seal in mine by not supporting the shaft. Anyway, if the roll pin
won't drive out one way, turn the shaft and try the other way. Sometimes
when the roll pins are driven in, they flare a bit and it is much easier
to drive them out in reverse than on through. Once the roll pin is out
you will have to remove the old shaft at the rag joint. It requires
strong arms and a 12 point wrench, 5/16" I think. Then you can take the
old shaft out. Now to tackle the seal. Clean the stub shaft up with a
wire brush, emery cloth, and carb cleaner. You can remove the dust seal
and snap ring with a small scribe or screwdriver. As for the
seal, you may have to drill a small hole on each side of the seal and
screw a couple of drywall screws in to help pull it. On mine, it just
took a small chisel to drive/turn it out. Once the seal is out, you will
have to wait for the oil to drain out. Once it stops dripping, clean
everything up the best you can with carb cleaner. I greased the shaft and
put red lcoktite on the outside of the seal. The grease will help keep
the lip from rolling on the seal and the locktite will keep oil from
leaking out around the ouside of the seal. I used a deep well socket to
gently drive the seal in. Then take a small screwdriver and fill the gap
between the oil seal and the dust seal with the grease that comes with the
two seals. This will help keep any water out. Then the dust seal will
drive on/in. I think somewhere in there there is a snap ring, buyt I
can't remeber where it is. You may encounter it somewhere, but it is very
easy and self explaining. When you put the new Borgenson shaft on, make
sure the steering wheel wis centered before you file the flat spot on the
stub shaft flat. I found the best way to center the shaft is to put the
wheels on and drive the truck down the drive. You will understand once
you try it. Once the shaft and steering wheel is centered, then tighten
the set screw to mark the stub shaft. Also mark where the steering saft
goes on so nothing gets out of alighnment. Then you can file a flat spot
on the stub shaft for the set screw to sit. Also, for the lowest set
screw, remove it from the steering shaft and file a flat spot on the
steering shaft where the lock nut will set. Borgenson doesn't do this,
and it causes the set screw to stretch and possibly break when the lock
nut is being tightened. (Dohhhh!) The flat spot on the steering shaft,
gives the lock nut a shoulder to set on. Trust me, been there, done that.
Everything else is pretty straight forward. Good luck and feel free to
ask any more questions. It will probably take about 3 hours to do
everything... at least it did for me... don't ask why.... Have fun!

carl20320

HEy Bob,
Is the seal kit just a preventative thing? What if it is not leaking? I know sometimes it is better to leave seals alone if they arent' leaking.

Just curios cause I'm ordering a shaft this week. Wanna get a seal kit if I really need it so I don't hold the job up in mid-stream (that famous tributary) without a part I need (the paddle) :

Carl

furious70

where did you order the shaft?

carl20320

Get it direct from www.Borgeson.com

jw216

Summit's new catalog has the Borgeson for $189, it's $191 on Borgeson's site.

97catintenn

Thanks for the info guys. I used the search engine on the site and found this old thread helpful.

I ordered my borgeson direct for about 210.00 and am installing it right now.

rebal

FYI ...after 3 lower joint repairs on my shaft that would only last a year I found that water & dirt would travel down the shaft past the seal and get in the joint making it wear out fast so i used a rubber tie rod cover off a rack and pinion gear and coverd the joint and a hose clamp on the steering shaft to make a much better seal have had no more trouble with it since

Dieseldude4x4

Wow, you must be pretty good, typing and wrenching at the same time. I can't even talk and um er, what was I doing now? It took about 30 minutes to change to the Borgeson on my old 92. Real easy.

97catintenn

I was on break, : )

And let me tell yah, that shaft makes a huge difference in the steering.

It' soo much tighter now. I'll keep an eye on the shaft for the dirt and water traveling down the arm and see if I need to the mod rebal is talking about.

thanks for the info!