79 steering part?

[Krafty]

Hey guys, I know its not a bronco but my 79 Thunderbird has a steering issue and I just want to know what the part is called that connects the steering shaft to the power steering box. there seems to be a part that bolts together in there that has shattered and is only being turned by the safety bracket that is holding everything together. im trying to see what it is called so I know what im looking for

thanks

 

[Broncobill78]

That's the steering coupler, Ford calls it a rag joint. Replacements are available thru your local autoparts stores or you can upgrade it with something from Borgeson.

http://www.borgeson.com/

 

[Krafty]

Hey thanks perfect, I thought it looked pretty sketchy when the only thing turning my car was the saftey braket that bolts on behind everything.

i'll try carquest tomorrow morning, or the ford dealership.

 

[Broncobill78]

These guys have a rag joint rebuild kit for $25, looks like it consists of a new center piece (don't really know just *what* that inner disk is made of, always looked to me like it was rubber & canvas vulcanized together) and a bunch of new nuts, bolts & washers. Scroll down to the very bottom of the web page & you'll see it. This is the same rag joint in my 79' Bronco. Also included a photo of a new one to compare to the one you're driving on.

http://www.classiquecars.com/thunderbirdsuspension.htm

 

[Krafty]

yeah I got one ordered that is the disk and the nuts and bolts and stuff, Ford doesn't supply it anymore and the one guy there said its pretty much just a circle cut out of an industrial conveyor belt. yeah its pretty much the same part for 70's and up ford dodge and gm's that use the rag joint.

 

[Krafty]

okay I got the joint, and I got the two bolts out, but are the other two things rivits?, how do I get it the rest of the way apart so I can get my steering back? I need to be able to make a 5 hour drive with it in less than two weeks.

 

[Justshootme84]

two bolts come in from one side, and the other two from the opposite side. But you shouldn't need to split it apart to install it, just bolt the whole assly on. I had a long discussion with a former Ford engineer about the design of that ragjoint, as it can be hard to reach the center bolt that holds it onto the steering shaft. My solution was to grind off part of the end of a 7/16" boxend wrench so it would fit. JSM84

 

[Krafty]

yeah the kit I got was just the disc and the hardware, witch was a good thing casue my 79 tbird has the half of the ****** forged as the end of the steering colum, so the complete replacment one would not have worked in my case. so I got an appointment to drop my car off at a shop to get the disc replaced and my tranny pan either fixed or replaced.

My awesome tranmission guy....... bent my freakin tranny pan at the one corner so it won't seal up anymore, I tried putting a different gasket on it, but I have vice grip on it now to slow the leak, but thats a different story, for another time.

 

[Johnny Reb]

These guys have a rag joint rebuild kit for $25, looks like it consists of a new center piece (don't really know just *what* that inner disk is made of, always looked to me like it was rubber & canvas vulcanized together) and a bunch of new nuts, bolts & washers. Scroll down to the very bottom of the web page & you'll see it. This is the same rag joint in my 79' Bronco. Also included a photo of a new one to compare to the one you're driving on.
http://www.classiquecars.com/thunderbirdsuspension.htm

I purchased a new RAG JOINT from Advance Auto for -I believe $7.50 for my 75-f-600 ford dump truck. I haven,t put it in yet--

 

[Krafty]

I got my car back from the shop, if you have bolts on all sides instead of 2 bolts and 2 rivets then you'll be fine. otherwise it'll be more intensive. for mine they had to take my steering box off the frame I believe so they could get at the rivits to cut them out. the kit came with the hardware to convert it to all bolts so next time i will be able to do it myself. that cost me $350 casue of 2 freakin rivits.