I thought the CJ steering shaft was telescoping? It it has a 4" overlap in the middle that looks like it should extend. I need about an extra 1.5" out of it, since I've moved the box forward.

http://members.shaw.ca/foreweb/steer_06.jpg

I'm goona break something soon trying to force it. Is it just 20 years old and siezed? Looks like it should just pull apart.

Thanks,

Chris

P.S. I searched :flipoff2:

Why didn't you post this in newbie?
This isn't a hard core tech question... In fact, it's an "I don't know how my damn Jeep is put together" question.
That shaft is held rigid w/ hard plastic internally. This is a safety item. In a collision serious enough to collapse the front of the Jeep, the plastic in the shaft will break and the shaft will collapse, preventing the steering column from being driven up into (and through) the driver's chest. It is not intended to extend.
The only extension built into that shaft is in the front joint. That's all you get.
So leave the damn thing alone.. You've done a good job of trying to screw it up already, messing with it.
If you were an expert welder (I said EXPERT, not "lay some boogers and spatter down, and hope it sticks") you could get some double D tube in the size of the upper portion of the shaft, cut the lower portion a little above the lower joint, and use a length of the DD tube to lengthen and sleeve it. Trouble is, if you're not an expert, this could kill you, cause if it snaps at the wrong moment, you're screwed.
Since you probably don't know what you're doing to begin with, get an aftermarket shaft, (damn it, do a search... I'm not going to tell you the names of the two companies that market these damn things) and bolt it in.
Now scram over to newbie, do some searching, and keep the "Gosh guys, I don't know" questions over there where they belong.

You would be better off to buy an aftermarket shaft from Flamining River or Borgeson. I bought a Flaming River shaft a few years back. It had about 12" extra just for this reason. Plus you get u-joint's instead of rag joints.

I did lengthen my buddies shaft using the double D rod that I had trimmed off my shaft, not the tube like LilRocky said. "IF" you are a compitent welder, grind the ends down to a "><" and have at'er. If not buy a new shaft, this is you steering after all.

Aw, man... Why the hell'd you have to go and tell the names of the aftermarket shaft companies... The lazy bum needed to learn how to search.

...And you're gonna trust your life to a single weld bead that's under constant torsion?

Scram!

You get over to newbie, too.

(The same place this damn thread is headed!)

...'n' what the hell you talkin' 'bout rag joints? 'Taint no stinkin rag joints on an 86 CJ steering shaft.

Get back in skool!

see these two little "divets"? drill them out. they are little plastic rivets that hold the two halves together. once you drill them it'll tellescope, now, wheather its enough or not, is your call.

Thanks for the tips LilCocky. If this isn't "hardcore" tech, then why can't you answer it? Maybe it's a little beyond your 115 post count expertise. :rolleyes: I posted it in here, because my search didn't get me answers, and it's most likely a common question, maybe one that gets overlooked.

I haven't screwed the shaft up, and I wanted to ask first so as to avoid such circumstances. It's called foresight and initiative.

I'm not going to waste my $$$ on an aftermarket shaft when the factory shaft is in good shape. I don't need 20" of adjustment. I only need an extra inch or so. There is at least 4" of overlap in the center section pictured, so pulling an inch out of it will work perfectly.

No need to risk "expert" welds, no need to impede its "collapse" ability. The box and the column stay in fixed proportion to each other (barring incident), so I don't see any problems with what I propose. In fact, it's probably the safest, cheapest and smartest way to go about it.

Cheers to littlelcj5 and sceep. :beer:

Sceep nailed it. Another thing you can do is take your handy troch and burn them out. It worked fine for me, and I didn't have to remove the shaft.

Originally posted by Foxtrot
Thanks for the tips LilCocky. If this isn't "hardcore" tech, then why can't you answer it? Maybe it's a little beyond your 115 post count expertise. :rolleyes: I posted it in here, because my search didn't get me answers, and it's most likely a common question, maybe one that gets overlooked.

I haven't screwed the shaft up, and I wanted to ask first so as to avoid such circumstances. It's called foresight and initiative.

I'm not going to waste my $$$ on an aftermarket shaft when the factory shaft is in good shape. I don't need 20" of adjustment. I only need an extra inch or so. There is at least 4" of overlap in the center section pictured, so pulling an inch out of it will work perfectly.

No need to risk "expert" welds, no need to impede its "collapse" ability. The box and the column stay in fixed proportion to each other (barring incident), so I don't see any problems with what I propose. In fact, it's probably the safest, cheapest and smartest way to go about it.

Cheers to littlelcj5 and sceep. :beer:

Lotsa "big man" talk for a twerp that not only knows nothing about how the component he's talking about is constructed or functions, but can't even phrase a proper question!

Of course the steering column and box stay in the exact same relationship with each other at all times. Your frame NEVER flexes. AMC just had a lotta extra steering shaft parts that they had to use up, that's why they put a sliding U-joint at the box end! (And I suppose you believe in the tooth fairy, too!)

Whatever sort of fairies you're hanging out with, you might want to ask a couple of them to help you understand a little simple arithmetic: 4-1.5=2.5.

Now, I know you're just cocksure that you've re-engineered that shaft to make it sooooo much better than those morons at AMC did... but allow me to suggest that without the plastic to hold its rigidity, and with only two and a half inches of overlap, that stinkin' shaft you're planning on screwin' up is gonna develop enough slop that your steering control will diminish, and that with the right combination of frame flex and extension of the lower joint, you stand a fair chance of poppin that baby right out of there... 'Course, if you're flexin the frame that much, you'll probably be way offroad, and will have to walk your sorry smartass home.
That will give you a little time to meditate on what the mystics call Karma.

So go ahead. Puff your little self up and make your sorry little excuse for a flame! I hardly give a damn. You got good info out of me, despite your dipshit post. Be just as snide as you like... Do exactly what you want, despite advice otherwise... I don't need to deal with your sniveling anymore. Life will smack you upside your flat little head soon enough.

Now, go have another beer, and tell the drunken idiot drooling next to you all about what a smart boy you are.

SMACK!!!
;)

"All this bad boy attitude get real old real quick" Wolfe (post count = 2)
You might like to check out the date joined posts dont mean jack shit you should know that. I just dont go around entering dum shit comments all the time arse wipe:flipoff2:

fuckin tough guy, dipshit
happy now, I got three posts
wanker:flipoff2: :mad2: :clown:

Originally posted by sceep
see these two little "divets"? drill them out. they are little plastic rivets that hold the two halves together. once you drill them it'll tellescope, now, wheather its enough or not, is your call.

there not rivets!

the hols are plastic injection ports (Like the yokes on GM U-joints)
the male part of the shaft has a grove cut around the shaft and the female part of the shaft has an inner grove cut in it as well so when the grove line up they fill it with plastic so it acts like a key in a key-way.

the best way to attac the porblem it with, Time a propane torch and a hammer

Originally posted by Wolfe
fuckin tough guy, dipshit
happy now, I got three posts
wanker:flipoff2: :mad2: :clown:

no its still 2 :rolleyes:
and this is the newbie for asking those kind of Qs
and i thought you where able to post here with out getting flamed
guess not :flipoff2:

youre right only two.
dam ill never get ma hed roun dis cumputor thing:D