[97Taco]

i am working on my 84 pickup today, it was rolled over and needed a new cab. the cab i bought is off of an 86. i am having a problem with the steering shaft lengths.
the 84 shaft is too short now, and the 86 shaft is too long( i am talking about the shaft from the u-joint at the firewall to the rag joint)
it would appear that this shft has a slip joint in it. the problem with this joint is that it would appear to have some sort of plastic pin or bushing or some thing in it right at the slip joint were the 'pipe' and 'rod' meet(srry no pic)
would it be ok for me to heat this shaft(the 86 shaft) up and hammer the sh*t out of it to get it to shorten to the right length?

thanks for any help
Brent <IMG SRC="smilies/bounce2.gif" border="0">

 

[4CrawlR]

Originally posted by 97Taco:
<STRONG>i am working on my 84 pickup today, it was rolled over and needed a new cab. the cab i bought is off of an 86. i am having a problem with the steering shaft lengths.
the 84 shaft is too short now, and the 86 shaft is too long( i am talking about the shaft from the u-joint at the firewall to the rag joint) it would appear that this shft has a slip joint in it. the problem with this joint is that it would appear to have some sort of plastic pin or bushing or some thing in it right at the slip joint were the 'pipe' and 'rod' meet(srry no pic)
would it be ok for me to heat this shaft(the 86 shaft) up and hammer the sh*t out of it to get it to shorten to the right length?</STRONG>

Have a look at step #17 on the page below:

Steering shaft length

 

[j4x485]

Just drill out the pin like whwn installing a body lift and lenghten it or shorten it up.

 

[97Taco]

should i install another pin, if so where do you get them?
will if be ok to run with out one?
i plan on shortening this shaft so i dont think it would hurt leaving the pin out will it?
thanks
Brent

 

[4CrawlR]

Originally posted by 97Taco:
<STRONG>should i install another pin, if so where do you get them?
will if be ok to run with out one?
i plan on shortening this shaft so i dont think it would hurt leaving the pin out will it?</STRONG>

I'm not sure why they pin that in the first place, unless it gets a little sloppy if left un-pinned. Roll pins are available at any decent hardware store, otherwise, use a small nail, cut it off a little bit long and peen over the end like a rivet, or use a small machine screw.