[cruisinlows10]

I just wanted to pass this info on to my fellow s10 enthusiasts. This is for those of us with the first generation trucks with the rag joint on the lower section of the steering shaft. We all know how sloppy the steering can get after a while. Well I have found an answer. A cheap one at that. A steering shaft out of a jeep cherokee 84-94 will work in our trucks. On the older models make sure the cherokee has power steering. That is important. The jeep shaft has U-joints instead of a rag joint. You will have to do a little modification to make it work. But that is going to be fairly easy. It beats the hell out of replacement s-10 steering shafts from the gm dealership or some aftermarket one. All I had to do to make the jeep shaft fit in my truck was soak it in WD40 for a while to get rid of the rust and crap and then I collapsed the shaft (lower section slides into the upper section). This allowed me enough clearance to slide the lower section onto my steering box and then expand the shaft up to my steering column. I did this with a vise and a hammer a block of wood and lots of wd40. There is a plastic piece that wraps around one of the halves of the shaft that broke off in the process of being collapsed. I am not sure what it was there for but I didnt see any difference with it gone.

This cost me $20. I havent road tested it yet because my truck is still under construction but I cannot see any problems coming from it. The only thing I see that might be a problem for some folks is the lower half being too long and not collapsing far enough. If that happens you could take the two halves apart, trim the lower half and put it back together. I hope this helps some of you guys out.

 

[cruisinlows10]

UPDATE!

I have done some more experimenting. I will post a picture below of the correct steering shaft. Also I have found that the correct shaft has the letters NACAM engraved on the upper piece that slides on the steering column end. I have also found that sometimes you will have to polish up the inside of the joint on the steering shaft that slides on the steering column end so that it will fit. I have also found that if you heat the upper part of the shaft, the lower section will slide in a whole lot easier especially if its dirty and rusty. This is helpful at the junkyard when pulling the shaft out. All you have to do is break the plastic piece off of the shaft where the two halves meet, pull two bolts, and then heat up the upper shaft. Then you will need a metal flat bar, pry bar etc to slip in between the lower u joint and the shaft body. while the upper is warm tap the flat bar with a hammer. If the upper is hot enough it will go easily. This is much better than dropping the column to get the shaft out. I use a portable propane torch. The little ones like plumbers use. (small blue bottles) . See the picture below for the right and wrong shafts.

 

[cruisinlows10]

 

[cruisinlows10]

Also, I have one of these in my 86 with a 350, JTR motor mounts with the motor slid back all the way, and Hedman shorty headers and it fits fine.

 

[cruisinlows10]

sticky?

 

[cyclone]

sticky?

You've basically re-invented the wheel.

There was a fantastic thread in this forum"BC" Before the Crash dealing with this exact subject. rLith started it off with some moderate modifications to a similar shaft. Somewhere along the line it was determined that the shaft from a 98 or so Grand Cherokee would fit with only one small mod.
It's nice to know that the cherokees will fit also, but I have a few questions:

Are the two shafts the same length?

Did you have to grind a slot in the upper shaft for the upper screw to fit through the hole?

I'm waiting for the weather to get a little warmer before I do this...

 

[GRUMPY95]

S10PLANET.COM - Tight and responsive steering: Another How-To! YAY

 

[cruisinlows10]

cyclone, no theres not much grinding at all. which 2 shafts do you mean? the upper section and the lower section? or the s10 shaft and the jeep shaft?


And I have looked at that link, which is cool however, I am totally bewildered why they cut off part of the lower shaft. ??? I was 6 months ahead of him though figuring this out

 

[6307]

2002 4+4 what jeep shaft will work

 

[fast68chevy]

ive got a 92 4x2 astro van one of these shafts laying aroud from a van i recently stripped and scrapped i wonder if it is long enough to work hmmm...

im gonna go check real quick and compare

 

[fast68chevy]

welp some fail

the astro van one i have is about 6 or 7" way too short to work on one of these trucks,

thats to bad because its the good solid i joint ends style one like in this thread

unless it is collapsible and just frozen stuck?

anyone know?

but i still have the shaft from the 83 firebird i took the box from and its in real good condition i just check the shaft in my truck and holy crap the upper flex joint thing at the colmn shaft end is horribly sloppy bad i never thought that would be so.

but it is


gonna at least stick this firebird one on for now tomorrow until i find a longer u joint style solid shaft later on sometime

so i can at least have tighter steering for a while

hmm

that firebird i scrapped had to have been way lower miles because wow the box and this shaft are in way million times better condition than the s10 ones are.
hmm....

 

[fast68chevy]

swapped the steering joint shaft from the firebird onto my truck an hour ago.

was a real PITA the end at the column shaft end was a whore to get to slip on, the firebird one was compressed together too much bent where the through bolt goes through to connect the column shaft to the top end of the joint shaft

i had to dremel the hell out of it in there but i finally got it on wow

seems better i gotta drive drive up

 

[fast68chevy]

swapped the steering joint shaft from the firebird onto my truck an hour ago.

was a real PITA the end at the column shaft end was a whore to get to slip on, the firebird one was compressed together too much bent where the through bolt goes through to connect the column shaft to the top end of the joint shaft

i had to dremel the hell out of it in there but i finally got it on wow

seems better i gotta drive drive up

 

[doubleO740]

What kind of jeep shaft am I looking for, for a 1994 S-10 Truck 2WD.

Manfactured date on the truck is 5/94.

Is the first year of the 2nd Gen S-10?

I've read alot of threads, I just want to clear somethings up.

It has the rag joint on the lower part of the shaft next to the steering box and the tulip joint on the upper part of the shaft.

Thanks