Steering shaft universal joint rubber boot

[awiedie]

I replaced the steering shaft universal joint rubber boot as part of my engine compartment renovation about three years ago and have not driven the car more than a couple of miles since due to my problems with idle which I think I resolved by a very careful carb rebuild. Anyway, I was cleaning up in the engine bay this afternoon and noticed that the rubber boot has completely split open at the lower small end! Very disappointing. Not easy to get to now. Any suggestions on the best way to replace the boot? I have bought a new one from XK Unlimited but will probably also need the two aluminum clamp rings which I have been unable to source as yet. All help appreciated. It’s always something.

[Glyn Ruck]

Alan ~ The lower steering shaft has a simple plunging CV joint at the upper end & a standard UJ at the lower steering box end. The only way to replace the boot is to remove the lower shaft. Much easier on LHD cars. RHD with carbs in the way is a sod. Try a save the aluminium clamps. They clean up nicely but are no longer available. Ideally upper column needs to be loosened & pulled out of top clamp on the upper joint.

Regrease the upper joint with a 3% Moly grease. Nylon rollers held on by circlips.

Steering CV joint 2.JPG (27.51 KiB) Viewed 2329 times

Lower column kit.jpg (19.49 KiB) Viewed 2329 times

Steering CV joint 1.jpg (14.2 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

[JCS]

Awiedie

“Any suggestions on the best way to replace the boot?”

There are a number of split boot replacements for CV joints on various FWD cars. These usually fasten with an interference clip system or plastic ties and of cause being split allow replacement to take place within minutes.

Perhaps one of these split type boot replacements for the smaller Volkswagen range might fit the bill. These have a small shaft hole probably close to the steering shaft diameter.

I have seen these used on many installations of those Detroit joints and I realise some originality would be lost but you would save a lot of work.

Norman

[awiedie]

Thanks, Glyn, I can see what I have to do now. The upper steering shaft has to be drawn up enough to allow the lower shaft assembly to be pulled clear of the bottom UJ. Fortunately, I had taken the bonnet off to make it easier to get my carbs off for a rebuild, so I'll do the boot repair before I put it back on. Working around the power steering reservoir won't be easy though.

Norman, thanks for the suggestion but I do want to keep the car as original as possible.

[Treetrimmer]

I am in the process of doing something similar on my own car. I had the front raised, with the wheels off the car.
As Glyn pointed out, this is not the easiest of tasks! This is what I did ( R.H.D. car), and I'd be grateful if anyone has a better method.

Rotate the steering to align the pinch bolts for easier access. Try to make some sort of alignment mark on each of the joints to make reconnection correct.
Release the steering column clamp inside the car, and pull the steering wheel towards you. This should pull the steering column out of the top joint. You can then pull the lower steering column off the steering box. I had to use a "forked", ball joint separator and plenty of WD40 to move the joint "upwards" off the steering box.
Then, make the repairs to the "sliding joint. ( why is it there?) If you haven't already done so, I would suggest replacing the two nylon rollers, as these were the major cause of play in my steering system. I didn't have the original metal clips, I used black nylon cable ties.
You'll now be at the stage I'm at, trying to get it re- connected! I eventually got the lower joint onto the stub of the steering box, but have decided to remove the bonnet to assist in getting the upper joint re-connected ( I'd been considering renewing the under bonnet insulation anyway, so the difficult access has tipped the balance.)
Good luck!

Richard

[cass3958]

Richard I found when putting mine back in there was an alignment grove on the Adwest box which allowed me to centre up the steering box and then the lower steering column can only go on one way correctly so the pinch bolt lines up with the groove in the splines. At first you might have it one or two splines out but you can feel when the pinch bolt is aligned correctly. I covered taking the lower column out and putting it back in again here during my rebuild of my Adwest PAS box. http://www.jagstyperegister.com/forum_n ... =20&t=1038

[awiedie]

It’s starting to come back to me now as I get into it. Pinch bolt and shim out, upper column withdrawn, and CV joint removed. The rubber boot is split open and quite hard near the small end which is pretty close to the rear exhaust downpipe. Nylon rollers look pretty good.

I think I’m going to try to leave the UJ at the steering box attached and put the new boot on in the car. My large aluminum ring is reusable, the small one I may have to fabricate. I remember from the last time I did this project that it was a pain to get the small end of the boot over the end of the column. Any suggestions for doing this?

Alan

[Glyn Ruck]

Warm up the boot in hot water & lots of grease or Vaseline. I too wanted originality so did not use a split boot. Used an original boot & original aluminium clamps.

The nylon rollers were worn on mine & cost peanuts.

Steerin CV joint 4.JPG (51.2 KiB) Viewed 2288 times

Treetrimmer asked why the plunging CV joint was there.

Not having a plunging CV joint on one end would end up with steering wheel input not giving constant & even rotation of the lower shaft as it turns through multiple planes. You could also suffer kick back into the upper steering column because you have no plunging action with UJ's.

[John Quilter]

If I recall correctly from my work on steering columns, you might want to remove the cowling around the turn signal switch and loosen up and pull back the switch so the cancelling arm does not foul and damage the little flip levers as you pull the column up and down to reconnect to the joint in the engine bay.

[awiedie]

That’s an excellent suggestion, John, I’ll be sure to do that. The other item I wondered about is the brass grounding contact for the horn, I believe. Neither is mentioned in the workshop manual when pulling up on the column, but better safe than sorry. It’s been a while since I worked on these components.