Hello everyone! Can someone direct me to a good thread regarding rebuilding of my steering column from my 1972 Cutlass supreme. I have only driven the car about a half a mile but I noticed that even with my low mileage steering box, the steering still feels very sloppy as it used to. All of the suspension including the center link,’idler arm, control arms bushings, and ball joints etc. have all been replaced. Is there anything else on the column that should be replaced to bring it to a like new feeling? Thank you! Chris

 

Are you meaning to ask about rebuilding the steering box itself? The column is not a likely culprit of the symptoms you're describing.

If so, may be more economical to simply replace the box along with a new rag joint - many great rebuild sources for them for not a lot of $$

 

Chris check your rag joint, my original would easily add a1/2” of flex slop to the steering, a new rag joint was much stiffer

 

Thank you both. Can either of you outline the procedure for replacing the rag joint? Does the whole column need to come out or can it be done with it still attached to the box?

 

And is there a brand/model rag Klimt that you’d recommend? I also remember seeing somewhere Joe P showed how to make sure the ground attachment was done right so the horn would work.

 

there are two bolts securing the rag joint to the intermediate shaft and one which threads into the steering box shaft groove to secure the whole assembly to the box. remove the 2 intermediate shaft bolts first and if the shaft won't retract enough to detach from the box assembly, then you'll have to loosen the whole column from inside the car

Lares makes replacements and easily available from rockauto.com or thru most local auto part stores - NAPA probably a good local source