Worn Steering Shaft

[67F10YR]

The two slots at the bottom of the steering column are hogged out a little more than I'd like in my '67 F100. I have seen caps that go over the pins that fit into these slots on other Ford trucks and just wondered if anybody knows anything about them. Are they a stock item, or can they be easily purchased somewhere? What are they usually made of and do they help in taking up some of the slack in worn steering shafts?

[fordman]

your talkign about the flange on the bottom of the column that the rag joint bolts to. i have never heard or seen anything that goes over those to fix the wollard out part on the flange. you may be able to weld the edges and build it back up. the wearign of that flange is caused by a bad rag joint and driving the truck with it worn out. putign on a new good rag joint will be the thing to do. that flange being worn a little probably wotn hurt anythign. as it is just a relief made in the flange so the ragjoint bolts can stick up.

[67F10YR]

The caps I'm talking about actually fit over the pins, not the flange itself. The ones I seen up close were just plaster caps, and I couldn't believe they would hold up in that condition, but apparently they had been there for quite a while. The others I seen were made of something different, maybe something like teflon? I couldn't think of any other reason they would be there except to take up some of the slack. I was just asking. It's not really a problem, but rather something I noticed as I was tearing into the steering getting ready for the power steering swap I'm ready to do. Thanks anyway, Fordman.

[FORDification]

Those caps aren't really going to do anything worthwhile, as long as the flange is bolted securely to the rag joint, and the rag joint is in good shape. The only reason for those pins is a backup in case the rag joint fails...so you don't lose steering completely. Now...if the rag joint were to fail and you had to steer to a stop using the pins, having the plastic caps on the pins might make the steering a tiny bit less squirrely until you got the truck stopped, but that's about it. They have nothing to do with steering slop, nor can they correct it if it exists...IF the rag joint is intact.

[67F10YR]

Thanks, Fordification. That's one less thing to think about with this project truck.