Written by Jay Vessels
Installing a Borgeson Steering Shaft on a 1982 Chevrolet S-10 Truck
Tools needed:
1/2" wrench
7/16" socket
10" extension
15mm socket or wrench
Pry bar
5/32" Allen wrench
Dot punch
3/8" drill bit and drill
Tool to cut the steel shaft
The stock steering shaft in our trucks has a U-joint on the column end, and a rag joint on the box end. This steering shaft connects the steering column to the steering box, and it telescopes to help avoid pushing the steering column into the cab in the event of a collision.
The stock shaft does a good job, but the big problem with this shaft is the rag joint. GM used the rag joint as a vibration damping device. Unfortunately is has two side-effects: it tends to make steering more numb and less responsive; and it will die over time and hard use. Take your truck off-roading or start driving it in high-cornering cases (autocross for example) and you will send the rag joint to an early grave.
If you find the rag joint or the column U-joint is bad, or you're fixing damage from a wreck, you can buy a stock shaft from GM for about $155 net (list price is much more). For a bit more, you can buy the parts to build your own steering shaft and have a part that has more strength, less slop, and more road feel than the stock shaft.
Both Borgeson and Flaming River sell all the parts needed to assemble a new steering shaft for our trucks. I chose Borgeson. I called Borgeson ( (860)482-8283 ) and they helped me choose what to buy.
Parts needed:
24" Telescoping shaft P/N: 450024
3/4"DD - 3/4"x30 spline U-joint P/N: 014931
1" DD - 1" DD U-joint P/N: 015252
I ordered these through Borgeson directly since while both Summit and Jegs carry Borgeson parts, they do not stock these particular parts so it is faster and just as cheap to buy direct. Total cost was $210 shipped.
Installation:
First make sure the front wheels are straight and the steering wheel is straight and locked with the ignition key. We don't want to move it! Now remove the old shaft.
It is held on at the column with a bolt and a nut. The bolt is captured by the column with a square shoulder, so just remove the 15mm nut, then the bolt. There may be a plastic cover over the steering box end (the cover style depends on the year). It will either pull back away from the box moving it closer to the column, or it is two pieces that will separate if pried apart. At the box, the shaft is retained by a 7/16" bolt. Remove the bolt. Now, use a pry bar to push the shaft off of the splined box end, forcing the shaft to collapse. Once it has cleared the steering box, remove it from the column -- it should come off with some wiggling -- and set it aside.
Now measure the distance between the end of the column stub and the box shaft. The box is 3/4"x30 splines, and may have a smooth pin that extends out of the shaft. Measure from the end of the splines to the tip of the column -- not the end of that pin! On my 2WD truck with a tilt column I measured 16". A non-tilt column truck will have a slightly different length shaft but it will not affect the parts needed. I don't know if the 4WD trucks have different shaft lengths from the 2WD versions.
Fully extend the new shaft. It is about 27" fully extended. With it fully extended it should be cut to the length you measured. The first 10" are cut from the 1" hollow tube. Any remaining amount must be cut from each end in equal parts. I needed a 16" shaft, so I needed to cut 11" total from the shaft: 10 1/2" from the tube end, and 1/2" from the solid end.
Next install the 1" DD - 1" DD U-joint on the hollow tube end of the shaft. Make sure that the shaft doesn't extend so deep into the joint that it can't fully flex. It should just be flush inside the joint. Tighten the short set screw, and remove the long set screw. Use a dot punch or something similar to mark where the long set screw will touch the shaft, and remove the U-joint from the shaft. Drill a 3/8" hole through ONE side of the shaft -- don't go through the other side!
The column stub, unfortunately, has a hole through both sides. Borgeson recommends grinding down a flat washer or something similar to fit inside the column stub that will cover one of the holes. I had a piece of steel flatstock that was narrow enough to fit inside the column stub. I cut a small piece of it, put a dab of silicone on it to hold it in place, and put it inside the column stub.
Now we're ready to assemble the shaft on the truck. I first installed the 3/4"x30 spline U-joint on one end of the shaft, and used blue Loctite to retain the setscrews. I then installed the 1" DD U-joint on the other end of the shaft, and used blue Loctite to retain the setscrews.
Now install the shaft on the truck. I greased the shaft a bit, and worked it back and forth a bit to make sure it would move once it was installed on the truck. I collapsed the shaft enough so that it would fit on the truck, and installed the 3/4" U-joint on the steering box end. The setscrew will tighten against a flat spot on the splined shaft. I used blue Loctite to retain the setscrew.
I then extended the shaft so the 1" DD U-joint would fit over the column end. I started the long setscrew enough to know it was through the hole in the column stub, and then tightened the short setscrew. I then tightened the long setscrew. Again, I used blue Loctite to retain the setscrews.
A picture of the installed shaft:
the S-10 page
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Vessels-Clan.com