My Rag Joint Failed
 

Guys

I wanted to give all a heads up that the rag joint in my 69 Chevelle just ripped and the steering failed. Thank God I was in my driveway. I told Lares to replace the rag joint when my box was rebuilt but I don’t think it was. I think they just put new studs in the rag that mate up to the flange. I should had inspected it very closely. I put on a repro from NPD. Far from correct but had to do this because the car was blocking my driveway. Just want those with questionable rag joints to replace them. I had been driving the car down the interstate at speeds and zipping down city roads with 100 year old oak trees just off the curb. I am glad this thing crapped out in my driveway!
I put the rag back together but you can see where it ripped. The repro has polyurethane for the rag instead of the regular rubber.

Lawrence

Go buy a Lottery ticket right away. Cash in on your good luck!

Wow! You are blessed. There was no unusual feel prior to failing?

About 36 years ago I put my '67 SS Chevelle in a ditch because of the same failure. I was running about 80 when it happened. I had to put a new quarter panel on it.

can these be rebuilt? I would guess nos thats 50 years old might be suspect too

Wow. Glad you’re ok!

There are kits to repair them in many auto parts stores, but have heard some brands don't have the exact same hole pattern. No idea on the quality either.

I have all the parts the rebuild one and an extra to rebuild.

I thought the steering shaft and rag joint had overlap so if the rag ripped the pins would still turn the steering box? (Hard to explain)

Ryan W31

I’m glad you and the car are OK. I thought the same thing Ryan.


Jason

There are notches in the belled-out end of the intermediate shaft that should "catch" the two big rivets that are part of the rag joint. Still.....you don't want to have to rely on that if you have a questionable old rag joint.

Quite frankly, I would get rid of that poly disc.....it has no fiber or steel reinforcement in it from what I've seen...just a piece of polyurethane.

Also - at some point, GM added a stamped metal "cross brace" piece to the assembly (my '70 cars have the brace). It goes on under the two bolts. Better than no brace but it's still stressing both bolt locations of the rag joint material. Can't tell exactly from your pic but I swear I see the steel brace that I mention and it looks torn in two.

I deal with alot of these and have noticed slight stress cracks starting in the steel braces in a specific location. I can post pics if need be.

I had that happen too once. Luckily I was driving on my way home. It seemed like more and more play was in the steering after making a turn. I pulled into the garage, shut it off and popped the hood. I saw basically the same thing you had pictured. I promptly replaced it. Lucky for you, you were home when you noticed. I couldn't imagine losing steering while driving.

Nope no warning at all

do you have manual or power steering?
if you have manual steering that rag joint should be a 7 row dotted thread showing, I count only 5 which I think is for power steering.

I noticed on the rag joint for the fast ratio steering (my car is standard steering) the stamped steel cross brace was present but not on the standard? The rag joint that came out of the car did not have the brace.

Yea the rivets should had caught but I suppose since I was turning the wheels from lock to center I had a lot of stress on the joint and the rivets just "popped" out of the flange? I do have 245 60's on the front of the car which is not easy to turn when parked.

After putting on the new rag joint the steering does feel less "loose" but it did not seem like it was so loose that it would fail.

Thanks for the well wishes too!

Of my 3 older cars, only my 69 Nova has a rag joint. Both my 66 and 67 do not have rag joints with rack and pinion streering.

Why is a rag joint used from the factory instead of a u joint like my 2 cars have??

Wow....was that a wake up call. Damn glad you were not injured.

I will be honest, I never gave those rag joints any respect other than dampening the vibrations coming up through the steering column. That has changed now!

Maybe we all should inspect our rag joints and replace them if needed. It would be sad to loose somebody over something as simple as that.

Paul

They weren't always dotted..I count 7 layers on your broken rag shown,which is correct for your manual steering.
4 layers came on power steering.

Just replaced the rag joint on my 69 Z with power steering. Also had the steering gear box rebuilt. Half the splines on my rag joint were worn smooth. If you are running a 50 year old rag joint, I'd suggest that it may be time to consider a replacement. There also was an article I read by a retired Saginaw steering gear engineer with a lot of technical and do's and don't info. Definitely worth reading. Either Camaros.org or Team Camaro.

Danny, I need to stop by and pick up that rebuild kit and rag joint. (Maybe one. Ight this week....

Ryan W31

Sure Buddy,
Come on over, we'll have a beer.

Man, glad that happened in the driveway, Lawrence.
Probably one reason Mopar uses that stupid Rubic's Cube, grease filled, contraption that once disassembled cannot be reassembled without many curse words propagating through one's shop. But, better than rubbery-fabric any day of the week! Time for a u-joint. Glad you're ok and no damage!

Cheers
Dave

When was the safety pc added?
I know a guy that had 2 go on his 65 GTO, I thought the new ones all had the safety in them now.

Manual steering. There are five rows of dotted threads.