My Rag Joint Failed

[sixt9rsx33]

Originally Posted by 70post

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 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!