XJ Steering Shaft Problem

[Casper]

I was doing a little time wasting, and was looking through the tech messages, and I found a thread back in October of 2002. It was about steering slopp. After reading through all of the threads and finding out about all of the work that was done to prevent the problem, and yet it still existed a little or the same, it sounded like the problem I had. I had my front steering completely rebuilt with new parts, and I still had some wandering. One day I was taking a corner and WOW!, the steering wheel turned but the jeep didn't. I finally found the hidden problem. My steering shaft at the firewall at the rubber vibration dampner was bad. The rubber dampner turned freely and was loose from the metal. I found out by researching with my jeep dealer, that this is a more common problem than one would think. More people spend allot of money on lower steering rebuilds, when allot of the problem was actually the shaft. Unfortunately, it is a Dealer or junkyard item. I have be unsuccessful in finding anyone who carries a repair kit or inexpensive replacement shaft. New ones run around 200.00 to 300.00. Any ideas from the group?? Is it possible to drill and run a bolt through the sleeve to prevent the shaft from slipping?? Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,
Casper

 

[Bloodshdr]

It is possible, even easy. Just drill through and use about a 2 1/2" bolt with a nut. That bushing is there to prevent the Steering Wheel from breaking your thumb in a crash.