Where can I buy a RAG steering joint

[andy625]

Can anyone tell me where I can buy a RAG steering joint, either original with the rubber disc, or the metal lockup type? My car is an '87 Firebird.

A company that will sell online would be good as I am in the UK.

[sneitzel]

Unbalanced Engineering sells them.
http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/
About halfway down the page.

[andy625]

Thanks sneitzel, is the metal type the best one to use?

How easy are they to fit?

Does anywhere sell the original type?

[ToplessFormula]

You can buy a factory type rag joint at nearly any auto parts store.

[Z Ya Later]

I have the UE rag-joint eliminator in my Z, highly recommend it. The steering feels much better and more direct. Installation only took a couple hrs. and I don't have to worry about replacing it.

[andy625]

You can buy a factory type rag joint at nearly any auto parts store.

I am coincidentally coming over to the US next week on vacation so I could pick one up then. Are particular store/brands recommended?

I have the UE rag-joint eliminator in my Z, highly recommend it. The steering feels much better and more direct. Installation only took a couple hrs. and I don't have to worry about replacing it.

I like the sound of the metal one, however I read somewhere on here, about someone who fitted a metal joint and was slightly worried that the column and the input shaft to the steering box may not be dead in line. He had fitted the joint and found that on a full roatation of the steering wheel that it seemed to get a little tighter in one part of the revolution. Have you found anything like that?

I also read from someone else that the column and steering box were designed to be absolutely in line, and that it wasn't anything to worrk about.

What do you think?

How easy was it to get the old one out? I assume you had to drill out the rivets. Did you have to enlarge any holes in the flanges?

[Z Ya Later]

I like the sound of the metal one, however I read somewhere on here, about someone who fitted a metal joint and was slightly worried that the column and the input shaft to the steering box may not be dead in line. He had fitted the joint and found that on a full roatation of the steering wheel that it seemed to get a little tighter in one part of the revolution. Have you found anything like that?

I also read from someone else that the column and steering box were designed to be absolutely in line, and that it wasn't anything to worrk about.

What do you think?

How easy was it to get the old one out? I assume you had to drill out the rivets. Did you have to enlarge any holes in the flanges?

I never noticed any problem from the eliminator during wheel rotation. The only thing I have noticed is that the steering wheel is very sensitive now, not only to groove-tracking but also to any movement of the steering wheel. In other words, you feel a lot more and it takes less to turn the car. Not that I'm complaining at all.

I'm not sure on the alignment between the column and the box, as I'm not sure what the difference is between the 3rd Gen and 4th Gen steering setup. On the 4th Gen, the steering rack isn't aligned at all to the column, hence the joint.

It wasn't too hard to do the install. My dad and I drilled out the rivets, separated the two pieces, painted them and reassembled the joint with the spacer. The instructions were quite detailed. Just make sure you have some red loc-tite on hand before you start.

[andy625]

I never noticed any problem from the eliminator during wheel rotation. The only thing I have noticed is that the steering wheel is very sensitive now, not only to groove-tracking but also to any movement of the steering wheel. In other words, you feel a lot more and it takes less to turn the car. Not that I'm complaining at all.

I'm not sure on the alignment between the column and the box, as I'm not sure what the difference is between the 3rd Gen and 4th Gen steering setup. On the 4th Gen, the steering rack isn't aligned at all to the column, hence the joint.

It wasn't too hard to do the install. My dad and I drilled out the rivets, separated the two pieces, painted them and reassembled the joint with the spacer. The instructions were quite detailed. Just make sure you have some red loc-tite on hand before you start.

Sounds like the eliminator may be the way to go. I've been thinking that my steering was getting really vague for the past few months. I checked for play in all the joints, and the box, however I missed the RAG joint. The car recently passed its annual MOT inspection too, which made me think there wasn't anything wrong and that it was all in my head! I put it down to having changed the wheels to TA wheels last year, and the tramlining effect.

Did you take the intermediate shaft out to drill out the rivets, or did you manage to drill them with the shaft in situ? I've read about problems getting the shaft to collapse, to enable you to get the intermediate shaft out.

[Z Ya Later]

Nope, pulled the shaft out to work on it. I don't think its really possible to do the job with the shaft in place, at least not on the 4th Gen. Not sure if the steering joints are the same, but mine didn't collapse, rather rode up some on the column shaft to come off the rack.

In any case, $35 to replace a worn part and never have to do it again? Yeah, I'd do that...and I did lol

[ToplessFormula]

I don't have any rotation problems from the rag joint eliminator.

I did get the tight spots in the steering previously from having an LS1 steering shaft installed in my LT1 car. The LS1 shaft is slightly shorter and when installed, it gets pulled tight causing stress on the u-joints at certain spots.

The rag joint eliminator is the way to go.