Steering Shaft Alignment

[newkitman]

Ready to install my steering shaft and checking alignment before I start the installation. I have a Fiberfab kit and the shaft and wheel appear to be at an angle to the steering box. If I connect it at the rag joint the whole unit is canted towards the passenger side about an inch. The steering box is located in the correct position for the donor Beetle and if I move the steering box to the right that will throw off the front end a bunch. Still have not made the steering shaft hole the proper size in case I need to move that. Any suggestions?

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[edward ericson]

I’m not clear on what you are describing.

I know from the BCW manuel that the shaft has to be arrow straight to the box. The instructions make a big deal about canting the steering box up or down to make sure the rag joint is not stressed.

But side to side misalignment is not contemplated in the BCW manuel.

My advice: Line it up as straight as it can go.

I would use a hole saw to go way oversize on the hole through the tub and then get a plate about twice the size of the hole–fiberglass, plastic, aluminum–whatever–with a grommet to run the shaft through. Line it up right and then rivet or bolt the plate over the hole.

How is your steering column attached to the dashboard or whatever? I’d do the same thing there: make something that slides pretty far and back, then attach the rag joint and see where it falls. Tighten it when it’s straight as can be.

BTW, google up a pic of a TD interior and you will see that the steering wheel is not centered in front of the driver. It is canted just a bit toward the passenger.

[Rich Kallenberger]

Also be advised that small u joints are very common on the steering linkages of modern cars, especially minivans, and a trip to the junkyard could yield a solution to a misalignment problem.
🙂 Kall2014-08-02 14:17:46

[Royal]

Please don’r laugh, but I have welded 1/2 or 3/4″ drive ratchet swivel in the steering column to compensate for slight misalignment.  

Worked great, – take your pick: Snap-on, Mac, or Craftsman.

[newkitman]

Roy…..I’m a Craftsman kinda guy!

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[billnparts]

Borgeson…

http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/catalog/Universal_Joints-orderby_0-p-1-c-2.html

PMOSSBERG2014-08-04 09:43:36

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[Author]

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