I was under the wagon today.Trying to fix another how did that happen "oil pan".When i saw that the steering coupler was really loose .When i shined some light on the subject.It looked like a bull dog munched the dampener or what ever the heck you call the piece of brown plastic / bakelight lookin stuff.
What the hell could have caused this,It came off in pieces.The rest of the suspension is in tip top shape so it kinda rules out any major impact on the steering column.
And to make matters worse it looks like the upper half is pressed on.i was hoping to take it apart and go buy a generic rubber one that would bolt up.But after futher review it looks like the upper portion is pressed on.I have taken these apart on other cars before and it was bolted on with nylon lock nuts.
Has anybody seen this before?And what can be done.I suppose i can check the dealer on Monday but i have a feeling it might not be available anymore. ???
Are you talking about the ragjoint, looks like a piece of thick rubber?? Not to bad to fix, but I pulled the steering colum to do mine in my 74 wagon.
Good luck,
Doug
Thanks for the reply FARMBOY. It looks like a piece of thick plastic.Its kind of a orange color.I need to take a picture of it.All my other cars are rubber maybe ford used this type in the 78 only?
I had one of those to the exact same thing in an 81 mustang. Basicly, they dry-rot and crumble. Some of them do it, some dont.
Its a bit of a pain to fix, but it obviously needs to be done. The kit I bought from advance autoparts (in the HELP! section) comes with replacement bolts and nylock nuts.
-Harry
When I got my wagon a couple of years ago, maybe 3. I told the guy he had to get it to my house if I was going to buy it. It had no brakes, the master cylinder was so bad if you put brake fluid in, as soon as you it the brake the fluid would squrit all over your leg and the motor would not idle worth a darn. I got a new master cyl. and tightened down the carb. nuts. It ran good with a tune up. The maiden voyage was near. Jimbo and I hopped in the mighty steed and away we go. Down the curvy road we go, Boy I say, we got alot of play in the steering. Pull over and pop the hood, low and behold there is not one shred of the rag joint left, it was so bad that you could wiggle the att. arms around and they would completly seperate. After a nice slow and careful 2 mile road trip back home it was back to NAPA for more parts.
Thats why I love my Pinto, a guy can still work on these cars, they fit in the garage real nice and I don't have to drive it every day :hypno:
Rather than pull out the column, just loosen up the bolts that hold the rack in, and they come right out. They also are "clocked", meaning they only install one way on the splines.
The "original" joints were made out of a plastic/nylon biscuit piece that hardens up from age and the heat of the engine bay and they just end up dissintegrating leaving a lot of slop in the steering. It's similar to what happens to a nylon timing gear when they finally go...and they all do!!
I know mine was starting to go a bit so I replaced it before it did go.
Thanks for the info guys.
Hey R4 did you get yours from the HELP rack as well or did you find another source?
Thanks again