Anyone ever assembled a Flaming River power steering shaft before?

[5.0calypso93lx]

Just wondering if anyone has assembled a flaming river power steering shaft.

I started going through the instructions and mocking up the shaft last night and ran into a few questions.

Here is what I have: http://www.summitracing.com/parts.aspx?sku=FLA-FR1504P

There are 4 main pieces, the main shaft which reaches from the joint on the rack to the joint on the steering column, the smaller shaft which actually goes into the steering column end, the joint for the steering column end, and the joint with the gnurled end that goes over the steering rack "nub".

1) The gnurled "nub" coming out of the steering rack has a gnurled section followed by a small gap, and then another gnurled section. How far does the gnurled joint need to go down on the "nub" of the steering rack?

Right now, I have it so it goes all the way down onto the 2nd gnurled part and is actually still over top of the 1st gnurled part a little bit. I can't remember how far the stocker was down since I removed it so long ago.

2) The instructions have a diagram showing a shaft going into the joint and it says that the shaft needs to be flush inside the joint which is 7/8" deep.

The problem here is that no matter how I orient all four pieces, I can't get each shaft in each end of each joint to be 7/8" inside.

I'm thinking it's because I have the 1" drop K member and that's why the measurements aren't equaling out like the instructions say. The dropped k member is the whole reason I had to get a new steering shaft in the first place as the stocker wouldn't reach.

Should I just make up the 1" difference 3 ways since that's how many joint to shaft connections I have and subtract 1/3" from 7/8"? Or should I just mock it all up, make sure none of the shafts are coming in contact with the moving joints and call it a day?

[facemelter71]

You want to have a little meat in there for those set screw to grab ahold of.I actually had to trim mine to make it fit.It was a little to long.Dont know if they just had a long one laying around or what.But I cut like 2 or so inches off of it.The only reason they want you to have that much in there is for the set screws.Let me see if I have some pics of mine.

[facemelter71]

nop,no close ups.

[bbfstanger]

i put mine down far enough on the rack so the set screw went in the fact threw bolt slot. mine came a little short or maybe just how it is on my setup?
i welded mine together cause i didnt trust just set screws with not any extra meat except on the rack side.
if you split the diff you should be ok,just be sure to drill a dimple where the set screws go.

[mustangboy]

I did what what he did. I dimpled them and a little spot weld.

[facemelter71]

Yep,I would just make it work.I dimpled mine,and gooped em up with some loctite and set them down in there.I didnt weld though.

[rmracing]

The shaft coming out of the firewall could be pushed up in too far . You might check and see if you can pull the shaft out of the firewall a little . You may have to tap on it a little as it is a snug fit .

[5.0calypso93lx]

Thanks guys, that's what I'll do then. I'll just split the difference and use some red loctite. I agree, welding would be best, but I don't have a welder.



The shaft coming out of the firewall could be pushed up in too far . You might check and see if you can pull the shaft out of the firewall a little . You may have to tap on it a little as it is a snug fit .

There is the factory hole for the through bolt in the firewall and on the smaller shaft that comes part of the flaming river kit on mine so it can only be installed one way with no adjustment.

[quik lx]

I tightened the set screws down so they made marks in the shaft, then took it to a drill press and drilled a slight hole for the set screws to go into, then used locktight (red) and torqued 'em down. I checked them after 500 miles with no issues.

[92coupe]

I have installed a few of these on manual racks no drilling or welding. And never had any issues. Where the hell is it gonna go once you put iy all together?

[5.0calypso93lx]

All done:

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq188/bad306lx/IMG_1627.jpg

It's actually quite a tight fit. I'm not exactly sure how close it's actually going to be with all of the moving parts. We'll have to see once I get the car back on the ground and rolling.

The main shaft could really use about 3/8" taken off for it to fit flush in all of the couplers.

[5.0calypso93lx]

I have installed a few of these on manual racks no drilling or welding. And never had any issues. Where the hell is it gonna go once you put iy all together?

I think the pilot holes keep the connections really tight and helps the steering feel and response. We'll find out for sure here soon.

[5.0calypso93lx]

I tightened the set screws down so they made marks in the shaft, then took it to a drill press and drilled a slight hole for the set screws to go into, then used locktight (red) and torqued 'em down. I checked them after 500 miles with no issues.

This is what I ended up doing to get the marks I needed. Good idea. I just drilled the holes myself with a hand drill though. Don't have a drill press.

[NXcoupe]

I had to trim the shaft a bit, I used a cut off wheel and just whacked off about 3/4" on mine. What rocky was saying is that shaft that has the cross bolt through it that comes out of the firewall is a collapsable shaft, I usually use a slide hammer on it and pull it out a bit for header clearance on certain cars, other times you can push it back up in, but be careful because you can crack the clockspring for the airbag like that. You don't want it to hit the ujoints and cause them to make noise when turning the wheel.

[5.0calypso93lx]

It's coming back out to get cut down. It's too long right now and is making contact after I turn the steering wheel just a little bit.

[NXcoupe]

I figured as much, yeah just cut one end the total you need removed and just redo your countersunk holes.