RedHead steering box

[ak diesel driver]

so far so good. is definetly tight

 

[Big T]

My experience with swapping a GM column into my FJ40 was that the column and clamp on the box will only go together one way. The shaft will have a notch in it that corresponds with the bolt that goes through the clamp. It can go together one way only.

I've also worked with some of the Double D joints. If my memory is correct they can go together either way at 180* difference.

Don

I recently did the tightening procedure on the steering box. First I swapped in the box from a '95, then per advice here I re-installed the '99 box on my '99 Suburban. The steering column clamp does have a flat spot as does the shaft going into the box. Initially I thought this could be overridden as it appeared that I was able to adjust the steering wheel position by pulling the box, rotating the column, then re-installing it. Maybe it was wishful thinking?

When I went to install the '99 box, I had a bear of a time getting the steering column back on. I took a break from the work, posted here, then went back at it. It wasn't until I rotated the column in the direction I did not want to go (towards driver's side where the steering wheel was formerly tilted) that I found the spot and it slid right on. Ironically, not the steering wheel has a very slight tilt to the passenger side. This leads me to conclude that the steering column only goes on one way AND the box itself (plus tie rods) determines whether the wheel is aligned level.

Here's a link to my thread on this:

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?38261-Opinion-on-Steering-Wheel-Position