Jeep steering shaft SNAFU!! Help!!!

Went to put my Jeep steering shaft in today that I've had sitting here for forever. Got the stocker out and this one won't fit. I remember reading somewhere on here that it needed to be compressed. So we tried beating it gently with a hammer. It didn't budge. We know it's not welded solid because some PB went inside it.

Gotta get this figured out ASAP... Hope I got the right shaft to begin with!

Any help appreciated.

Here's a pic of the shaft I have.

I have the same one. You might have to lightly heat it and or spray some rust solvent where the large shaft meets the one that slides inside. It will move...just keep working with it and tap with a hammer. Mine was froze fast in that postion also.

common for them to stick, a little corrosion, they are supposed to slide/adjust in and out. free up from sticking good then grease real well inside the telescoping parts, no worries, just more work, u didnt want it to be easy did ya?

Does it have crimp marks on the outside piece. I had to mill the crimps off mine to get it to move.

heat it where both shafts meet then lightly tap with hammer/mallet. Be sure not to pull the shafts apart.

No crimp marks. It moves now, my good buddy just put it in his press and its moves in and not, not very easily though. Gonna light the oxyacetelene torch next. We'll make this thing cooperate!

Thanks for all the help guys!

you don't want it to move too easily- the only time it's supposed to move at all is if the vehicle is in a bad enough collision to move the frame relative to the body.. if you get it to move too freely, you might wind up with a little bit of slop and a little bit of a "clunk" when turning.
just get it to the length you need and leave it there.

Don't heat it up!!!! Formaldehyde gas!

The NACAM steering shafts are insert molded with POM (acetal resin) to provide a sliding surface yet no slop in between the (2) steel telescoping pieces that are designed to collapse in a collision. I don't recommend heating it up with a torch unless you want to choke on formaldehyde gas which is a bi-product of acetal resin when heated. You WILL smell it and choke on it and after it burns away, you'll have slop in the shaft. Just put it in a Dake press and compress it until it is the correct length. If there is slop in it after the adjustment, use a shear pin between the two pieces to tighten it up.

mind if i ask what jeep this shaft fits (or a part number)? this is a direct bolt-in? my shaft is all sacked out at the rag joint and telescoping part and i was trying to dream up a replacement with u-joints in it... shoulda checked here first!

What Charlie said. Sorry for the late reply. Been busy around these parts.

thanks fellas looks like i'm going shopping! can't wait to put it on!

the shaft I bought had the plastic burned out... last year, I thought my Lee steering box was getting sloppy, turns out it was the plastic missing and the two shaft halves turning inside each other. Not sure if I'm gonna go through the effort to drill and pin it or just buy an aftermarket one. Either way, don't burn the plastic out if you want your steering optimally tight.

i just just about to put mine in and it looks shorter. thanks for the heads up i was gonna heat mine. i'll try some penetrating oil

I bought one on here that was about 4 inches too short and man what hard time i had banging it out. I used the opening on a vise to catch the end as i yanked on it in a downward motion slamming it. It took a very long time.

D

i got mine to come loose easy, just some lube and a smack with the hammer,but where it goe's on the steering column shaft i had to notch the shaft so the bolt would clear. the worst part was getting my old one off. it was frozen . it would have been a total pain if the engine was in

My stock one came right out, and was/is still in decent shape. I didn't have to notch my steering column. My boss managed to get it to fit. And we did all this with the engine in. Did have to remove the alt, a/c compressor but I had to anyway since the bolts were loose...

Mine was compressed for shipping, and I had to beat the crap out of it to get it stretched to the right length.

I couldnt get mine to fit either end and just put my old shaft back on. Anyone wanna buy it?