I took my 1989 305 RS Camaro to my mechanic to have the front end aligned after installing new KYB gas shocks all around and asked if he would take a look at the steering play while he was at it. He called and said the steering box and steering coupler need to be replaced. I found a used steering box on eBay for $35. I also found a couple of places that sell used steering couplers, more comonly known as rag joints I think. Any opinions about whether a used steering box is a good or bad idea and is there anything I need to look out for to make sure it fits my car? Also, is a used rag joint a good idea? I think I should use a new one of those, but can't find it anywhere. Any idea?

Thanks,
Ray

 

Welcome to TGO. Consider upgrading to a quick ratio box, the type used in IROCs for example (many members hit the JY's for the part). Check the following link for more info:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...box+IROC+ratio

JamesC

 

Rag Joint should be in the HELP! section of most auto parts store. Its used on several GM vehicles so should be pretty easy to find. $10-15. Go new don't waste time in putting in a used rag joint.

 

Thanks for the ideas and pointers. I might not want to upgrade the steering box to the quick ratio just yet, but this is good reference information to identify what I do find. How about those rebuild kits? Is a rebuild something easy? Anyone try it?

As for the rag joint, I called a couple of local auto parts stores and found that Autozone claims to have it for $40. They say it is the all in one lower shaft plus coupler assemply. I will try some more places tomorrow. I'm not sure why the online parts stores don't have it and the local parts stores do. I'm not that familiar with ordering auto parts online. Maybe it's normal that online places have less selection than big chain local stores. Even Autozone online doesn't show the part.

 

For the rag joint, go to Autozone.com and search for "31002".

It's a generic part stocked on the floor made by HELP.

 

Trick414, thanks for the pointer. I've read some discussion about that part number 31002, but didn't see anything conclusive. My mechanic said that the lower shaft and rag joint are all one piece. Part number 31002 looks like just the rag joint. Have you installed part number 31002 in a third generation camaro?

Part of my problem is that it's my daughter's car and I currently don't have access to it. I'm hoping to get the parts before she drives here for the weekend and I get it fixed. So, I'm kind of working blind here, trying to sort out the information I'm reading.

Anyone ever try to rebuild their own steering box? I don't even know what goes bad in them. I'm trusting my mechanic when he says I need a new one.

Ray

 

If I were you I'd search for a quick-ratio steering box in a junkyard and send that off to be rebuilt. Search around here and you'll find reputable people to rebuild the steering box for you. As far as the rag joint, if your mechanic doesn't know how to replace it, then he probably shouldn't be working on your car. It's a matter of drilling out the rivets in the old rag joint and bolting in the new one.

 

luke4907,

Thanks for the advice. I kind of jumped the gun and bought a used steering box off of e-Bay. So, now I'll have two steering boxes, neither of them the quick ratio, unless I'm lucky on the e-Bay one (hasn't arrived yet). I'm just trying to figure out what to do with the spare. I thought I might rebuild it and sell it on e-Bay. Or maybe someone knows who buys "cores".

Funny what you said about my mechanic and the rag joint. I called him about it and he said that his experience is that most of the HELP! stuff is junk, but that the rag joint isn't going to have a complete failure if it goes bad, so he's not going to recommend against it. I think the issue for him is that if he were to do the job, he would try to find the whole assembly. Maybe if he didn't find it, he would also resort to the HELP! brand.

So, again, thanks a lot for the advice. This was really bothering me. I feel a lot better about going with the HELP! brand part number 31002 rag joint. And I'll save myself some money besides.

 

The "Help!" stuff is perfectly fine.

When it first came out, it was pretty much crap; kind of like, they went out and bought the cheeeeepest stuff they could find, and hung it out there for suckers. It's evolved quite a bit over the 20 years since then though. Most of it is OEM grade stuff, alot of it even comes from the same suppliers as the OEMs use, if you can find the logo on the piece. Plus, they've don a good job of fine-tuning what parts they carry, to where it's actually alot of useful stuff nowadays that can be REAL hard to find any other way.

There's no reason not to use their rag joint.

 

glad I could help. I'm not sure what the other box is worth to anyone else, but you could send it out to get rebuilt while the other one remains in the car...

The rag joint will eventually go bad, but your steering wheel would get so loose and sloppy before it does that the car would be dangerous to drive. The whole thing is spring-loaded, so you just pull the shaft back (towards the firewall) and you slide it out. At least that's what I was told.

If you want a more permanent solution, I'd suggest the rag joint eliminator from Unbalanced Engineering. It's pretty much a solid piece of aluminum that goes in place of the rag joint.