I wanted to thank you guys for sharing the astro van intermediate shaft upgrade, and share some pictures of my version.

I had an 89 IROC with a foot of dead travel at the center of my steering. Just like a problem I once had in my 94 1LE, the rag joint was completely shot. Might as well upgrade while I'm repairing, and there is no increase in vibration what so ever to this mod.

I went to the u-pull-it junkyard and got an intermediate shaft from a '99 astro van. Unfortunately, the steering shaft bearing housing on a '99 is completely different. Fortunately, on the way out we spotted an 80s/early 90s astro van camper in the weeds that wasn't on the junk yard registry. Its intermediate shaft didnt seem correct, but the bearing was.

I did some grinding and knocked the upper portion of the '99 astro van shaft off. I checked it next to the stock shaft to make sure I rotated it correctly before putting it back together and tack welding it in place.

I don't like the idea of side clamping steering knuckles, so while the upper portion was off, I swapped on a 4th gen upper yoke from a 94 camaro that uses a thru-bolt to connect to the steering column. I would have used the 3rd gen upper portion, but it was still on the car. Also, the 4th gen part had a smaller outer diameter, which made for a cleaner look. But if you go this route, you have to press out the u-joint and mix/match yokes with the astro van to fit the shaft.

Before pressing out the u-joint, I measured the depth of the cap on each side so I could get it centered. They werent exact, and I actually installed them closer to the same depth than they were stock.

The ujoint presses out easily, but it is easy to damage the cap trying to pull them out. I went through a few caps from various steering shafts before I got the technique just right. I ended up pressing the ujoint down as far as I could, then using some pb blaster and lightly wiggling the caps free with a pair of pliers wrapped all the way around it.

When I re-installed them, I added a tack weld to each side to keep the caps in place, along with welding the shaft to the yoke that had been rotated 90 degrees. Keep the heat down near the cap, as its very thin, and put the tack on the yoke first.

I also wire wheeled the shaft down and applied some clear to it just for appearance sake.

As for the shaft bearing, there is a good youtube video that shows the how-to. It is very simple, remove the clip, cover, washer, and bushing. I cleaned up and re-greased my new bearing and painted the cover while I was at it.

I've driven with the new setup for a week now and it seems to be a big improvement with no problems.

 

Here is the '99 astro van bearing holder that wouldnt work.

Also, a comparison between the iroc bushing, the correct astro van bearing, and the bearing after cleaning.

The third photo is the upper portion of the 4th gen yoke next to the same piece from the astro van shaft.

 

More photos of the upper joint swap

 

installed...

 

Thanks

 

Nice work!
Now I don't have to figure this out myself. Just don't like the side clamp method either.