Quote:
Originally Posted by dsraven
a rag joint absorbs vibration that can come up through the steering shaft. not required, just icing on the cake so to speak. power steering pumps can transfer some vibration as well as the road. some guys confuse a rag joint's purpose with a u joints purpose. a u joint is capable of changing the angle between 2 shafts, up to approx 7 degrees, without changing the speed of the shaft (if used in pairs) and not causing a binding in the joints. a rag joint is not made to absorb any angle change, or very slight angle change. if you se a rag joint in place of a u joint it will wear out prematurely and the rubber that connects the 2 parts will seperate. not a safe scenario. some u joints are advertised to have a larger angle change
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Thank you that explains it more fully. I understand when a universal joint is required and also know about it being able to only absorb a specific amount of angle of change, just like the universal joints on the driveshaft.
At this point, I think I'll try out the double DD connector that I have in place before I think about swapping it out for a rag joint. The only reason I'm going to put it off is that I suspect from looking at some rag joints online that they are taller than my double DD connector resulting in either a taller steering column/wheel or my needing to shorten (again) the column segment that protrudes from the steering box now.
I'm going to start a thread on an electric power steering option I'm considering and look for some input too.