Upper Steering UJ Chimaera
Discussion
This has probably been covered before, but just wanted to check.
I changed the seal on the power steering rack input shaft which was leaking a few weeks ago, but foolishly I should have changed the upper shaft UJ at the same time.
Rather than undo the rack again to remove UJ, is it possible to remove the steering support bracket in the car and remove the shaft that way to get the UJ out ?.
Hope that makes sense.
I changed the seal on the power steering rack input shaft which was leaking a few weeks ago, but foolishly I should have changed the upper shaft UJ at the same time.
Rather than undo the rack again to remove UJ, is it possible to remove the steering support bracket in the car and remove the shaft that way to get the UJ out ?.
Hope that makes sense.
Loosen both UJ's aand remove the pins. Slide one further onto the spline, the other should then have enough space to separate. Be aware that the cockpit column section can be pushed into the car, this may help but can also make refitting awkward as it pushes in when refitting the upper UJ. The splines are sometimes aligned differently so you may need to do further work to gain a straight steering wheel position
Good timing, I’m replacing the upper UJ on my non pas Griffith. I completely undid the rack and that let me drop the intermediate shaft off the upper UJ. Now the the steering column shaft is stuck on the UJ. I’ve tried splitting open the clamp with a cold chisel to loosen it but no joy yet. Soaking it in penetrating oil right now. Any tips for pulling off the UJ?
Gordon, I assume you have removed the pinch bolt rather than just easing it off - but worth a mention. With that out of the way, on one of my TVRs I had a similar issue; to remove the u-joint I found that the tip of the shaft protruded slightly in to the yoke such that I could take a good size screwdriver and put it between the shaft's end and the spider - pressing the shaft out that little bit. Once it started moving it was just a matter of pushing it in and out a couple of times and then it came free. Obviously if the shaft protrudes enough that the edge of the splines are visible within the yoke you will want to be careful to not damage them!
Good luck.
Good luck.
I feel your pain - I've just separated mine after a real battle! The way I did it was as people have mentioned - the spline was showing within the UJ by a small amount so I carefully used a ball joint splitter (the type that's like a wedge shaped, two-pronged fork), carefully tapping it into the UJ so that it pushed the splined end out. I found that by the time the spline end wash flush with the UJ, it was still too tight, so I placed a small nut on the top of the spline end and placed the splitter back in and tapped. This pushed the nut, which pushed the shaft out. 
BIG DUNC said:
Certainly on mine, (pre cat Griff) it is not possible to slide the UJs up the splines far enough to get sufficient clearance and therefore the rack has to be unbolted to allow UJs to be removed or refitted.
You're correct in that they can't be split individually. You need to remove all four pinch pins. This allows three of the splines to be pushed further in. That gives plenty of for one spline to be withdrawn. Once one is out they can all be separatedTo take it off, about a year ago, all four pinch bolts were removed and the UJs pushed up as far up the shafts as they would go (on mine, the shafts have a wider diameter than the splines). There was not enough clearance to remove a UJ so I undid the rack bolts.
A month ago I bolted the rack back into the chassis, having been assured that it should be possible to fit the column UJ with it in situ.
At that time the body was off, but it has since been refitted onto the chassis.
Last night I tried to connect the column to the rack. The UJs will slide up and down the splines without too much force required, but even with each UJ being slid as far as it will go on the shaft (i.e. it wont go any further as the shaft is larger diameter beyond the splines), there is too much length to connect the shaft to the rack. My weekend job list now includes "remove steering rack bolts in order to fit UJ".
Edited to add, you can see in the photo a few posts up that the shaft is a greater diameter beyond the splines.
A month ago I bolted the rack back into the chassis, having been assured that it should be possible to fit the column UJ with it in situ.
At that time the body was off, but it has since been refitted onto the chassis.
Last night I tried to connect the column to the rack. The UJs will slide up and down the splines without too much force required, but even with each UJ being slid as far as it will go on the shaft (i.e. it wont go any further as the shaft is larger diameter beyond the splines), there is too much length to connect the shaft to the rack. My weekend job list now includes "remove steering rack bolts in order to fit UJ".
Edited to add, you can see in the photo a few posts up that the shaft is a greater diameter beyond the splines.
Edited by BIG DUNC on Thursday 12th April 16:45
bobfather said:
UKAuto said:
Gordon, I assume you have removed the pinch bolt rather than just easing it off.
The pinch bolt passes through a slot cut into the spline. The UJ won't slide off the rod if the pinch bolt is still presentgeeman237 said:
Yep, got the pinch bolts out and yes did get a little leverage with a pry bar on the end of the spline. It did move a bit but now the column spline shaft end face is flush with the UJ body. Thanks for the nut trick. I’ll have another go.
Result ! The nut trick worked. 
Due to the cutouts in the shaft for the pinch bolts there’s a natural alignment that should take between the top and bottom UJ.
This is my top UJ with steering set dead straight as set at Tvr
And it’s orientation to the bottom one.
I’ve had to do these a few times now and I could never disengage shaft without first loosening rack bolts to give me more movement. When assembling use some grease on the splines so if you fail to line them up properly first time it’s easier to disassemble again!
Hope the pics help.
This is my top UJ with steering set dead straight as set at Tvr
And it’s orientation to the bottom one.
I’ve had to do these a few times now and I could never disengage shaft without first loosening rack bolts to give me more movement. When assembling use some grease on the splines so if you fail to line them up properly first time it’s easier to disassemble again!
Hope the pics help.
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