I did my BL, and just loosened the front clamp on the spline. After getting the body down on the blocks, it looks like the spline is about 3/16" further out ...



Now for the Q's ...

* Am I pushing it when it comes to coverage of the spline? Should I consider "spacers" at the other end of the lower shaft?

* Is the angle of the steering box normal? I've never seen a steering box canted so much. This has nothing to do with lift, but might be a result of an impact?. It could also be the maker canting the box to clear the rad.

* My wheel has about 1.5" of "play" ... book says 1.2" is in spec, but I don't like steering "play". Is the front of this lower shaft a rag joint that can be renewed?

TIA for help on these Q's.

Rob

There is a notch in the steering box shaft,
the locking bolt goes thru this notch, if the
bolt is still thru and not too tight, you should
be fine, but if the bolt is tight, you might be
pulling the steering box shaft, this will cause
a leak and you won't be a happy camper

The box angle looks OK, I have Manual steering,
so I don't know what a "normal" P/S setup looks
like.  There is no "rag" joint, both ends of the
Track/Kick steering setup are little U-joints

Steering wheel play Do you have a suspension
lift too this usually causes more play in the wheel.

Could you be pulling the steering gear hard
and causing the extra play ? was it like this before
the BL ?

Wild

thx wild ...

The bolt spun with my fingers when I went to tighten things back up so sounds like I'm in good shape there.

The steering play was there before the lift. It's not overly excessive, just feels a little worn. I tried the "shake a wheel" test, but I couldn't get a good look at the linkage. If/when I get an idler arm upgrade, I might redo the bushings on the links too.