Steering Column Coupling Joint Repair

(Rag Joint)

1996 - 2002 Pontiac Firebird Specific

Sweet, ain't she. This is my 1996 Pontiac Formula that I bought off E-bay January 2005 for $4,000.00. Yeah she is in as great of shape as she looks, barring one or two minor details. The first of which was the noticeable 1/8 turn dead spot in my steering.

I immediately logged on to the web to search for possible causes to my situation, everybody was leading towards adjusting the Rack and Pinion of this car (worthless). The problem is on my Firebird and according to the parts guy all Firebird's 1994 and up the Rack and Pinion does not have an adjustment screw on it. Under what would be the adjusting bolt cover is a very stout little spring that continually keeps the right amount of pressure on the back of the rack. If I would have skipped the web pages and gone right to pre-technology type of thinking I would have inspected the rag joint and found that it had failed.

Now before you go running out to your car to find that you can't find the rag joint it is located in that nice little plastic elbow piece just above the rack. It is easily removed from underneath by putting a screwdriver under the driver side tab and lifting it to allow the clamp to pull out. It's basically a releasable plastic wire tie. The top has two brittle pressure tabs so be careful as you release them, if you do break them just use a wire tie at the top to hold it all together.

Back to the internet....

I log back on to find what I know will be a simple replacement rag joint for about $10. only to find they do not make a replacement, this is a dealer only part and of course the dealer won't sell you the rag joint they will sell you only the whole coupling as pictured above ($170.00). If you have them install it they'll hit you for around $300.00.

Below is the step by step plan you need to spend less than $20.00 in parts and a couple hours of time to make this an easy swap.

Apply penetrating oil on lower and upper #11 bolt and joint thoroughly, walk away, bet a coke and when your finished do it again. These bolts are very close to manifold and tend to lock up, not to mention I'd bet they have factory thread lock on them (you'll need to put some on when you're done. Remove the lower and upper #11 bolt. Starting at the lower joint you will see a slot where the bolt was, using a screwdriver or a chisel from the bottom tap it into this slot and if you used penetrating oil this should come off with a few taps of the hammer. Once the lower is loose you can take the upper off. There is a slot for the bolt you took out in the steering column about 1.5 inches long you can use a screwdriver or very small pry bar to start to push the upper joint off the steering column. Take a picture or draw the layout of the coupling making special note which side the brackets are on and the direction of the bolts on either end see above. This needs to go back together the same way to make your life easier and to not interfere with your air bags. Yes air bags. With a cutoff wheel cut the rivets right through the rag joint. See picture on right. After you separate the rag joint and the safety brackets you need to press out those rivets. To do this grind off the top of the rivets, now that it's disasembled you will be able to get at these fairly easy.
After cleaning up the holes in the upper and lower joint you have two choices. You will either need to drill out the holes to accommidate the bolts or you can tap them, I chose tapping them as it gives a firmer connection than drilling could and will work as a lock nut. Reassemble as you pay close attention to your original picture or diagram so it will all go back together nicely. After reassembling using Red Thread Lock on all bolts reverse steps 4 through 1 and replace the Plastic boot you took off for inspection always checking that your steering wheel is lined up with direction of the front wheels. Rotate entire assemble both off the ground and on the ground to make sure it doesn't bind or pivot through the turn.