Dodge RamCharger Central banner
Cancel

Rag Joint "cross straps"?

2159 Views 13 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  KThaxton, 
KThaxton
Anybody know the true purpose of the cross straps shown below?
Are they just simply an glorified nut to make assembly easier or are they designed this way for another reason?
The reason I ask is, whenever I tighten them down, they distort the rag joint and they basically pull the steering shaft and the column together to the point that they almost touch each other.
I am wondering if I can just replace the straps with regular nuts and washers?

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 6 of 14 Posts
KThaxton
I've thought of that, but the FSM says to tighten them to 200 inch lbs. They are distorted at 150" lbs. ???
Reply
Save
Like
KThaxton
macario said:
DDGRC84 is right, consider it like a weird looking washer made to distribute the stress. The distortion of the rag joint when tightened to spec is normal. It is kind of a poor design but it works.

Mac
Click to expand...
The thing that is weird, is it didn't used to do this, and my other RC doesn't do this.
I have a suspition that this may have contributed to my old style Borgeson to wear out. The rag joint basically "sucked" the steering shaft towards it and it left less spline contact on the slip joint. This splined slip joint had quite a bit of play in it. Fortunatly, I just got the new style Borgeson shaft and it won't matter (to the slip joint anyway) it it gets sucked up, but I still want to figure it out.
Reply
Save
Like
KThaxton
New rag, same result. I just did some bending of the straps, they were slightly arced. I put it together and it is better, not perfect, but I won't be satisfied unitl I drive it and have it stay where its at. I will look into getting new staps though, thanks Chump.
Unfortunatly, I can't move my RC right now to test it out, after I finished the rag joint, I proceeded to change my cap and rotor on my MSD distributor. I tested the mechanical advance, and it was hard to move. Tore the whole distributor apart (which is cool that it can be done) and found my upper bearing is rusted, and so was the advance mechanism!
TIme to make a gutter on my firewall. :mad:
P.S. It IS okay for me to highjack my own thread! :p
Reply
Save
Like
KThaxton
PrimerGrey said:
When you get that gutter made, would you post some pics. (For those of us too lazy to figure it out for ourselves)
Click to expand...
I intend to. I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but kept putting it off cause I'm lazy. Then I got to looking at it and thought DUH!, It'll so simple, no bending, just a flat piece of steel about 15"x3" and some silicone. I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Thanks for the explanations Danny and superburban, it makes sense, I'll get new straps.
Reply
Save
Like
KThaxton
Well, the rag joint is still looking like it ought to. Must have just been that slight bend that was in the straps.
It's just weird cause the arc that they did have was so slight, it almost wasn't noticable. Live and learn.
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 6 of 14 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Dodge RamCharger Central
RamchargerCentral.Com is a Dodge truck community built by a vast number of experienced owners. Whatever you're thinking about doing from routine maintenance to full-on restoration, odds are somebody around here already has. Originally focused on the Ram Charger / Trail Duster, our members own, drive and wrench on Mopars from the 40s to the current day. It's not what you buy, it's what you build.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Vehicle Help Open Discussions Technical Discussion Ramchargers, Traildusters, Durangos and other SUVs Rams, Power Wagons, D/W 50s, Dakotas and other tru
Top