Lower Pot Joint Question

Hi Guys—need some assistance.

got my new correct steering shaft in from Barney to replace welded one. I was hoping it was a little longer, but it’s a lot longer. Long enough I’m not sure things will fit, and perhaps something else is not right. I’m wondering if my old shaft was shortened for a reason. The steering box is a reman, and I wonder if it’s the wrong one perhaps. I’m still waiting on horn parts, so I haven’t test fit it yet, wanted to avoid problems in case parts need to change.

Could some check their stock setup to compare the values below?

steering column shaft length
Old welded one: 31-3/8”
New one: 35-1/2”

steering column length: 28”
—roughly 9-1/4” in cab from dash mount , and 18-3/4” the other direction

intermediate shaft length: 30-1/8”

steering box shaft length (how much it sticks out from steering box ) 3-3/4”

 

Here is a pic of the steering box shaft:

 

The fact your old one is welded and the new one is too long makes me question what has been modified to shorten the stock set up.
Manual Saginaw boxes use a longer shaft which makes them interchangeable with their power units, so I'm not seeing anything amiss there.

I'm gonna throw out a thought. Someone replaced the bus steering wheel with a dished one. It put the wheel too high, so they cut the stock shaft/tube to lower the wheel down a bit.

I would start by comparing the shaft housing to someone else's to see if it is stock length. If this is the case, you could reinforce the old shaft by welding a coupler (tube) over the poorly welded (brazed) "fix". All would be hidden inside the outer tube so no harm no foul.

The other option is to find an unmolested housing and install your new shaft in that.

 

I have a known correct original manual box and the stick out length is 3-3/4”.
I have a solid DJ inner column and the OAL is 34-3/4” .
I don’t have any DJ books to determine if that part is the same.
Your column shaft is # 999719
Your column tube is # 999720

 

Here's my CJ-6 -

 

Thanks Guys—it looks like someone shortened the steering column on the interior side, and that’s the reason for the shortened steering shaft.

I guess I’m this far down the rabbit hole with parts I might as well get a new steering column as well so everything lines up right.

what started out as a simple bell coupling and u-joint maintenance replacement task turned into steering shaft, column, column bushings, and horn parts. Nature of the beast I guess. It will be right when done at least.

this jeep isn’t a beauty queen, but it’s solid. Still have a ways to go, just want it to be 100% mechanically.

 

Good Job, Always, safety first..