Steering shaft diameter

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Will_H#24

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I'm looking to add power steering to my non power steering 69 Dart 340 Swinger. The kits are specific to the steering shaft diameter.. How can I find this out other than tearing it apart?

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3/4".
But since installing one of the "kits" will require you to remove the steering column and cut & shorten the shaft, consider placing an ad for a power steering column for your Dart. There are guys on this forum looking to do the opposite- go from power steering to manual- and would give their eyeteeth for the longer manual column. Given equal condition, a straight up trade could save you some bucks, especially if you're not doing the work yourself (and take the guesswork out of indexing a cut column to the new coupler/U-joint).
 
You can put an adjustable wrench on the shaft, snug it up, then put the wrench on a ruler. A dial caliper is a another fairly cheap way.

You can also wrap a piece of string around the shaft, put a mark across the string where it overlaps, then pull the string and measure the distance between the marks to find the circumference of the circle.
 
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This is what I was trying to understand.

Were you talking about the steering column steering shaft (blue)

Or the steering gear input shaft. (Yellow)

I'm doing the reverse to you.

I'm replacing my power steering with manual steering.

I have a column shift manual column and the PS console shift column

I'm going to swap the steering shaft from one column to the other.

Screenshot_20240731-172912.png
 
Dana67Dart said:
This is what I was trying to understand.

Were you talking about the steering column steering shaft (blue)

Or the steering gear input shaft. (Yellow)

I'm doing the reverse to you.

I'm replacing my power steering with manual steering.

I have a column shift manual column and the PS console shift column

I'm going to swap the steering shaft from one column to the other.

View attachment 1716283443
Click to expand...
I'm not sure but I think the blue. I'm just looking into it at this time. Thanks for the reply.
 
Will_H#24 said:
I'm just looking into it at this time.
Click to expand...
So what does this mean? "I'm ok with a vague answer?" I don't understand. Either you want accurate information or you don't. I can give you accurate answers as I have several steering shafts out in the shop, but I need to know exactly what measurements you're lookin for.
 
FYI...

The u joint coupler that is sold with these kits will resonate the steering box noise into the car

My mom's 65 mustang has a kit like that installed and when you turn the wheel you can hear and feel the fluid In The box moving.

It's very annoying.

Stick with stock components and you will be happier
 
I know I’m late entering this but the only shaft DIAMETER that changed was the pitman shaft. A 66 A body would be the smaller of the two.
A bodies got the bigger pitman shaft in 73 on the power steering only.
 
AbodyBB said:
I know I’m late entering this but the only shaft DIAMETER that changed was the pitman shaft. A 66 A body would be the smaller of the two.
A bodies got the bigger pitman shaft in 73 on the power steering only.
Click to expand...

i asked if he was talking about the proper steering shaft. never got a reply.
 
Dana67Dart have you done the swap yet? Wanted to se if you could measure the p/s shaft. I bought a p/s floor shift column from a member, I rebuilt it and just tried putting it the car (68 barracuda) and it’s 1 to 1 1/2 to short. From what I’m understanding the shaft is probably collapsed a bit. Here’s a pic the coupler pushes in and out about 1 1/4, the column is bolted in.
Thanks

IMG_2412.jpeg


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Go to mymopar.com and get your cars Factory service manual.

There are specifications for where things should be mounted

I have not done the swap yet, AND the column shift vs floor shift columns are a different length. The steering shaft would be the same, but the distance from the end of the column to the end of the shaft will/may be different
 
I was wrong about the column length?
Floor shift or column shift are the same length column tube


This is manual with column shift
PXL_20240916_033821441.jpg

This is power with floor shift
PXL_20240916_033721013.jpg

Both are measured from under the floor bracket in its as removed position.

Coupler pulled all the way out.
 
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