"Look at the dates. Robin started it. Butch's post was a separate topic that appears to have been moved to this one?
Also, fyi on the rag joint comment. Stock steering column has a metal plate with posts that interlock at the rag joint so there is still minimal control even when the rag fails."
Thanks, Terry, and Norm for clarifying. Yes, correct on rag joint.
I saw a comment about the mounting of the Dodge Omni rack being maybe kinda cheesy on the Studie? If you see the original mount on that car you'll see that it isn't exactly Abrams tank specs, bare minimum. Doesn't take much to hold it secure.
Tie rod is behind axle on my Town Wagon, and I have the Omni R&P rack here so I already studied this. I ended up figuring I'd use 2 u-joints to get my angles right, with one like a tractor 3 point PTO CV joint, slip jointed. No doubt it would work very well. Only reason I didn't do it yet is time, money & health.
Months & months of research results below, some parts being extremely hard to find due to 'correct nomenclature' problems! Brought to your free courtesy of DTA & JimmieD
I found replacement Dodge Omni & many other R&P's real cheap, like around $100 brand new, but their prices just went to $195: [
www.powersteeringpros.com]
Other R&P & related units:
[
www.howeperformance.com]
[
www.nationalhotrodsupply.com]
[
www.hotrodexpress.com]
Some heavy duty parts here:
[
www.trucksteeringparts.com]
[
www.autowhse.com] [This one looked flaky...]
[
www.yogisinc.com]
A guy may also need metric hose fittings: [
www.discounthydraulichose.com]
Steering arms:
[
rockauto.com]
[
rockauto.com]
[
www.rareparts.com]
Other possible info/parts:
[
www.federalmogul.com]
PTO joints, slip joints, slip yokes, Cardan & Double Cardan CV's:
[
www.ggmfg.com]
[
www.agrisupply.com]
[
www.sweettractors.com]
[
www.ssbtractor.com]
[
www.agrisupply.com]
[
theujointstore.com]
Surplus parts, may have to fiddle with the URL to get in? They have some neat stuff stashed:
[
www.surpluscenter.com]
Obviously prices & product quality may vary widely at these sites, caveat emptor....