DD steering shaft

68 Cuda with a Hemi Denny front end. What's the easiest way to modify the steering column to form the DD end. Can I do it myself?

Borgeson has joints that may work for you.

I have the joints. I was wondering the easiest way to make the end of the steering column a DD end.

If the shaft is solid, you may have it milled with some flats. If is hollow, you will have to weld and/or pin the joint to the shaft. On two projects I'm doing at work, I welded the smooth 3/4" end of the joint to the shafts. One was hollow, 49 Ford F1 keeping the old column and adapting to the new chassis which is an 04 Ford Explorer with a rack, the solid shaft is on a 62 Nova being converted to p/s with the Borgeson box and shortened outer column tube/inner tube which contains the upper shaft bearing. Borgeson does make a shaft for the Nova, just for that conversion, but I was instructed to modify the existing one and make it happen.

I would think the milling solution on a solid shaft would be pretty straight forward and easy, just be sure you have a radius cut on the transition, rather then a corner, if it were mine, just a matter of set-up in the mill.

I would just weld on an adapter, if that works for your application.

Welding on a steering shaft gives me memories of Senna's demise,

From Wiki:
"The criminal charges focused on the car's steering column, which was found to have sheared off at a point where a modification had been made. The prosecution alleged that the column had failed causing the accident and the Williams team conceded to this failure, but only as caused by the crash impact. Senna had not liked the position of the steering wheel relative to his seating position and had asked for it to be changed. Patrick Head and Adrian Newey satisfied Senna's request by having the FW16's existing shaft cut and extended with a smaller-diameter piece of tubing that was welded together with reinforcing plates. The modification was carried out in this manner as there was insufficient time to instead manufacture a longer steering shaft in time for the race."

There's always one extreme or the other when this comes up. I, for one, struggle to see why people get so unsettled when discussing welding on steering.

So it's not okay to weld on the column, but joe welder can fabricate my Hotchkis control arms and nobody bats an eye? My brake caliper brackets from Wilwood? Yea, those are welded too, are those not important? The rear diff is held in the car by welded spring perches, can that not send me flying off the highway?

At what point is it not okay? There are plenty of welded parts on the car that see significantly higher loads than what a driver can put into a steering box [usually a powered one].


I suppose I trust it because my entire Jeep was held together with my welds, and I am by far not a certified welder. Tie rod, welded. Drag link, welded. Control arms [8], welded. Track bar mounts, welded. Axle C's to the housing, welded. I drove 50,000 miles on those welds, heavily off-roaded it and it turned 150# 37" wheel assemblies. Zero failures.

Yep, done it several times. Either use an end mill with a radiused corner or mill it using the side of the cutter.