While I did this modification last summer, I only recently became aware of this Forum, and thought you guys would appreciate it.
Ever Since I bought my Van I was irritated with the loose steering. When new to me, I had noticed the Boot over the steering coupler had disintegrated, and there was a lot of slop in the coupler. But It was not broken, and I did not fix it.
When the steering gear started leaking profusely, it was time to address both issues at once. At first I figured I would rebuild the OEM coupler, but then suspected the cup was very worn as well, and the rebuild kit would only help to somewhat to eliminate slack. I then found it impossible to aquire a new coupler and looked for other options.
So After some research, I found that Dodge Steering gears use a 5/8 inch 36 spline attachment point, and that my steering column had a 3/4 inch DD shaft recepticle.
So I ordered these 2 parts:
Flaming River U joint DD steering Shaft I bought an Reman Steering gear from Autozone, Atsco or Apsco brand, I forget which.
I also bought a cheap fuel filter for flushing the Power steering system and a magnetic inline filter for the return hose. and new hydraulic hoses.
At First I thought I was going to have to unbolt the Column from the floor to remove the old coupler, and gear. Since I knew I was not going to reuse the old steering shaft, I instead took an angle grinder with a cut off wheel and just cut the old steering shaft. I was then easily able to remove the old coupler and Steering gear without unbolting the column from the floor.
I found that the DD shaft receptacle within the Steering column was very deep, and instead of cutting the new shaft short and drilling a hole through it for a bolt, I would just insert it and let it be. The old coupler would allow for some frame flex, and by not bolting the new shaft into the Column it would act like a telescoping Steering column. I have since noticed that no visible telescoping has occured in the subsequent 9 months
I found the Steering column receptacle is 3/4 diameter DD shape and 12.25 inches deep.
Ultimately I had to cut the DD shaft down to a total length of 13 and 3/4 inches with about 10.25 inches inside the steering column. Any longer and I could not get it to slide in without unbolting the column from the floor.
A couple holes had to be drilled in the Gears spline and the DD shaft for the set screws. Only in the photo did I notice the missing spline indicating the center point, and I missed it by a tooth. Oh well.
I wound up going overboard making sure I flushed out all the old fluid. I did fill up the PS Pump reservoir and start the engine briefly with the hoses unhooked from the new Gear. The thing was shooting fluid like a garden hose and emptied the reservoir in under 1.5 seconds.
I then installed the cheap in line fuel filter and closed the loop filled it with new fluid and ran the engine, then drained all that fluid, installed new PS hoses, magnetic in line filter, hooked them to the new gear and filled it up, and Bled the system. There was a lot of debris in the catch pan. I did not bother to open up the cheap fuel filter for inspection.
The steering response improved greatly, but there is still some slack. The U joint from the tilt steering and the rebuilt gear itself are the sources of the slop.
Highly recommended upgrade!