Unicorn Alert: Rubber Steering Coupler

[siteunseen]

14 minutes ago, dhp123166 said:

I have heard of drivers making their own s-30 ZCAR steering couplers out of hockey pucks.

 

Never seen one though...

Now you have. 

[zKars]

Thank you for not making me find that picture again!

[ta240]

On 12/15/2016 at 9:56 PM, S30Driver said:

This might be one of those cases where rubber is better that poly for a street car.   The polurethane ones transmit too much road feedback thru the steering column.   The oem ones I am guessing are NLA.

Finally a situation where I didn't throw out the old part when I tried the 'better' new one.   I didn't realize the rubber ones weren't available anymore.  I tried the poly bushing and although I loved the solid feel in corners they were to few on my commute to make it worth the harshness the rest of the time.   Now that the commute is growing near 2 1/2 hours round trip and the roads are falling apart smoother is often better.

I have an attic filling up with original and spare parts but 9 out of 10 times when I need the original again it was an item that I thought 'why would I need this someday' and threw out.

[jfa.series1]

8 hours ago, siteunseen said:

Now you have. 

When you look at the engineering on the OE coupler, a couple of things stand out: the hole in the middle and cross-shaped grooves.  I'm not an engineer and I'm strictly hypothesizing here but I suspect the hole is to allow for some torque relief.  As to the grooves, when I twisted the OE unit I just sold I realized they provided some relief for the U-joints around the coupler and could reduce the side load on the bolts and bushings.  Just guessing you understand.

[siteunseen]

7 hours ago, zKars said:

Thank you for not making me find that picture again!

I apologize for not giving you the credit. You get a standing ovation for that work of art!  I only wish it had worked. 

I linked the address bar instead of your post. 

[veejayz]

I received the 'unicorn' today, and it is as described.  Thanks Jim.

As to why I wanted rubber, it is strictly for drive-ability.  The car came to me with one of the hard plastic couplers.  It was pretty harsh, but the entire suspension system was shot, so there were more issues involved.  The car is currently on a rotisserie, and when it goes back together I plan on going with a combination of poly and rubber bushings, going with the advice I have seen on these forums.  

Whitehead performance claims that their coupler is a softer grade of poly, so it would be interesting to compare it to the regular poly and to the oem rubber.  Not cheap either at about $50.  Rubbers for these cars can add up in a hurry