I was poking around under the hood yesterday when I noticed something that I think might be important. There is a rubber connector on the steering shaft, about 10" from the firewall. It looks like this ties the steering wheel to the steering box, with the rubber acting as a dampner.

Well, the rubber is falling apart- about 1/2 gone. Should I be worried? I think so, but...

Anybody replaced this part? Is it a GM only part, and can I take care of this with normal mechanics tools and know how, or should I just let MR. GoodWrench take care of it?

As always, your comments are appreciated.

That's most commonly reffered to as a rag joint. They are made so that they won't seperate,however,your steering will feel loose. They are replaced from GM with the lower shaft. It's one bolt holding it onto the steering gear,then the whole lower shaft just slides out. You can get a new one from your local GM dealer for about $150 or cheaper if you know a certain somebody 8)

s
you can get a new setup from borgensen which totally replaces the steering shaft and rag joint 8)

I used some rubber from an old tire (the treads, not the sidewall ... so its steel belted) ... and made my own. The stock one on my elky was much like yours... and yes, it is important to fix.

I had to cut out some rivets and so on, but it's definately doable.