The coupler isn't intended to be a universal joint. It's intended to isolate some of the vibes from the chassis and, I suspect, correct for any production misalignment of the steering box and column.
Make yer mind up. My early column/box met at quite a jaunty angle, but mybe because the front had been crashed so many times.
I didnt suggest the bay steering coupling is a universal joint. My points are about safety and are relevant to the topic and based on personal experience when my old coupling failed. I mentioned the mgb steering u/j which is there to accommodate the 'jaunty alignment' between the column and steering rack. It is sturdy and strong unlike the rubber disk.
I doubt if VW were interested in isolating the occupants from vibration. The rubber coupling was/is just a cheap way to accommodate the inevitable misalignment between the steering box and column.
Yup i can find them for bugs but not busses http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Poly-T1-...ering-Box-Shock-Red-Bug-T3-Ghia-/160948408203
Maybe someone whos good at dealing with companys should have a natter with deflex or powerflex and send them a coupling to see if they would be interested in making a bus batch If brazzy ones are drying up there may be a market for them?
Its hard to tell whats real and whats fake these days.. The VW might have been buffed off to legitimise a counterfeit part, that way they could sell them without breaching copyright.. or comeback in event of failure? Ref bendibility, If its rubber its probably there for compliance, a wee bit of fexibility and give.. for whatever reason!! Ford, among many other manufacturer used flexible rubber steering couplings, we called them rag joints in our garage and they sure could get pretty ragged after a few years of hard use, but I never saw one fail... you could take those ones from the store and bend them with ease, but I have to say they were constructed a wee bit differently. My new coupling says VW on it, but it probably isnt.. the only bits you can trust to be VW are the worn out bits your throwing in the bin.. Sounds like a lot of this bay window stuff is getting hard to find..... better buy a splitty, the fake market does everything for them Found this link, seems they still use then... and call them rag joints, they are constructed different to the VW part http://www.flamingriver.com/index.php/products/c0005/s0001
Just had a thought the couplings have a metal mesh in them to reinforce them so the ones that are easily bent must be missing that
The one I pictured has no reinforcement. As for the poly one for a bug - neither has that, but a bug front end is super light compared to a bus?
One of the problems with aftermarket ones is they can short out through the mesh making the horn sound. Saying that I haven't cut up a genuine one so maybe a gen doesn't have it?
Genuine has reinforcement, but appears like woven glass fibres or similar IIRC. Or they could just be more carefully made with the reinforcement stopping short of the bolt holes?
I can't vouch for the quality of these but it may be of help: http://www.serial-kombi.com/en-GB/b...ling-disc-8/1967-7/1979-genuine-quality-n3360
Back to the "old real" v "new real". The old genuine ones were almost square, the new "genuine" ones are much more rounded.
Yeah - I've lost the plot on these now - as rubber deteriorates is a "new real" therefore better than an "old real"?
'Fink the main thing is to avoid the type I pictured, those really do fall to pieces and tear before you've done more than a few hundred miles. It is this type I found wrapped around a customers brake pedal after he drove back from France on the bolts with 1/2 turn+ of free play (that would have been no steering at all if he'd pulled the steering wheel up 1/2").
