My car does not have a tilt wheel, does anyone know if the Dorman kit 31000 work OK on that?
Any tip on swapping it out?
Thanks - hoping to get rid of the excessive play in the coupler.
It has a link for finding out if it fits your car. I forgot what year COugar you have. But when I checked for both a 1967 and 1970 both came back as “Does Not Fit”. You should be able to find a kit to rebuild yours.
I did find this assembly, https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/suspension---steering-16778/steering-16645/steering-coupling-assembly-12606/528470040fee/1967/mercury/cougar?q=steering+coupling+assembly
Thanks Neal.
Just do a search for your year Cougar rag joint and you’ll find several sources for it (also different prices).
Good morning - for a 1971 non-tilt steering set up do I need to drop the column to swap the coupler out? I thought I’d be able to simply push the column back into the firewall a bit but wanted to ask before diving into this.
Thanks in advance for the coaching.
Happy Friday!
For my 70 I got a Lares 202 Steering Coupler from RockAuto . $18 plus tax and shipping
The 70 and 71 aren’t necessarily the same since the 1971 used the Saginaw steering gear… I would be interested to know if the Dorman part you mention fits your car since I need to replace the coupler in my 71. Personally I would pull the column. Supposedly you can change the coupler without removing the column but it’s probably easier to just go ahead and remove it. It’s pretty tight in there. If you pull the column be careful with the rubber seal where it passes thru the fire wall. Also check the lower column bearing… mine was shot.
Jim
As I recall the Dorman would not fit. I’ve got the brake master cylinder and PB booster coming out, I’m hopeful that will give me sufficient access. The existing coupler looks ok but it is one of the few remaining original rubber components on the car, so if I can change it without too much effort I will. I checked several Cougar and Mustang websites (and probably Lares too) before being convinced that the Lares one was correct. It looks right but I haven’t installed it yet.
Well, looks like the Lares 201 I was sent won’t work. 
Need to get my hands on a 202.
Good morning all, I wanted to share this in an attempt to give something back to the community. My car is a 1971 bass cougar without a tilt wheel.
The Lares 201 coupler will definitely not work with this set up because it is thicker or taller than the original. Hopefully this picture is clear, if you look at the difference in height it is significant enough that it won’t clear the working space.
Thanks for the info as I will be doing the same repair soon. did you order the lares 202? Hopefully it fits…
The Lares 202 is in route, will let you know.
Update - the Dorman 31000 kit has holes that are slightly off and it will need to be stretched a bit. The pins fit perfectly, but the fold over tabs do NOT fit from the original unit as the Dorman kit is has a larger outer diameter.
Dorman 31002 is too small for a 1971 without tilt wheel…
Lares 202 schedule for delivery today, will report back once I t arrives.
Lares 202 is too thick to fit, same issue as the 201. Both times he metal part and the rubber disk are shaped differently than OEM.
Looks like I’m going to have to use the Dorman 31000 and fabricate the metal tangs to fit properly.
I would never of thought that this was going to immobilize the car for this long – kind of frustrating.
Mounted the Lares 202 on my 70 Cougar today (Fixed column and Power steering). The hub and rubber element are slightly thicker but sliding it a little further down the steering gear shaft takes care of that.
MAJOR EDIT and CORRECTION:
The coupler fits on nicely if you remove the clamping bolt first. Once it is tapped down in to position there is clearance on the reduced section of the steering box shaft for the bolt to slide in. Hopefully it will slide down the extra bit I need for its thickness. If you attempt to slide it on with the bolt in place and stay focused on that approach you will end up modifying the bolt for clearance - bad idea. I did pry to coupler split open a little. It now slides on with a few gentle taps, Still need to rehang the steering column and check specified 0.250" clearance.
NOTE: The Ford Service Manual detail for the Mustang and Cougar (Fig 4) is a detail of the top of the column only. It does not show the Mustang Cougar mounting as the text references. It it does the mounting for all other models. The Cougar Chassis assembly manual has a good detail but Fig. 7 in the shop manual is very close to the Mustang/Cougar mounting and should be sufficient.
I went ahead and did the steering box adjustment while I was in there.
I have the master cylinder and brake booster out for repairs, the steering work is quite accessible and lot simpler with this access from the top.
Thanks for posting your experience. Sound like you have it sorted.
After talking with some of the 1971 mustang guys I’ve come to the conclusion that you need to remove the steering box for a base not until 71 to make this repair.