Upon checking out my steering problems, I discovered that the column has no lower bearing or bushing. The shaft flexes when turning back and forth. The Shaft is 3/4 inch, I will not know what the actual tube ID measures until I remove the column, but it appears the lower column is made out of pipe with an OD of 2". All the bearings I can find on the net give no actual measurements. Any Ideas here? Thanks , RH
A good piece of Oak turned to fit the ID an OD will make a good bushing....You can epoxy it in the column...
Common bearing size at a hardware store. Or a bearing supply. Or McMaster Carr..........................
Those frigging don't work I went to the ER with severe chest pains after making and using a plastic bushing in the steering column of my 51 Merc with power steering (subframed) and found out that every muscle across my chest was inflamed from driving the car to a rod trot 90 miles away and back with that setup. There are easy to find "column savers" Here is the basic search. They are and insert to put in the column with a bearing. steering column saver kit - Google Search
I to have used wheel barrow bearings, work great! They have a flange on one end and you can peen it in or epoxy it in. Hardware stores have different sizes and there cheap
STEEL Lower Steering Column Bearing 76-79 Bronco and 73-79 Ford Truck F150 F250 | eBay made in the usa
Sure like the triple-'set' type screws. Some I had seen slid out, as they were only loose-pressed in...
I tried to remove the column and discovered the lower coupling is welded to the shaft and the upper steering wheel mount is also welded to the shaft. So no way to slide a bearing on without some grinding. I am having trouble getting the shaft coupling off of the box. This appears to be some sort of aftermarket column that has a flange to mount the after market steering wheel with three bolts,,,
Dump that piece of junk and get an 80s/90s GM tilt column, rebuild it and steer with pride. This site has an incredibly detailed how-to on rebuilding the ubiquitous tilt column. Takes all the mystery out of it. Just scroll down quite a way in the thread to the how-to post. I got it several years ago as a PDF that I printed out but you can get all the info you need here. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/088020-3.html
I'm on the fence with my car and a possible tilt column swap. It has no issues, but I'd like some adjustability to improve my driving comfort. Sometimes dicking around with old cobbled together stuff is not the way to go. If you need to search beari ng sizes, check bearing makers, even McMaster Carr should have bearing size information.
Thanks guys, I will get the column out to check the ID of the tube and hunt for a suitable bearing. I'm not going put a tilt column in a gasser, or power steering, or power brakes or AC, or a radio...... Its a gasser!!!! Funny about the "cobbled together stuff" is when you "build" something and it works right its an engineering marvel but if it doesn't work, its "cobbled".
Post some pics , might help to see what you’re dealing with . I’ve done the plastic bushing on some forklifts and heavy equipment where the factory bushing / bearing is no longer available or stupid expensive . Ive done a split bushing and “pinned “ them with roll pins or small screws to save major disassembly. I’ve got the plastic from my machine shop a solid white looking stuff made for bushing material and it’s “ slippery “
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