Steering will be going into my truck soon....and i'm in need of a bearing for the end of the column, od of the column is 1.405" shaft od of 3/4". Does the bearing need to be really tight in there? looking for some do's and don'ts...suggestions???
Do you have a Tractor Supply around there? I buy a sealed flanged roller bearing from them. It is sized to go in tubing and is used in wheelbarrows and such. It is 1.5 OD and .75 ID. The main body is less than 1.5 to go into the tubing. The flange keeps it from sliding into the tubing too far. Cost about $2. Bearing houses would have the same thing but I live in the sticks so I have a TS. I put a spacer under the stering wheel to set heigth and put a clamp on the shaft on the bottom to hold it all together.
PBR, First off, do you mean the ID of your column is 1.405" (35.69mm)? An easy route woud be a standard sealed ball bearing from your local bearing distributor (Motion Industires, etc). You could use a standard 36x19mm ball bearing and modify your housing according to the press fit requirements. Be carefull pressing these into place as you can very easily brinnel the races. Only press on the inner race to install it on the shaft, then only the outer race to press into the housing. You can use a rubber mallet tapped lightly against the side of the shaft, after installation, to lossen any tight spots (misalignment) during shaft rotation. Good luck.
another vote for the tractor supply.......also had the locking collar i used for my column as well.....worth a look......you'll probably find more stuff you can use there as well......brandon
Sounds like you've got a lot of good suggestions already...another place that carries bearings is OSH (Orchard Hardware Supply...not sure if there's one out your way). Another option is to use the bearing and housing from a late-model GM column. I sectioned my original column and just welded the housing to the end of it. Because the GM bearing retainer was pretty ugly, I just bought a collar from OSH for a 3/4" shaft and put it on the steering-shaft between the u-joint and the end of the column (not in this pic 'cause I was still in mock-up). It secures to the shaft with a set-screw. Bryan
Motion industrys sells every bearing imaginable. Take your bearing or shaft into them they'll fix you up. They have stores in Georgia and NO I don't work for them. https://www.motionindustries.com/motion3/jsp/mi/motion.jsp
i like to use 1/2 of a pete & jakes 4-bar bushings and the steel sleeve. id of the bushing is 3/4" . the OD of the steel sleeve usually slides into the 1-1/2" column tube.weld in in though a couple holes , install the bushing and a collar and your done
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