Steering column squeak
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Steering column squeak
New to the forum guys. I inherited a 74 F-250 2wd Camper Special with a C4/390 from my grandfather. Fantastic truck. Amazing condition with 90k miles on it. I drive wonderfully after a few items have been taken care of. There is one problem that I can't find. I've got an awful squeak behind the steering wheel. It's almost constant. Doesn't happen when just turning the wheel or anything like that. It seems to be from vibration as it will occasionally squeak when idling at a stop light. It certainly squeaks a lot more when driving on rough roads. I've pulled the entire column apart and greased everything and it made no difference. Any ideas? It sounds like it's coming from right behind the steering wheel. Could it be the upper bearing even though I greased the heck out of it? Thanks for the help!!
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2009
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My Crew Cab had a similar problem when I bought it. I traced it to the rag joint. Someone had replaced it and reassembled the joint incorrectly. The two metal pieces in the joint (the upper and lower shaft halves) should be offset 90*. On mine they were bolted together. This defeats the purpose of the rag joint and allows all the vibrations and stress to transfer to the steering column. If the rag joint appears to be assembled properly, try loosening the mounting points on the steering column and moving it up a very slight amount. The column may be bumping against the lower shaft. Moving it up 1/8 of an inch will give it clearance and relieve the stress.
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Rag joint looks good. Would have never thought to look there. As far as the column rubbing, are your referring to the upper mounting bolts under the dash or where the column passes through the firewall? I had thought of installing washers under the dash mounting bolts to effectively space the column down, but not sure if that would accomplish anything. Thanks for the info!
Ford Parts Specialist
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From: Simi Valley, CA
Upper/lower steering column bearings (1973/79 F100/350 2WD: upper different than lower) are packed at the factory with white lithium grease. Grease dries out, bearings squeek like a herd of mice.
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So I replaced the upper bearing and sleeve. No change to the noise. Still as bad as ever. I did however notice while looking at a column diagram today that I'm missing the upper column spring. It looks as if the steering wheel puts pressure on the spring loading the upper bearing. Any idea if the lack of this spring could cause this type of noise?
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I've replaced the upper bearing and I noticed the spring under the steering wheel was missing. I've reaplaced that and it hasn't helped at all. The noise seems to be coming from the upper bearing area, but I can't pin point it. What's odd is if the wheel is held straight while driving or turned to the right, the noise persists. If I barely turn it to the left, the noise stops. If I press fairly hard on the steering wheel, I can get the squeak to subside as well. Any thoughts? Pull the column and replace the lower bearing?
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