When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So, I've been working on our 1997 F-150. The steering wheel had had a bunch of play for awhile, and then the shift tube broke. So I dropped the column down to replace the shift tube and decided to fix the play in the steering wheel while I had it apart. There was so much damage to the steering shaft, that I had to drop the column and replace the shaft with another one I pulled from a salvage yard.
I've got the steering column all back together now, but can't get it mounted back to the dash. When I hook up the coupler at the bottom of the steering shaft, the mounting studs do not line up. The column is about 1/2"-3/4" too far towards the back of the truck.
The shaft looks seated to me at the coupler. If can't go in any further due to the retaining spring. The wheels turn when I turn the intermediate shaft and I do not feel any back and forth play there. What am I missing here?
It appears that the second picture was taken under the dashboard with the top of the picture being closest to the REAR of the truck
At first look, it seems that the coupling just before the U-joint (appears to be cast aluminum) could sit a bit further back on the steering wheel shaft. The gap between the two halves looks too wide and there appears to be a groove on the shaft that looks like where it should go. Try loosening the clamping bolts on the coupling and giving the wheel & shaft a push. Alternately, try prying the coupling gently toward the REAR of the truck.
This would pull the steering wheel closer to the FRONT of the truck once everything is reassembled. It might require 2 people to do in order to keep the spring compressed.
The shaft is as far in the coupling as it can go - which is where the spring makes contact with the coupler. The retaining bolt will pass through the coupler and lock the shaft in. The spring will only compress about a 1/4" or so. I had a real tough time getting it out too. It seems as if the intermediate shaft is too far rearward but it looks fine at the steering box and I don't feel any play in it. I'm going to try again with some help this weekend, hopefully we'll figure it out. I have other projects stacking up and need this one done!
Well, I finally figured it out. This is my first steering column and I didn't realize that the steering shaft under the hood was a slip joint. I wondered, but when I couldn't get it to move I just figured it wasn't. The slip joint had seized up and took the lock housing bearings with it. I pulled a new shaft out of a junk yard truck and we're putting it back together now.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
