Steering Column Play
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 67
Likes: 11
From: Dayton, OH
Steering Column Play
So I went ahead and pulled the steering wheel tonight, hoping for an easy fix...to no avail. With the wheel on, I get enough side-to-side and up-and-down play that I want to fix it. After I pulled the wheel off and tried to move the shaft by itself there isn't much play (reduced leverage I'm guessing).
My book hasn't arrived yet so I'm stuck at how to remove the turn signal switch over the shaft, it's also a tilt column I found out. I am hoping to replace the upper bearing thinking that it took the most "pulling" by people getting in and out. Should I order the lower bearings as well? The Shifter spring looks like it could use a replace, almost feel like buying a rebuilt column at this point...I'm getting too old and lazy!!
Thoughts?
My book hasn't arrived yet so I'm stuck at how to remove the turn signal switch over the shaft, it's also a tilt column I found out. I am hoping to replace the upper bearing thinking that it took the most "pulling" by people getting in and out. Should I order the lower bearings as well? The Shifter spring looks like it could use a replace, almost feel like buying a rebuilt column at this point...I'm getting too old and lazy!!
Thoughts?
Moderator & parts slinger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 50,247
Likes: 5,815
From: S/W Missouri, Polk county
"First you need to remove the steering wheel, then the turn signal switch. Drive the roll pin out of the gear shift and pull it out. There is some spring pressure to work against to get the shifter out. Then, underneath the turn signal switch are two nuts. Try loosening these first then remove the casting. These are what "clamps" the collar in place. If you take the nuts all the way off the little square head bolts might fall into the steering column and can be a real pain to retrieve.
Once all that's out of the way, you can pull the shift collar off. To remove the turn signal switch, you need to remove the phillips head screws that hold the switch in place. Unplug the switch harness under the dash. Look at the harness plug, then look at the terminals, there are little plastic fingers that lock them in place. Depress the fingers and pull the wires out of the plug. Be sure to make a chart of where the wires go.
Once the plug is removed, tie a string around the wires and pull the switch out all the way. The string will make getting the wires back through easier. The shift collar just pulls off and the new one pushes on. After that reassemble in reverse order."
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 887
Likes: 70
From: Santa Clarita
Here's a post by user @meangreen92 with even more detail on the process. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17903778
and a post I did that showed my recent switch replacement: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19762546
When I took my column apart (which was not a tilt column) I found that my lower bearing was not seating in place properly and that was the cause of my play. I replaced the lower bearing assembly with this style one from ebay: ALL-METAL-Lower-Steering-Column-Bearing-76-79-Bronco-and-74-79-Ford-Truck. I opted to have it welded in place, which meant drilling out the original spot welds and removing the original lower retainer.
That along with ensuring the sleeve-steering-column-tube-bearing was a good fit tightened things up for me. I used an original metal bearing rather than one of these plastic replacements.
and a post I did that showed my recent switch replacement: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19762546
When I took my column apart (which was not a tilt column) I found that my lower bearing was not seating in place properly and that was the cause of my play. I replaced the lower bearing assembly with this style one from ebay: ALL-METAL-Lower-Steering-Column-Bearing-76-79-Bronco-and-74-79-Ford-Truck. I opted to have it welded in place, which meant drilling out the original spot welds and removing the original lower retainer.
That along with ensuring the sleeve-steering-column-tube-bearing was a good fit tightened things up for me. I used an original metal bearing rather than one of these plastic replacements.
Thread Starter
|
Cross-Country
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 67
Likes: 11
From: Dayton, OH
Here's a post by user @meangreen92 with even more detail on the process. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17903778
and a post I did that showed my recent switch replacement: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19762546
When I took my column apart (which was not a tilt column) I found that my lower bearing was not seating in place properly and that was the cause of my play. I replaced the lower bearing assembly with this style one from ebay: ALL-METAL-Lower-Steering-Column-Bearing-76-79-Bronco-and-74-79-Ford-Truck. I opted to have it welded in place, which meant drilling out the original spot welds and removing the original lower retainer.
That along with ensuring the sleeve-steering-column-tube-bearing was a good fit tightened things up for me. I used an original metal bearing rather than one of these plastic replacements.
and a post I did that showed my recent switch replacement: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19762546
When I took my column apart (which was not a tilt column) I found that my lower bearing was not seating in place properly and that was the cause of my play. I replaced the lower bearing assembly with this style one from ebay: ALL-METAL-Lower-Steering-Column-Bearing-76-79-Bronco-and-74-79-Ford-Truck. I opted to have it welded in place, which meant drilling out the original spot welds and removing the original lower retainer.
That along with ensuring the sleeve-steering-column-tube-bearing was a good fit tightened things up for me. I used an original metal bearing rather than one of these plastic replacements.
Now to tackle the speedometer cable and transfer case output seal....after it warms up!!
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Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 67
Likes: 11
From: Dayton, OH
"First you need to remove the steering wheel, then the turn signal switch. Drive the roll pin out of the gear shift and pull it out. There is some spring pressure to work against to get the shifter out. Then, underneath the turn signal switch are two nuts. Try loosening these first then remove the casting. These are what "clamps" the collar in place. If you take the nuts all the way off the little square head bolts might fall into the steering column and can be a real pain to retrieve.
Once all that's out of the way, you can pull the shift collar off. To remove the turn signal switch, you need to remove the phillips head screws that hold the switch in place. Unplug the switch harness under the dash. Look at the harness plug, then look at the terminals, there are little plastic fingers that lock them in place. Depress the fingers and pull the wires out of the plug. Be sure to make a chart of where the wires go.
Once the plug is removed, tie a string around the wires and pull the switch out all the way. The string will make getting the wires back through easier. The shift collar just pulls off and the new one pushes on. After that reassemble in reverse order."
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