loose steering wheel
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2007
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loose steering wheel
my steering wheel seems to be loose right where the tilt mechanism is. Is there a way of tighting this if i pull my steering wheel and work my way down to the tilt to tighten that
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
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Do you mean a left right wobble in the wheel itself, or does the whole column move?
I once saw a Cougar where one of the pivot pins on the tilt had worked its way out and had to be tapped back in. There is also a u-joint that could be loose.
Problem is either way you will need to pull the wheel and the turn signal switch/brush assembly in order to see whats going on. Be prepared to use a 5/8" socket under the dash to drop the whole column so you can unplug the wiring harness to get the slack you will need to get the switch/brush assembly out of your way.
The turn signal lever will have to come out first and I recommend something with rubber lined jaws or else you will screw up the paint on it.
Once you have all that out of the way the problem should easy to spot though.
I once saw a Cougar where one of the pivot pins on the tilt had worked its way out and had to be tapped back in. There is also a u-joint that could be loose.
Problem is either way you will need to pull the wheel and the turn signal switch/brush assembly in order to see whats going on. Be prepared to use a 5/8" socket under the dash to drop the whole column so you can unplug the wiring harness to get the slack you will need to get the switch/brush assembly out of your way.
The turn signal lever will have to come out first and I recommend something with rubber lined jaws or else you will screw up the paint on it.
Once you have all that out of the way the problem should easy to spot though.
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 53
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From: Arizona
There are 3-4 screws under the plate that are prone to loosening up. You need a steering wheel removal tool, lock plate tool and a retaining pin tool-all will make the job a whole lot easier. Remove the wheel, lock plate, both side pins and you should see the retaining screws. I removed mine, cleaned and reinstalled with thread locker. I've had to do this on every tilt column vehicle I ever owned-all 4x4's. All the previous owners used the wheel to get into the vehicle-wrong.................. I have to get on my 5'2" wife all the time about this. Unless there is a broken component this will fix the problem 90% of the time.
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billyb
1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
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Dec 14, 2000 07:08 PM
