here's a couple of pics of my steering column as it is now, i'm wanting to get to the lower bearings to either replace them, or at least clean them up and repack with grease. upper bearings were clean and looked good, i packed some new grease in them and they seem fine, but steering still seems to drag a bit, and feels "dry"....can someone tell me how to get to the lower bearings from here? thanks a bunch, Rick

 

in the second to the last picture you see that black clamp. that is holding the lower barring in place

 

I would measure from the bottom of the plastic part to the end of the shaft, and write down the measurement. Hopefully Jim Shea will answer this. I would like to know, myself. Lou.

 

 

Here is a scan of the the 1968 Corvette steering column lower bearing.

The parts in order from the steering shaft up to the lower end of the steering column:
Clamp, nut, and bolt
Plastic spacer
Cupped Washer
Spring (small end toward the bearing)
Felt Packing (oil soaked on top of spring to prevent corrosion
Cupped Shaped Metal Retainer
Screws (holding Retainer to Strg Column Jacket)
Lower Bearing

Jim

 

thanks everyone for the responses, but the answer i am looking for involves HOW to remove these parts to get to the bearing....i have already removed lower clamp/bolt/nut....the plastic spacer will move upwards toward the spring and bearing with a little pressure, but i cannot get it to slide down and off of the shaft. (is it supposed to?) if the plastic spacer was out of my way, i believe i could remove cupped washer, spring, retainer so that i could expose the bearing. thanks for your input so far, i hope i am making myself clear. Rick

 

Yes, the plastic spacer should slide right off of the steering shaft. Then the spring and washer. Then remove the three or four screws that hold the retainer cup in place. Then the retainer and the lower bearing.

Despite how shiney the steering column shaft appears in your picture, I assume that you must have corrosion between the spacer and the shaft. That must be why the spacer won't just slide off.

Jim

 

The plastic collar should slip off as Jim said. There is likely corrosion on the shaft keeping it in place. You might try spraying liberally with WD40 and let it soak a bit before trying to pull it off. After you get the collar to slip off, the shaft should pull out. The lower bearing is press fit into the column. Whatever you do be gentle if you try to remove it. The column housing is mesh (covered by a plastic cover) and will deform easily if you're too rough with it. Don't ask me how I know....

Do what you can to save that lower bearing. Replacements are very hard to find and exact replacements aren't reproduced. I did find a functional replacement through Long Island Corvettes. It is actually a needle bearing design pressed inside an adapter collar to fit properly in the column housing. When installed you can't tell the difference. The '67 Corvette and '68 share many steering column parts including that bearing. I've been told that the Corvair also shares many common steering column parts so that opens up your options slightly.

Good Luck!!

 

THANKS Jim. that's exactly what i was looking to determine! i wasn't 100% sure that the plastic spacer was supposed to slide down and off of the shaft, and i didn't want to force it too much....the shaft is nice/pretty/shiny only because i worked it over with some emery paper assuming that the spacer would have a better chance to slide off once i got it moving. i'll continue to pour the WD-40 to it, and try to get it to slide down without destroying it! thanks again, Rick

 

Thank you very much, this info, plus what Jim posted has been VERY helpful to me. this column actually only has 38k mi of use on it, but has been sitting, i do believe once i get to the bearings i will be able to bring them back to life, the top bearing was clean and rust free, just need some good old grease! Rick

 

ok, i've soaked this thing with WD40 for several days, cleaned up lower shaft with fine emery paper (below plastic spacer) and i still can't get the spacer to slide down and off....i have got it to move maybe a couple of inches, to get the lower end of the plastic spacer within a bit more than an inch of the spline, but that's IT! I have also noticed now that the lower shaft has up and down play in it??? i thought the shaft was one piece that ran all the way through, or does this mean i may have moved the entire shaft downward now? hope this makes sense....i hope that cupped washer above the plastic spacer is still available, because mine is getting pretty well hammered out of shape! Rick any advice would be more than appreciated! thanks

 

The steering shaft is made in two pieces. The lower is hollow with a formed end that is about half way up the steering column jacket. The upper end of the shaft is solid and is closely formed so that it can slide into the hollow lower shaft. Where the two shafts overlap, there is also injected plastic that holds them in place to a design length.

If you have some up and down motion of the lower shaft, I would assume that the lower column bearing is in very bad shape and needs to be replaced.

If you can slide that plastic spacer a couple inches, it would seem that it still must be corrosion of the shaft that is holding it up. I would think that adding some oil to the shaft and working the spacer back and forth (that one or two inches) on the shaft has to either break down the metal corrosion or will hone the plastic spacer to a larger inside diameter. You still don't want to hammer the spacer off of the shaft.

BTW, this information may be helpful. Since you have a telescoping steering column these two dimensions may be helpful.
Overall length of steering shaft with upper end retracted: 36.34 inches
Overall lenght of steering shaft with upper end extended: 39.34 inches
If the overall lengths are greater or smaller than these dimensions, that would been that the plastic injection is broken and the two shafts are not at their design length. One last comment, the fact that the plastic injection may be broken does not mean any type of safety problem. The overlap of the two shafts is generous and the worst that could happen would be a minor amount of looseness being felt in the steering wheel rim.

Jim

 

Crazy thought: Have you tried any kind of 3 jaw puller to get that spacer off? You can borrow these from many auto parts stores. AutoZone and Oreilly's are local to me and they will loan tools if you leave a credit card deposit. Return the tool and they tear up the slip with your number on it. You just have to be sure not to locally deform the plastic with the puller jaws. That spacer can't be easy to find either. You want to resist the urge to get out the BFH (Big eFfin' Hammer).

Another thought is to fab up a puller just for the job.

Just an FYI, some Fords of the same vintage use a steering setup very similar to the C2/C3 Corvette. In fact, I've read that Saginaw supplied the internals to the Ford steering box. They both use a very similar rag joint design. The point I'm getting to is that Ford's don't even have a lower bearing in their columns. The steering shaft is secured by the upper column bearing and the bearing in the steering box through the rag joint. I'd be interested in Jim's comments on why the Corvette used a lower column bearing but Fords don't. No Ford bashing intended or expected, please....

 

I think that the Chevette was the first GM vehicle that had a steering column without a lower bearing. It can be done. However, I assume that you will need two upper bearings to hold the steering shaft in both directions. The Chevette design came from Adam Opel in Germany. The basic design was German, the steering system was manufactured by Saginaw Steering Gear to the German specs. I know of no other GM vehicles without a lower column bearing.
Jim

 

all of this info is VERY helpful and i appreciate each and everyone of the responses and input.....i will do as you suggested Jim, and try to work the plastic spacer up and down in the area that it seems willing to move, BUT, the only way i can get it to move down is by using a chisel and hammer on the cup washer directly above the spacer, and it is getting pretty "tired" of the abuse, so hopefully i can find a replacement for it. i am able to move it back up into it's original position by using a section of pipe that has perfect I.D to slide over the shaft but fit the spacer (i only wish i could use that process to gently force it down! LOL) btw, once i get the spacer back up into the original position, the up and down play of the shaft is gone again (for what that's worth) once i get this thing apart, and hopefully resist the temptation to get the BFH out..lol, i will post pics of what i have, and probably ask for more advice, thanks again to everyone!! i appreciate it very much, Rick

 

I am not sure if this will work or not. Move the turn signal switch up and off of the steering shaft. Now you have access to upper bearing housing and the upper bearing. There is a spiral retaining ring and a wave washer holding the bearing and bearing housing in place on the shaft.

If you remove the spiral ring and washer you should be able to remove the upper bearing housing and bearing from the steering shaft.

Go down to the lower end. Remove the three or four screws that hold the metal bearing retainer cup in place. Now if I am correct you should be able to push on the steering shaft from the upper end and the shaft, bearing, and all the lower end parts should slide out of the column jacket. I assume that you have most likely been soaking all of these lower end parts to reduce the corrosion affects.

This may not be the total solution but it should provide more access to the parts on that lower end.

Maybe this will help.
Jim

 

Jim, sounds like a plan to me! i will go try it now, and let you know if that works for me...thanks so much! Rick

 

well, i pulled the upper bearing assembly off of the shaft, and that allowed me to push shaft down a bit lower and give me more space to work with, after soaking the plastic spacer with WD40 for the 3rd day in a row, and giving the lower shaft one more polish with emery paper, the spacer FINALLY came off of the end along with a pretty mangled cup washer and then the spring. then i tried to pull the entire shaft out of the column from the top side...it probably came out about 2/3 of the way, then seemed to get hung up on something? i didn't force it to see if it would come on out, as i don't know what would hang it up, nor do i want to do any damage to anything. so i went back to the bottom end, removed the 3 screws on the bearing cap, but it won't budge...grrrrrr...now i'm soaking it overnight to see if it will loosen up. i really feel like once i get that cap off, i can clean up the bearing, lube it and re-use it...it doesn't look all rusty or anything. WHERE would a guy find another cup washer to replace the one i abused. (goes directly on top of plastic spacer), and second question, any guesses on why the shaft won't come completely out of the top of the column?

at least i'm gaining on it now!! thanks, Rick

 

Here is the washer that you want. I found it at the Zip Products website SC-352
http://www.zip-corvette.com/GroupDetails/SubGroupResults.aspx?gid={2a39e25b-d99c-48f4-9974-4a9813a8874c}&SearchType=_GROUP_SEARCH&G roupName=Steering+Column+Components&

I looked in the 1967 section since the lower end of the late 1967 telescoping column was the same as the lower end on the 1968 telescoping column. You will find several other parts that you might find of value.

BTW, I would assume that there are other major suppliers that can provide this part as well.

Jim

 

Here is the same part in the 1963-1967 section.
http://www.zip-corvette.com/GroupDetails/SubGroupResults.aspx?gid={f214c350-f6ce-415a-8418-0f4aa79d0bce}&SearchType=_GROUP_SEARCH&G roupName=Steering+Column+Components&