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From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Found the play in steering
My 78 has a bit of play in the steering while looking at it today I know why, now the question is how hard will it be to fix. It looks like the lower bearing came free from its collar. Do I need to take the whole column apart to fix this?
According to internet diagrams, there is a type of snap ring that fits inside the column and holds the lower bearing patrs in place..Your snap ring may have fallen out of its groove and allowed the bearing assembly to drop down.
See if the link below works...click on it.....you can enlarge the diagram.....
That bearing looks to be in the right position , the wire clip is still in position. I would say/guess the actual bearing is worn . Maybe also the plastic piece is cracked from age or a previous work effort.
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Thank you all for the helpful replies. It looks to be in the right spot but that’s after I reached up and slid it up there. Is it supposed to be behind the metal cap?
how much tear down of the column is needed to do the job right? Does it need to come out of the car?
thanks
Yeah , yours is sticking out a bit far. This is a 69 (set up for a Borgeson and with the gearbox lockout ) so disregard the length of shaft sticking out .
You can just see the main tube as a second layer under the cap that the 1 wire clip goes into 3 times .Yours should be the same with the clip and cap
Usually it's the bearing that is just plain worn out.
Can also be just packed full of crud and bind up.I think that might be why sometimes I have found the plastic support cracked as well on some columns .Or maybe some one tried to force the bearing too far in the plastic holder.
I have always taken them out to repair ,which always means to polish the shaft to get the bearing to slide off. Had to use a bearing puller as well.
the clip is in place on OP's column. maybe remove the clip and see if the bearing goes in farther. it may well be a stopping the bearing from going all the way in. or maybe clean up the shaft below the bearing and see if you can finesse it forward enough to get a better look at it. looks like a very thin shoulder on inner end of bearing the clip sits in front of.
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Thank you all for the help! Bazza 77 thanx for the picture that shows me a lot! Dereck that is exactly what I will do, remove the clip and see if I can slide it in place.
It will be a couple days till I am back home to look at it but I will report back as soon as I get a chance.
Hmmm... I'm in the middle of a Borgeson conversion on my 1980 4-spd, and my lower bearing was rusted frozen to the shaft, so I've ended up pulling the column to replace. Poor picture here, but you can see the bearing doesn't really extend past the retainer cap (much more similar to pic bazza77 shared than what you are showing). I had to Dremel mine off as the inner race was rusted tight to the shaft.
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Pulled the clip, slid the metal housing past the bearing, tapped the bearing up the column about half an inch and put the cap and clip back in.
Wow that made a huge difference in steering! Steering wheel play is now maybe a quarter of an inch if that.
Now time to install the Steeroids kit!
Follow the Steroid Instructions "to the letter" and you should be in pretty good shape.
Take lots pictures and notes of the old system as you remove the parts. Getting the original parts off the Corvette was a harder job compared to installing the new Steeroids parts. My front end is still tight and the install was only complicated by my not getting the steering shaft exactly aligned properly the first time around. I saved the original parts just in case someone down the road wants that recirculating ball Power Steering System.
Follow the "details" to a "T" and be careful doing this swap as it isthe steering system for your Corvette and your life and others "depends" on it. Be sure to observe their torque suggestions and read and re-read the assembly Guide before you install the new Rack and Pinion.
You should be happy with the results! Just take your time and do it right the first time.
Depending on your existing Power Steering pump you might get lucky and find one producing the right flow rate for all speeds. That is a good reason to call Turn One and let them help be sure you get the right flow rate. The original rate on my pump made a "twitchy" car at speeds and noisy slower down. I tried two different pumps before giving Turn One a call. I wish I called them earlier....
From: If your not the lead dog the view never changes Boise, Id
Thank you for the advice. I read the instructions a couple times and watched all the videos they have posted. It looks pretty straight forward but I have to admit I thought about calling a shop to do it before deciding I will at least give it a shot. I figure if I get in over my head I can have it towed somewhere.
From what I read the trickiest part is getting that double u joint to turn without binding.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
That is exactly where I ran into trouble as my two joints were not aligned and I had a point of some resistance in the steering. It is not as hard as it sounds as long as you follow their instructions. There was a Corvette magazine that did an install that might be worth reading if you haven't already. Getting the factory steering box off is not the most fun thing I ever had to do either. I did the whole installation by myself on the floor of my garage. It took a couple days as I did not rush it and then I made a checklist to verify that everything was done correctly. Safety First here!.
Around here the shops charge $125-150 an hour so naturally I do as much as I possibly can.
Get the front of the car high enough off the ground that you can get to the steering gear and block the car up well. I had mine on four jack stands up in the air when I did the swap. Keep some thread-lock handy for the set screws that lock hardware. I used anti-seize on the bolts that were torqued highly so they would come off some day. The only part I had to remove and re-install was the steering shaft end of the double U-joint on my steering linkage
The idler arm can be a real PIA if it wants to be. If things are stuck just heat the parts up with a Hot Air gun and then apply some penetrating oil and they frequently come off after that. I like KROIL's Penetrating Oil as it has worked well for me over the years.
The most important thing to do is to be Safe and not hurt yourself doing the installation. I keep my Cell phone and a Fire Extinguisher within an arms reach in case of an emergency when I am out of yelling distance of others. You want to be able to enjoy that new steering system after it is installed and aligned.
If you have any problems just give a shout and one of us should be able to help you! I wasn't that impressed with the tech support I received. We can probably do better.
Like I mentioned above the Power Steering pump might have to be adjusted to get the right flow. If you don't have power steering then forget that whole issue.
Found the play in steering
