loose steering wheel
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 319
Likes: 0
From: Sunnyvale CA
loose steering wheel
I have a '76 with the tilt/tele steering wheel, and it seems to move around too much, like it's loose??? I know it needs to be fixed, since I can't imagine it does good things for the steering. Also when I turn, there is a faint grinding sound when it is a hard turn. Anyone had any problems like this before??? Thanks again guys.
My vette
My vette
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,001
Likes: 113
From: Saginaw Michigan
This paper will help you analyze your T&T steering column as to possible problems and solutions.
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TColumnD&R125AU04.doc
It is the first of three papers. It has some simple tests that you can perform to determine the root causes of your steering column problems.
You will need to try and determine exactly where the "grinding" noise is coming from. Your column has two upper bearings and a lower bearing down on the lower end of the steering column. Try and determine the location of the noise.
Therer is still a lot of additional help here.
Good luck,
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TColumnD&R125AU04.doc
It is the first of three papers. It has some simple tests that you can perform to determine the root causes of your steering column problems.
You will need to try and determine exactly where the "grinding" noise is coming from. Your column has two upper bearings and a lower bearing down on the lower end of the steering column. Try and determine the location of the noise.
Therer is still a lot of additional help here.
Good luck,
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: Ontario
You have loose bolts
I just recently fixed my steering column. They wanted about $400 to fix it at the shop so I tackled it myself. You have to have a lot of time and patience. Make sure you have diagrams. Instructions in the previous post helped a lot.
Mine was loose as you explained. There are 3 or 4 (I forget exactly) bolts that are loose. It mentions this somewhere in a previous post. Take the steering wheel apart until you come to those bolts. Take them out, put locktight on them, retighen them and your steering wheel will be tight. It will eliminate the grinding noise you explain as well.
It's a good idea to take the entire steering column out. Not that hard. Might be a good time to replace the rag joint as well. I manufactured my own out of the rubber they use on conveyors at factories. Much stronger and better than the one you can buy.
Good luck,
any questions, feel free to ask, I think I've mastered the tile/tele steering wheel
Mine was loose as you explained. There are 3 or 4 (I forget exactly) bolts that are loose. It mentions this somewhere in a previous post. Take the steering wheel apart until you come to those bolts. Take them out, put locktight on them, retighen them and your steering wheel will be tight. It will eliminate the grinding noise you explain as well.
It's a good idea to take the entire steering column out. Not that hard. Might be a good time to replace the rag joint as well. I manufactured my own out of the rubber they use on conveyors at factories. Much stronger and better than the one you can buy.
Good luck,
any questions, feel free to ask, I think I've mastered the tile/tele steering wheel
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 847
Likes: 0
From: Des Allemands LA
When getting to the four bolts mentioned above, before removing them see if you can tighten them first. If they are truly loose, remove one at a time clean it and loctite it. If they are not loose you have problems else-where, either upper or lower bearing or in my case the housing was cracked 
. I ended up replacing my entire column with a 78-82 column. Another thing you may want to invest in is an assembly manual, I bought one for my '76 off E-bay for about 25 bucks shipped. I sure wish I had done this a long time ago they are money very well spent in my opinion. Good luck and like stated above you'll need time and patience for this project but with a little luck and a couple of beers you can do it. 
ltlevil
. I ended up replacing my entire column with a 78-82 column. Another thing you may want to invest in is an assembly manual, I bought one for my '76 off E-bay for about 25 bucks shipped. I sure wish I had done this a long time ago they are money very well spent in my opinion. Good luck and like stated above you'll need time and patience for this project but with a little luck and a couple of beers you can do it. ltlevil
