I have had the column apart too many times. So far new turn signal, loose pins, replace rack kit, loose pins, adjust high low beam etc. I have gotten faster at it but I am wondering if I did something wrong the last time. With the pins tightened up and the new bearings from the rack kit it was really tight - the thing was much more fun to drive. That lasted about 3 months and maybe 1000 miles. On a short drive today during an in town gentle right hand turn something clicked and sure enough the bearing slop was back. I pulled the wheel off and stopped at the turn signal because I could already see that the top bearing had came apart. The race was installed correctly so I wondering if it was a bad bearing or did I do something wrong. on part I am questioning if I installed correctly is the piece that goes between the bearing race and the spring. Should it be installed so that the spring sets part way inside of the collar or should the spring be against the flush side (I have the service manual but the picture is not detailed enough to be sure)? How could I tell if the spring needs to be replaced (too little tension)? Or could it have been a bad bearing? Or.....? --- Any suggestions are welcome. I have a lot of time invested in this steering column and would really like to be driving or installing a few performance parts instead of this over and over. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

 

Any ideas or thoughts will be appreciated - Thanks

 

Your FSM will have a blow-up and detailed instruction on this and every other repair proceedure.

 

You were right

Guess I should have had my glasses on when I looked before. I took a picture of the FSM today and when I zoomed it in, I could see the detail of the picture to confirm I had it installed the right way. I guess I'll try a new spring along with a new bearing for the re-assembly

FSM Diagram
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R.../photo%2B1.JPG

Parts from my car as previously assembled
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G.../photo%2B2.JPG