Steering shaft play/slop

[shadango]

Ok....it took some real patience and a little panic on my end (LOL) but got the steering wheel nut I was having trouble with due to messed up threads going on fine now nut wise......I still have to try and see if there is enough thread for the nut to press the wheel can to the shaft......

But one issue I am wondering about is that I can move the steering shaft in and out about 3/4" to 1 "....it moves in and out of the coupler that joins to the input shaft of the power steering box....

Here is a shot of my vice grips holding the shaft in place so I can work on it inside....



Here is a shot with the pliers removed....



Here is what it looks like inside...note the locking clip some distance away from the plastic....



Here is a shot of the shaft pushed all the way in towards the engine....



and here is what it looks like inside when pushed all the way in.....




Any thoughts? Seems like I may have something amiss here.....The steering wheel can will only go as far as the locking circlip there.....and then the can will probably ride up against the steering column collar, which cant be right.....

Please tell me I dont have to pull the steering shaft after all the work I went through to get the nut on! 

[Chryco Psycho]

all you need to do is hold the shaft up as you are doing & slide the lock ring down into the groove in the shaft & that will stop the movement you have

[shadango]

 :bricks1:Oh for pete's sake......I am embarassed to say that I didn't see that the circlip was disengaged like that........

How did I not see that? These old eyes must be getting even poorer than I thought.....   Thank you!

I guess part of it is that I assumed it was together the way it "should" be...looks like when the previous seller replaced the ignition lock he forgot that!

That took up about 95% of the movement...there is still some there though....is that normal?

[Chryco Psycho]

yeah a small amout is OK

[shadango]

Well heck...that makes my day!   Thanks!

I was going to test fit the steering wheel but am missing the turn signal lever and dont know ift he signals work yet.....a standard puller will get this puppy off again right?

[Chryco Psycho]

no it won`t , the puller either has to be small enough to fit inside the can or be long enough to reach 5" or so down into the can

[shadango]

I bought a steering wheel/puller/etc pulley kit at harbor freight and I think the bolts are 6"....hopefully it will work.....

I dont wantt o put the wheel back on until I have a sure way of getting it back off...

I "won" a used tuffy-length turn signal lever today on ebay so I wont bother putting the wheel on until that comes and Ican test stuff I guess....

[ShelbyDogg]

One trick I use with that clip is to turn it over so that the sharp/flat edge is up and facing you, when installed. I also bend it to close a little tighter.  If you don't turn it over, you will notice that if you push down on your steering wheel, that clip will jump off again, right out of the groove.

Look at the clip. The top is rounded and the bottom is flat. Have the flat side facing the wheel.

[farmertan]

and please if you havent done it yet buy a rebuild kit for the coupler, there cheap insurance,mine broke in 87 and could have killed me,luckily it happened in the driveway backing up as the steering wheel just spun in circles. grant it mine was due to frame sag but its cheap and easy to do.

[shadango]

Thanks for the heads up on the rebuild!

Does the shaft have to be pulled to do that?

Can you give me a brief  "howzit done" ?

[plumbeeper]

Your shaft will not have to be removed. Just knock out the pin 19-15-23, remove the cover 19-15-17 and disassemble, clean, put new kit in, reassemble. You can pick up the kits at several places like Mopars by Crane, Year One, Ebay and maybe even a seller on this board for about $15-20.

Dave

[shadango]

Your shaft will not have to be removed. Just knock out the pin 19-15-23, remove the cover 19-15-17 and disassemble, clean, put new kit in, reassemble. You can pick up the kits at several places like Mopars by Crane, Year One, Ebay and maybe even a seller on this board for about $15-20.

Dave

Do you know of someone on this board that sells them?  Wil lI also need the rubber "boot" that seems to be on mine? Would that be part of the kit?

EDIT:  Ok, did a search on your posts and it appears you sell steering stuff?  Cool!  I also need a center button cover (reasonable) for my two spoke wheel....I will try finding your site...but if you get this message in the meantime please let me know where it is.  Thanks!

EDIT 2: Oh lord......it must be too early.....completely missed your banner link....LOL

(mamma never said I was the brightest bulb in the pack.....

LOL   EDIT 3:  Ok, I see your site is pretty much just wheels...unless I am once again missing something.

Let me know if you have these kits as wel las a horn button (maybe used?) for me.

Dave

[Chryco Psycho]

Any Mopar dealer will have them in stock as well

[LAA66]

One trick I use with that clip is to turn it over so that the sharp/flat edge is up and facing you, when installed. I also bend it to close a little tighter.  If you don't turn it over, you will notice that if you push down on your steering wheel, that clip will jump off again, right out of the groove.

Look at the clip. The top is rounded and the bottom is flat. Have the flat side facing the wheel.

 Yes that snap ring seems designed to pop off. Several times on mine, finally found a new one to replace it.

[shadango]

Following up on the steering pot rebuild kit....havent heard from anyone yet so may try the dealer....Does the kit include a new coupler (the black boxy thing) as well or just the guts?

When I was sniffing around the net for kits I saw some folks recommend pulling the steering column to do this.....

Chryco, you said I wouldnt need to do that.....and I believe you...but how tough will it be doing it in the car? I guess that cross pin is the hardest part?  Any tricks there?  I guess once you pull the pins out it all comes apart ?

Any other parts I shoudl replace while I have that coupler apart?