Steering column upper bearing replacement

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scott2683

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hey guys and gals, I hope you all had a great weekend. Ever since I bought my scamp I've have a rattle in my steering column. With I turn the wheel left or right, it sounds like metal scraping. Lately the rattle has been worse, to the point I can hear it over the exhaust and radio!

Can someone point me in the right direction on replacing it? Does this sound like the symptoms of a bad upper bearing?

Thanks for the help!
 
Also how do I get enough slack in the wires to pull this off?

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Unplug the connector at the bottom of the column under the dash. You should get enough slack to pull it up. If you bend the connector wires at the connector perpendicular it will slide up inside and completely out.

Once that's out of the way there are three phillip head screws to remove plus a snap ring on the shaft. The upper bearing is just below the snap ring. It's encased in a rubber isolator and should pop out of the back side.

Once those are removed the upper section can slide off the shaft. However, it is a slight press fit (bearing is pressed over splines) so it may not just slide off - especially if it's never been off. You may get lucky wiggling it off. Some people pry it loose with screwdrivers between the sections - but I wouldn't. The proper way is to press the shaft out. I made a tool that mimics the factory tool...

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Thanks for the help! I think that points me in the right direction.
 
Gents,
Realize this is an older post, but I am in the middle of changing over my column collars from "Column-shift" types to "Floor Shift" types I bought from Classic Industries. I did some reading in advance and thought I knew what problems to expect until I got to this point (See my pic), removed the C-Clip and then tried to slide off the top collar....simply wasn't happening. I was worried that I had missed some other C-clip/etc,..until I saw this post. My bearing seems to be pretty stuck so I expect I'll need to fabricate a puller similar to what "70Duster440" made(but, being a very amateur welder, this will not be easy for me....Oh well). Any other pressed in sleeves/bearings or surprises I might expect in pulling the next 2 collars? THX.

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have you tried spraying penetrate, PB Blaster, or something on it? Tried pulling the shaft up through the race? Yes it suggests going the wrong way but any movement is a step in the right direction. I have had to clean away burrs at the ring groove and sand the shaft. I haven't needed a puller yet. Good luck with it.
 
THX Redfish, I took a day off from this today but did soak the bearing area with some penetrating oil. (Will try it again tomorrow..) Also, on this topic..., I was wondering if you (or anyone else) knows why the steering column support bracket that attaches to the bottom of the dash has so much extra structure along the passenger side?(See my picture) This extra structure adds nothing to the effectiveness of holding the steering column in-place and makes it tough to get up under the dash to address wiring changes, gage line installs, etc... Any reason I shouldn't just cut off this extra chunk of steel along the blue tape line in my pic and make my car about 1-lb lighter??

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I do tend to question factory engineering's hows and whys. In most cases there is a practical reason for. So for this part... what it bolts to isn't exactly substantial. How much its two outer corners/all of this would move in a collision could be their call for additional linear support, be it just one side or both.
I know this part was altered pretty much as you suggest in much later models but... I think maybe l saw additional piece bolted to side of the supporting part above too. My memory fails but I think for those later models, the brake lamp switch was mounted in that extra/added piece making it easier to service. We don't have the later example to verify any of this. Can't wreck them to test either.
 
Redfish (& any others),
A few days after your last reply, I did manage to remove all the old columns sections (for the column style shift mechanism) and install my new sections to go with my new floor shift configuration. After a few test drives, I can say that everything worked out well and new column looks great and is much "cleaner" looking. I took a pretty good set of pictures showing all the clips and pins that need to be removed for each of the column sections. If anyone is interested in seeing them, I could easily send the set along to a personal email address. This Forum was VERY helpful!-Thanks to all!
 
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