Bushing or not?

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mopar56

mopar56

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Can some one please tell me if there is supposed to be a bushing or bearing in the lower part of the steering column of a 70 duster floor shift 4 spd manual steering column? I just can't seem to get a clear answer I have read through many threads here. To be clear the car did originally have p/s but my son swapped out the box for a new manual one, ( maybe a rebuild ) I think it was from Rock auto?, anyway there seems to be a lot of latteral/ up and down play at the end of the column which seems abnormal???
 
Not really. My '69 Dart has an all steel bearing that I got with my Gerst front suspension. The orginal was a plastic bearing? Carl sold out to QA 1, don't know if they might carry it. Or Mega parts has steering column parts, might give them a call.

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CRUZE 418 said:
Not really. My '69 Dart has an all steel bearing that I got with my Gerst front suspension. The orginal was a plastic bearing? Carl sold out to QA 1, don't know if they might carry it. Or Mega parts has steering column parts, might give them a call.

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The originals for the manual steering floor shift cars was a metal bearing in a plastic bushing/adapter, like I linked above.

Yours just looks like an ER16 like in my how-to, which is like a $10 generic bearing that’s commercially available.
 
Excellent thankyou all and especially 72blunblu I just checked on line there was one left at Amazon.ca and just ordered it, this was exactly the info I was looking for! Thanks.
 
Ok, so I have another question...because this car was originally a p/s car and as mentioned above it was switched to manual, the original column coupler wouldn't engage with the new m/s box so my son used a coupler adapter that he was able to get from a member here, it works but the female splines on the adapter don't fit as tightly over the male splines on the box as we would think they would. Now the roll pin keeps it secure so it can't slip but it seems if it were tighter this would also help with the extra play. Has anyone experienced this? Is there a way to make that tolerance tighter? Thanks
 
Well it may have had one originally ? But really that foam seal just keeps out dust out, we were wanting support so we are going to try the bearing suggested above, thanks for the info.
 
CFD244 said:
This is all my '71 uses. Not sure if 1970 has the same set up.

Mopar A Body 71-73, B 71-72, E 71-73 Lower Steering Column Foam Seal & Retainer
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That’s all most of the cars had. There were definitely some with the plastic housed bearing I linked above, I’m not sure exactly what criteria was used to decide what got which set up. The foam seal and plastic retainer was definitely more common.

The ER16 bearing works great for most cars though, it takes a little more work on the ‘67 cars. But it keeps both ends of the steering shaft supported so you get a more precise steering action and feedback.
 
CFD244 said:
This is all my '71 uses. Not sure if 1970 has the same set up.

Mopar A Body 71-73, B 71-72, E 71-73 Lower Steering Column Foam Seal & Retainer
Click to expand...
Yes 71 and newer take the foam seal. The bearing is not needed.

I have many columns here and none of my post 70's have a bearing unless they are 3 on the tree columns. Also don't forget the plastic air shield . 70 columns are a year on their own seen many different styles due to 70 having a reverse lock tube on 4 speeds
 
So the bearing mentioned in this thread was ordered and arrived, my son removed the steering column and we attempted to install it. The problem is our column seems different then the ones that others have done, this inner tube pictured here comes out about a foot then gets stuck, we were reluctant to try to extract any further, I believe this is part of the collapse part of the column. If we push it back in we can not install the bearing, what is the procedure? Anyone run into this? 70 Duster floor shift 4 speed. Thanks

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I took it a little further apart I think? Maybe I just need to remove the inner tubes? It appears this column is in four pieces two large tubes and two approximate 3/4 diameter shafts.

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Thanks for the reply cfd244, I'm pretty sure it's original, it was a factory 3 spd on the floor which we changed to 4 spd but I'm pretty sure the inside had been untouched but either way it's still a duster column that should except this bearing I realize it didn't have a bearing from the factory just the little white bushing but this is supposed to be a upgrade to support the shaft better i just need to know what to remove to make it fit? Like I said there is essentially 4 parts, two d shaped rods that slide into one another and two approximately 2 inch tube that slide together and they all essentially slide into each other, one either needs to be removed or shortened I think? I'm sure someone has done this before?
 
That’s a column shift set up. The inner tube has to be removed, the ER16 bearing is meant to go directly onto the steering shaft out to the outer jacket.
 
I would fully disassemble the column and remove the steering shaft so you can remove that sleeve. That might have been a manual column shift? The auto column shift sleeves just slide out when you disassemble the column.
 
While the might slide out ? Maybe there just stuck together? The photos show how far I can slide them apart then they seem to get stuck? On what I don't know .in order to remove the shaft apparently there is some sort of special tool required to remove the rotor under the collar?
 
Still not apart, arrgghh...so I've taken it even further apart! I swear a rubiks cube would be an easier puzzle, there is a shot here showing three of the four shafts slid into each other, one photo shows the upper bearing its pressed on the shaft so the shaft can not slide through the can and the rotor wheel won't allow it to go up, likewise when I try to slide the large inner tube down it only goes so far and gets stuck I'm reluctant to hit harder in fear of breaking something, any idea's?

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There’s a spring clip that holds the bushing in place. Then the upper collar will slide off. Then there’s a ring you remove from the rotor to expose the pin that holds the rotor in place.
 
Ok, sorry, maybe I'm blind, here is a close up of the bearing, from what I can see this bearing needs to come off the shaft it is pressed on in order to remove the upper column peice to get to the rotor, but you can not get to the bearing with a puller because it is inset? I do not see a clip other than the snap ring a removed a while ago from above it? But this bearing is on tight, I do not see a bushing? BTW thanks for all the help I just don't want to break something.

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