Steering shaft removal

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mopowers

mopowers

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I tried taking my power steering column apart last night and ran into a little problem? What the easiest way to remove the upper bearing? Is it easier to just remove it all together and use a new one on the manual steering shaft?

Does anyone have a part number for this?
 
Did you remove the snap ring that keeps it in place? Sometimes it can be hidden in the groove a little.

Takes a little persuasion sometimes. If you are going to pry on any part of the insulator, make sure you don't tear it which can happen very easily. The old grease in there can be fairly sticky, you might try to wiggle the shaft around to break it loose. Maybe spray some lubricant between the shaft and bearing to help work it loose. Once you get the bearing unseated you can pry on the bottom of the collar and 'walk' it up off the shaft.

Don't hammer on the shaft at all, you will collapse the shear pins.
 
Thanks! Yea, I removed the snap rings. I just got pissed last night and started working on something else.

I'm replacing the shaft with one from a manual steering car. It (the manual steering shaft I plan on using) actually looks like it may have been collapsed a bit. Is there an easy way to stretch it back out? Or am I screwed?
 
a puller using the 3 holes that hold signal plate down IIRC.
 
I'm replacing the shaft with one from a manual steering car. It (the manual steering shaft I plan on using) actually looks like it may have been collapsed a bit. Is there an easy way to stretch it back out? Or am I screwed?
 
Any time this comes up, I always say the shaft is junk. Those pins are in there for a reason, so the shaft does not instantly impale you to the back seat in an accident. Think about it - the shaft is essentially connected directly to the K member (chassis) through the steering box. If the car is in a severe enough impact and things start to buckle, imagine what the shaft will be doing if it's solid - going straight through your chest. The pins give it enough cushion to absorb the impact. In addition, once it's collapsed, it will move up and down inside the column in relation to where its mounted. Not good!

To my knowledge, there is no way to repair it once its been collapsed. Guys have tried to use hot glue, whittled down nylon bolts etc. I think the OE material was delrin or something like that. It was precisely injected so duplicating it would be pretty tough. You'd need to test it to see how strong it is and repeat it over and over until you were sure that it was right.

I recently rebuilt the column in my Duster. The shaft that was in the car was collapsed. Someone had put a metal tab over the bottom end where it meets the upper half and bent a piece of metal inwards to keep it from moving around. The pins were totally gone and I could pull it apart with my hands. I was not happy. I had another shaft so I used that.

I would like to figure out a way to fix 'em, I have two collapsed shafts. There used to be a genuine Mopar repair kit but its long gone.
 
Don't know what year or style of column you're working on but I have pictures of assembly/disassembly on this page including a part number for the bearing to give you general ideas: http://www.70duster440.com/interior.html

Is the shaft out with the bearing stuck on it or are you trying to press the shaft out of the column section? You can use a puller like crackedback suggested or fab a tool like this:

View attachment Homemade Steering Shaft Remover C-4044.jpg

View attachment Remover Tool installed.jpg
 
rmchrgr said:
Any time this comes up, I always say the shaft is junk. Those pins are in there for a reason, so the shaft does not instantly impale you to the back seat in an accident. Think about it - the shaft is essentially connected directly to the K member (chassis) through the steering box. If the car is in a severe enough impact and things start to buckle, imagine what the shaft will be doing if it's solid - going straight through your chest. The pins give it enough cushion to absorb the impact. In addition, once it's collapsed, it will move up and down inside the column in relation to where its mounted. Not good!

To my knowledge, there is no way to repair it once its been collapsed. Guys have tried to use hot glue, whittled down nylon bolts etc. I think the OE material was delrin or something like that. It was precisely injected so duplicating it would be pretty tough. You'd need to test it to see how strong it is and repeat it over and over until you were sure that it was right.

I recently rebuilt the column in my Duster. The shaft that was in the car was collapsed. Someone had put a metal tab over the bottom end where it meets the upper half and bent a piece of metal inwards to keep it from moving around. The pins were totally gone and I could pull it apart with my hands. I was not happy. I had another shaft so I used that.

I would like to figure out a way to fix 'em, I have two collapsed shafts. There used to be a genuine Mopar repair kit but its long gone.
Click to expand...

How do I know if the manual steering shaft that I intend to install has been collapsed a little? Is there a measurement I can check? Here is the manual steer shaft I plan on using. Can you tell if it's been collapsed?

 
70Duster440 said:
Don't know what year or style of column you're working on but I have pictures of assembly/disassembly on this page including a part number for the bearing to give you general ideas: http://www.70duster440.com/interior.html

Is the shaft out with the bearing stuck on it or are you trying to press the shaft out of the column section? You can use a puller like crackedback suggested or fab a tool like this:
Click to expand...


I'm working on a 68 Dart. The bearing and shaft are still in the column. I've tried pulling the collar off the shaft, but can't do it. Looks like I'll be making a tool like the one you made.

Is the gear shift tube on the inside of the column necessary if I plan on using a floor shift? Or can I ****-can it?

Thanks for all the help. I've never torn into one of these before.
 
If you can easily pull the sections apart then you'll know it was collapsed. You usually see more plastic oozed out where it was injected in those two holes but it looks like the shaft was cleaned up.

Here's what the old repair kit looked like:

7121079-3804540-ShearPinRepairKit.jpg


I don't know for sure if you can lose the shift tube. Other guys say they did but on mine one of the column sections is secured via the tube, so no, I couldn't.

columnsectionimg_01.jpg
 
Thanks a lot for the help! I can't pull the two sections apart, so I guess I should be good to go right? I am starting to think I should've just bought the adapter. :eek:ops:

Oh well- I consider this a good learning experience if nothing else, seeing how I've never had one of these apart before.

Does anyone know what the length of the manual steer shaft should be?
 
If the plastic pins are gone, your shaft is collapsed. That's what it looks like in the pic...
 
This is probably a stupid questions, but what if I pull the shaft to the proper length and hit it with a tack weld or something. Couldn't I use it then?
 
rmchrgr said:
Any time this comes up, I always say the shaft is junk. Those pins are in there for a reason, so the shaft does not instantly impale you to the back seat in an accident. Think about it - the shaft is essentially connected directly to the K member (chassis) through the steering box. If the car is in a severe enough impact and things start to buckle, imagine what the shaft will be doing if it's solid - going straight through your chest. The pins give it enough cushion to absorb the impact. In addition, once it's collapsed, it will move up and down inside the column in relation to where its mounted. Not good!

To my knowledge, there is no way to repair it once its been collapsed. Guys have tried to use hot glue, whittled down nylon bolts etc. I think the OE material was delrin or something like that. It was precisely injected so duplicating it would be pretty tough. You'd need to test it to see how strong it is and repeat it over and over until you were sure that it was right.

I recently rebuilt the column in my Duster. The shaft that was in the car was collapsed. Someone had put a metal tab over the bottom end where it meets the upper half and bent a piece of metal inwards to keep it from moving around. The pins were totally gone and I could pull it apart with my hands. I was not happy. I had another shaft so I used that.

I would like to figure out a way to fix 'em, I have two collapsed shafts. There used to be a genuine Mopar repair kit but its long gone.
Click to expand...

mopowers said:
This is probably a stupid questions, but what if I pull the shaft to the proper length and hit it with a tack weld or something. Couldn't I use it then?
Click to expand...

Re-read the post above very carefully.
 
When did Mopar start using these 'break-away' shafts? 66? 67? I guess I just have a hard time thinking you couldn't just pull it back to it's original length and weld the thing together.
 
mopowers said:
When did Mopar start using these 'break-away' shafts? 66? 67? I guess I just have a hard time thinking you coultn't just pull it back to it's original length and weld the thing together.
Click to expand...


About the time people stopped dieing in wrecks that shouldn't have killed them.

This is a member's car. He was hit from the back and was driven in to the car in front of him if I remember correctly.

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Okay, gotcha. I guess it's time to find another manual steering shaft. :(

I just bought this one from a member thinking it would work. oh well... :banghead:
 
After doing some searching online, it looks as though there are a lot of people just using plastic pins or small plastic bolts. I may see what I can do. With both ends being 'fixed' and not going anywhere, it wouldn't take much to pin the two shafts with something that is easily sheared in the event of an accident.
 
what about glue and some wood dowel for pins
 
Thanks for the input guys. I ended up using crackedback and 70Duster440's idea for a puller. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the idea guys!




As far as the steering shaft, I've got that under control. A couple plastic pins is all it needed.
 
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