Gary Lewis Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 I took a video today of the noise I'm hearing in the steering column. The notes with the video say: I've been having a chuckling noise in what seemed like the dash on my 85 F250 when I hit bumps. And it was getting worse. Finally last Saturday night I tracked it down to the steering column. I have a bit of "end play" in the column and as it moves up and down on bumps I get that noise. But if I hold up on the steering wheel or push down on it to prevent movement I can stop the noise. So I took this video to document what I'm hearing. And for those who are thinking, like I was, that it is the rubber of steering wheel hitting the collar of the column, unfortunately it isn't. I flooded that joint with RainX, which I've learned makes a nice lube for plastic as it sets up between the pieces - to no avail. Looks like I'm going to have to pull the steering wheel to see if I can find the source of the noise and the reason why there's play in the column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 I would say excessive play on the upper bearing, or if it is a tilt column, in the universal joint. I haven't had one of those columns in Darth in a long time. I believe, if it is a tilt column, there should be two bearings up top and probably a big spring that preloads the upper bearing down against the housing. If you are still thinking about an E4OD later, you will need a different column anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 I would say excessive play on the upper bearing, or if it is a tilt column, in the universal joint. I haven't had one of those columns in Darth in a long time. I believe, if it is a tilt column, there should be two bearings up top and probably a big spring that preloads the upper bearing down against the housing. If you are still thinking about an E4OD later, you will need a different column anyway. The E4OD is in Dad's truck, and this is a non-tilting column. I don't see a spring, but do agree it is excessive play, although I don't know how you control play in the column. Since Scott wrote up the how-to on rebuilding steering columns I'm going to tag him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 The E4OD is in Dad's truck, and this is a non-tilting column. I don't see a spring, but do agree it is excessive play, although I don't know how you control play in the column. Since Scott wrote up the how-to on rebuilding steering columns I'm going to tag him. I love non-tilt columns due to their simplicity and sturdiness. Interested to see what you find. From what I can tell the excess play looks like the steering shaft sliding in and out. I assume the shaft itself is one piece all the way from the wheel to the intermediate steering shaft. Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 I love non-tilt columns due to their simplicity and sturdiness. Interested to see what you find. From what I can tell the excess play looks like the steering shaft sliding in and out. I assume the shaft itself is one piece all the way from the wheel to the intermediate steering shaft. Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) I will take "broken snap ring" in the office pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 .... Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) Are you saying there might be a problem with the nut holding the steering wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 .... Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) Are you saying there might be a problem with the nut holding the steering wheel? My father would have said "I resemble that." There might be something to that theory. However, I think I see the problem. I'm wondering if I can move the Borgeson up to touch the inner race of the lower bearing, thereby eliminating the slop. And also lube that spot to ensure there's no noise if there is movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 .... Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) Are you saying there might be a problem with the nut holding the steering wheel? Okay. I didn't mean to sound silly.... but you know how when you torque down something, you can get a false positive when things didn't quite settle down at the time. After driving, maybe things settled down and there is more play now.. Kindly of like wheel bearings, lug nuts, etc... Anyway just spit balling. I call it my secondary and alternate hypothesis just to consider everything even if they sound silly as my ex-boss used to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 .... Maybe something simple in the retaining mechanisms (snap ring, even the nut loose) Are you saying there might be a problem with the nut holding the steering wheel? My father would have said "I resemble that." There might be something to that theory. However, I think I see the problem. I'm wondering if I can move the Borgeson up to touch the inner race of the lower bearing, thereby eliminating the slop. And also lube that spot to ensure there's no noise if there is movement. When I saw that video, I was thinking the same.. Lube that sucker!!I don't know if the solid shaft should move that way.. Should have a way to keep it locked. Something has developed play. Unfortunately I don't have a manual transmission non-tilt column anymore to cross-check. The auto trans ones have a different construction with another tube for the shift housing but I can confirm 'Big Blue 2WD' doesn't have any play in the "Z axis". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 When I saw that video, I was thinking the same.. Lube that sucker!! I don't know if the solid shaft should move that way.. Should have a way to keep it locked. Something has developed play. Unfortunately I don't have a manual transmission non-tilt column anymore to cross-check. The auto trans ones have a different construction with another tube for the shift housing but I can confirm 'Big Blue 2WD' doesn't have any play in the "Z axis". I'm a bit confused about this as well. But you can see where I worked on this part of the truck starting in this post. There are actually two shafts inside the steering column, the one the steering wheel attaches to and the one that the lower shaft attaches to. Those two slide inside/outside each other to provide the collapsing part of the column. I pulled the lower one out when I installed the new lower bearing as it wouldn't go over the distorted lower end of the shaft. I had to put that shaft in the lathe and take out the distortion that was in it, as you can see in that post. But now there is some slop in the shaft/bearing and it clunks there - as well as moves up and down as shown in the video. So I'm going to have to pull the Borgeson shaft, new lower bearing, and lower shaft out and figure out why there is slop. I have another lower shaft and may wind up using it. Or weld this one up and turn it back to just fit the bearing. As you can see in the picture below, one of the allen bolts on the Borgeson goes through a hole in that shaft, so there's not much way to move the Borgeson up to ride against the inner race on the lower bearing. So I'm wondering about creating a shim so there's no up/down movement on the shaft. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/thinking-26_orig.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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