Steering column

I posted earlier about a annoying rattle, got that fixed but i think that when the shift lever was hitting the exhaust it put some stress on the steering column and now it wiggles a lot, not to mention that it isnt lined up with the wheels anymore, i also had brake work done so i thought that was what took it out of alignment, anyway, someone said it could be bearings in the column, how do i look at those. Tearing apart my steering column doesnt sound fun to me, and i will probably pay someone to do it.:banghead: so any ideas guys? Youve been right about everything else pretty much.

I posted earlier about a annoying rattle, got that fixed but i think that when the shift lever was hitting the exhaust it put some stress on the steering column and now it wiggles a lot, not to mention that it isnt lined up with the wheels anymore, i also had brake work done so i thought that was what took it out of alignment, anyway, someone said it could be bearings in the column, how do i look at those. Tearing apart my steering column doesnt sound fun to me, and i will probably pay someone to do it.:banghead: so any ideas guys? Youve been right about everything else pretty much.

If it's a tilt column, and the top part is loose but the part that goes behind the dash is solid, it will be a case of loose bolts. There are 4 bolts deep within the column that are prone to loosening up after a while. You will have to take the column apart and tighten these bolts, they're star headed (kinda like a MALE Torx-type head), but I used a 7mm standard 6-point socket to tighten them up. Use Loctite on these bolts or else you're going to be doing this again at some point. The two biggest PITA are the "pivot pins" - these will require the use of a slide hammer to remove - but the rest is fairly straight forward.

Ok, Yes it is a tilt column and yes the first part is loose and the rest is solid. Now my first question is this a danger? Will it pop off in my hands while im driving it if i dont get to it right away?

on a side comment i took the tilt lever off to put my tach on the column, could that have loosend the bolts? I dident think that the tilt lever was connected to anything else.

Thanks for all the help, I took apart my column and fixed everything up. Now shes sturdy as a rock. I also learned some stuff along the way. Just got my five spoke american racing rims on the car too.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2124476
There is my ride if anyone was interested in seeing it. Let me know what you think anyway.

Si, et al,

The next time you get one of those loose columns and discover that the upper tilt joint cap screws are NOT the problem, you may have a pivot pin issue. Since there is not always room for a slide hammer, you might try a pin puller:

http://www.wwdsltd.com/files/PinPuller.gif

I've used it countless times with no problems. Oddly, even the later columns I've encountered STILL have 8-32 threads in the pins instead of metrics like everything else on the bodies. That could be because commercially made pin pullers were made with 8-32 pull screws years ago, and it became a "standard" of sorts. If it goes really badly for you, you may have to make and install bushings in the upper column casting:

http://72.19.213.157/files/PivotPinMfgBushings.jpg

Wow, wish I had known about that when I did the one on the 98 ... it would have saved me from having to fashion a slide hammer out of a dent puller and a #8-32 machine screw, having that slip and skin my knuckles!

Filed away for future reference.

I actually did have to take the pivot pins out the get to the last four bolts that hold the whole thing on. I had a bolt that fit in and i just used a socket and screw'd the pivot pins out, kind of like a wheel puller. Good to know, and yes filed away for future use.