Suspension 87 steering wheel slightly wobbles after new Rag joint install

[R82148V]

Removed intermediate shaft bolt - rag joint pinch bolt and the two nuts for the rack. Moved the rack forward an inch or two and was able to remove the shaft without issue.
dismantled the old rag joint and installed a new joint without any issues. All was going well. Started the install process but I think I messed up a little and don't know what's wrong. slid the shaft back into the end of the column and the pinch bolt end onto the rack. was able to wiggle shaft enough onto the rack to be able to reinstall the bolt back into the column (firewall) end. at this time I used a dead blow and smacked the rack back into place and tightened everything up. so far so good. I was about to reinstall the pinch bolt when I noticed the rag end didn't slide all the way onto the rack as I was hammering the rack back into place. I was able to weave a pry bar from under the car - through part of the k member i think it was and onto the rag joint end. I only took a little prying but the joint slid more onto the rack so I installed the pinch bolt..
Now I have a little play at the steering wheel which was never there before. It slightly rocks up down left right maybe 1/8 inch or less but it's definitely noticeable. I tried tightening all six bolts on the column and it doesn't seem to help.

I almost feel that when I was hitting the rack back into place, it moved the column into the car a little. Is there any way to pull it or reset it?

Any ideas?

 

[General karthief]

I think when you smacked the rack into place you pushed the steering shaft up the column, it is collapsible somewhat, look at the steering wheel where the collar meets the wheel, is there a gap now?
There are snap rings on the shaft too.
Is this a tilt column?

 

[R82148V]

after further looking at it, it seems to be the upper bearing and rubber guide might be bad. the column isn’t moving at all when rocking the wheel side to side and up down. just the steering wheel and inner shaft is moving.

 

[R82148V]

I think when you smacked the rack into place you pushed the steering shaft up the column, it is collapsible somewhat, look at the steering wheel where the collar meets the wheel, is there a gap now?
There are snap rings on the shaft too.
Is this a tilt column?

this a tilt column yeah.
here’s a photo of where the collar meets the wheel. hope this helps

 

[R82148V]

I think when you smacked the rack into place you pushed the steering shaft up the column, it is collapsible somewhat, look at the steering wheel where the collar meets the wheel, is there a gap now?
There are snap rings on the shaft too.
Is this a tilt column?

I ordered the upper bearing and rubber retainer. I also ordered that snap ring you were talking about that keep the bearing in place.

 

[General karthief]

Why are you buy'n stuff before investigating the problem?
It may be a simple fix. The column is designed to collapse some in a frontal crash.
Let me pic a stripped down column to look at.
Be back in a few

 

[R82148V]

Why are you buy'n stuff before investigating the problem?
It may be a simple fix. The column is designed to collapse some in a frontal crash.
Let me pic a stripped down column to look at.
Be back in a few

haha bro why you buy'n shtuff!
You're totally right. just figured why not since it only came to $25, car / parts are old and didn't want to wait for snail mail.

Thanks for your time diagnosing and pics coming of a column.

 

[General karthief]

This is what I think based on inspecting the tilt column I have for parts,
Could not get a good pic so I'll try ti walk you through, when changing the rag joint I take the nut/bolt out of the shaft just above the knuckle, remove the two bolts on the rag joint, the steering shaft now can be pushed up and away from the rag joint.
The steering shaft is really three pieces, in your case I think you need to pull the shaft with the rag joint together with the shaft above it back towards the rack, some gentle tapping with a hammer, remember, the column is collapsible for front end collisions.

 

[R82148V]

This is what I think based on inspecting the tilt column I have for parts,
Could not get a good pic so I'll try ti walk you through, when changing the rag joint I take the nut/bolt out of the shaft just above the knuckle, remove the two bolts on the rag joint, the steering shaft now can be pushed up and away from the rag joint.
The steering shaft is really three pieces, in your case I think you need to pull the shaft with the rag joint together with the shaft above it back towards the rack, some gentle tapping with a hammer, remember, the column is collapsible for front end collisions.

What you are describing makes perfect sense. The rag joint pinch bolt lines up with that groove in the rack connection but I'll still loosen the pinch bolt anyway and see if I can move (tap hammer) the rag joint and shaft down just slightly.

 

[General karthief]

You got to leave that nut/bolt in there, you have to move both shafts together, there is a another shaft farther up inside the column tube.

 

[R82148V]

You got to leave that nut/bolt in there, you have to move both shafts together, there is a another shaft farther up inside the column tube.

I'll see what kind of movement I can get it to do. Steering wheel only rocks maybe 1/8" or less so wouldn't need that much

 

[R82148V]

I attempted to unbolt the pinch bolt but leave the other end connected. with a light tap i was able to move the shaft down a fraction but unfortunately it didn’t help the situation. The steering wheel still has play. I think i did narrow it down though. it’s this piece. i tried pointing to it. it’s in there

 

[General karthief]

I'll have to examine one of mine in that area.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Have you tried tightening these bolts?


View: https://youtu.be/GvjeTrDXkeo?feature=shared

 

[General karthief]

I attempted to unbolt the pinch bolt but leave the other end connected. with a light tap i was able to move the shaft down a fraction but unfortunately it didn’t help the situation. The steering wheel still has play. I think i did narrow it down though. it’s this piece. i tried pointing to it. it’s in there

That looks ok to me comparing two tilt columns in That area.

 

[R82148V]

That looks ok to me comparing two tilt columns in That area.

So I'm about to change the upper bearing I do see a slight play in the shaft inside the bearing. I have the steering wheel off. How do you remove the bearing on tilt steering?

 

[AeroCoupe]

https://www.corral.net/threads/fox-tilt-steering-rebuild-info-thread.2019634/

How To Replace a 1979-1993 Upper Steering Column Bearing

Rid your aging Fox of sloppy steering wheel syndrome

www.motortrend.com

 

[R82148V]

https://www.corral.net/threads/fox-tilt-steering-rebuild-info-thread.2019634/

How To Replace a 1979-1993 Upper Steering Column Bearing

Rid your aging Fox of sloppy steering wheel syndrome

www.motortrend.com

So I ended up removing the entire column, took the shaft out from the column to reset what I collapsed. I dismantled the tilt and replaced the upper bearing. Put everything back together and reinstalled the column. Honestly, not hard or complicated at all. After everything was done, I still had a little play in the steering wheel but I forgot one crucial piece. I forgot to put the C- clip back on. I put a screwdriver between the upper and lower tilt and pushed the bell into the upper tilt about 1/8" so I could see the groove for the C-clip. The new c-clip i picked up seemed to be basically too thin. There was enough room on the groove to install both new and old C-clips. This fixed the dreaded wheel wobble I was getting.

 

[General karthief]

Glad to hear it
Happy motoring.
Now what cha got planned?

 

[R82148V]

Glad to hear it
Happy motoring.
Now what cha got planned?

I really would like to upgrade the intake to something like an explorer but 1. they are hard to locate and 2. pricey
There are so many choices out there, I have no idea which way to go.
I just installed a 65mm Accufab TB. Ran a smoke test and it was pouring out the stock TB at the TPS and underneath at the throttle cable connection. so matching this 65mm would be great. maybe pffff