i have alot of play at the steering wheel,up down side to side
whats involved in eliminating this? I'd like to have the parts on hand
before i take everything apart.
Um, a little more info would be nice. What year is the car? It could simply be the bearing that the steering shaft rides on in the collar of the column is worn out or all the balls have come out....or even a loose nut.
sorry, car is a 67, I dont think the nut is loose but I could be wrong, there is more play side to side than up and down, I wasn't sure if there was bushing or bearing i've never had it apart
you're saying that the looseness is at the wheel, and not in the steering linkage up front, right? I've never seen where the wheel/column itself was worn out. It's not that difficult to remove the wheel, and wheel pullers aren't that expensive. If I were you (because it's easy) I'd take the wheel off first and see if I could diagnose the problem. Maybe it's just something loose in there.
Before you pull the wheel, make sure you scribe a line across the shaft and the wheel so you can get the wheel back on in exactly the same place.
I was hoping it was a common problem and was hoping for the quick and easy answer. I'll take it apart this weekend and see what's up. Thanks to those who took the time to repy.