Closing the gap between steering wheel and column

[ThreeQuarter]

I reassembled & reinstalled the steering column in my ‘68 C10 and this is what I got (see pic). How do I close this gap?

I’m still using the one-piece steering shaft. The only thing I’ve intentionally done different was to replace the steering gear & rag joint with ones from a ‘76 C10 (for the ratio). Everything else I believe I put together as it was before. So is the new gear & rag joint just that much longer, or do I have some other installation issue?

[cj847]

Not sure if it is the same, but On my 66 I pushed the column up on the shaft and then tightened the "bicycle seat clamp".

[Steeveedee]

Let us see a shot of the mounting at the rag joint. Are you sure that there isn't more room to bring the shaft closer to the steering gear?

[70shortfleet]

Need some pictures in the engine compartment of where it mounts to the firewall and of the rag joint.

cj847, I think you need to rework your steering shaft, that doesn't even look right! it looks unsafe to me but I could be wrong

[ThreeQuarter]

Here are some more pics. I don't see any length to take up at the rag joint. It's already pushed down onto the steering gear as far as it can go. The column housing is already as far up as it can go, stopped by the nub on the brake pedal hanger bracket that fits into the slot on top of the column tube.

[Steeveedee]

Maybe all that's left is the new box is just longer? Do you have the old one to compare it with? Maybe you can slide the mast jacket up, if there is enough room for the bolts to move. Or would that make it too close to you? It wouldn't change where the steering wheel is now, necessarily. I've never done this, so maybe I'm talking out my butt.

[70shortfleet]

You could loosen the firewall bracket clamp, drop the column down inside grind the nub off then move the column towards the steering wheel to take up the gap and then make sure the column is vertical and tighten all bolts and then move the spring up to the column in the engine compartment. I think this would work and hope this makes sense to you.

[ThreeQuarter]

I don’t have the old gear to compare, unfortunately. I could do away with the brake hanger nub and move the housing up to meet the wheel, but then I’d run into the two nubs on the housing that engage the firewall bracket. There is some room before I run into those, maybe it will be enough. From what I’ve seen, I’ll need to get the wheel snug against the column because that’s what keeps the upper bearing in place. I can’t just tolerate looking at a bigger gap because that will give the bearing too much freedom and my horn might not contact.

Still interested in thoughts on whether I should move the housing up or maybe go through the trouble of shortening the shaft?

[70shortfleet]

One other option is to get rid of the 68 main column shaft and get a 69-72 shaft with an intermediate shaft between the column and the steering box.

[ThreeQuarter]

Wouldn’t a 69-72 shaft w/ joint be the same length? I didn’t think those were adjustable...at least not any more adjustable than the straight ones. They both have the collapsible joint near the bottom of the shaft, right?

[70shortfleet]

It seems like all of your problems are coming from your steering box being longer than the stock box. If you could figure out a way to collapse your main steering shaft about a half inch that might work also. I can collapse 69-72 intermediate shafts in my press but that shaft is way too long!

[cj847]

Originally Posted by 70shortfleet

Need some pictures in the engine compartment of where it mounts to the firewall and of the rag joint.

cj847, I think you need to rework your steering shaft, that doesn't even look right! it looks unsafe to me but I could be wrong

That is why i commented. I rebuilt my column. The clamp and spring in the second picture in three quarter's post set the bearing preload of the upper and lower bearing. I think he needs to loosen everything above that point and push that up to close the gap. (I bet his steering wheel feels "floppy" as the upper bearing has no load).

The steering column needs to be pushed up to meet the steering wheel, before you tighten the bolts that hold it ti the dash. If there is an issue with over all length, then the holes won't line up inside the cab.

I assembled the column with the wheel on it before installing and set the clamp. But I don't see why you couldn't do it on the truck as long as everything is loose.

[ThreeQuarter]

Thanks for the tips. I have loosened everything (strap under dash, clamp at firewall, spring/clamp below lower bearing) and tried pushing the column housing up to meet the wheel. It moves up and down, but there’s a nub in a slot that stops me from going as far as I want to. And yes, my upper bearing has too much freedom.

How much pressure does it take to compress the.sliding joint on the shaft? I think I only need 3/8”.

[ThreeQuarter]

I guess my other option is to replace my ‘76 gear and rag joint with a ‘68 gear that’s been built with the quick ratio. I thought I had a clever way to avoid spending the money on one of those, but it sounds like I’m not as clever as I thought.

[Steeveedee]

Bummer! And a lot of work, too.

[ThreeQuarter]

There, that’s better! Steering wheel and upper bearing are nice and tight.

Finally got around to fixing this. Chose to drill/heat out the plastic pins in the lower shaft and telescope it down by 1/2”. Glad I did because I also made a few other tweaks during the install to fix some things that weren’t completely right before. Fourth time’s a charm!

[dmjlambert]

Did you take any pictures of the part where you drill/heat out the plastic pins in the lower shaft and telescope it down? It would be neat to seem some pictures of that process.

[ThreeQuarter]

Yeah, that would have been a really good idea. Unfortunately I got caught up in doing it and didn’t think to document it. Several threads here discuss this process but I don’t think I saw pics while I was doing my research.

In short, after I removed the shaft I drilled through the existing holes in the lower piece but was only in plastic until I hit the inner shaft. I stopped there and tried to telescope it with a 3lb hammer but it didn’t budge. I hit it with the MAPP torch until plastic stopped oozing out of the holes. (Actually it didn’t ooze so much as it grew like black snake pellets on the 4th of July.) After this it telescoped pretty easily, almost by hand. I drilled completely through the inner shaft at the outer shaft holes and plan to get a wooden dowel to keep it from telescoping any more.