Steering Column Problem - Runout/Unable to find replacement

[Coronet6Pack]

Hello,

On the 68 Coronet R/T we've replaced the stock worn out manual steering box with a quick ratio unit from Flaming River. When we went to rejoin the column to the gearbox with the universal joint we noticed severe binding. The cause is severe runout at the end of the steering column. It's spinning a circle nearly an inch out of alignment with the gearbox shaft. No wonder the other box was failing so quickly.

Question one...Could the column be rebuilt to repair the runout or is it more likely due to a bent column shaft?

Question two...I started calling this morning and spent several hours trying to hunt down a replacement column with no luck. I can find replacement aftermarket stuff from Flaming River or ididit (for a very pretty penny), but we want to replace it with a stock column.

Help...?

 

[PurpleBeeper]

There are some column bushings on that shaft. There's one down low in the engine compartment & another one inside the car behind the steering wheel. Maybe that's all that's wrong? The shafts are about 1" thick steel... hard to bend... but possible.

 

[Coronet6Pack]

Well, if you need a stock steering column for a 68 Coronet with manual steering and floor shift, then you're gonna have a hard time. I looked far and wide and wasn't able to find one.

So, I went about pulling and disassembling the column. We discovered the bushings and bearings are still in good shape. It was in fact a bent column shaft, or the lower shaft to be more precise. The shaft is made up of an upper and lower where the upper slides into the lower. The lower part of the lower shaft is solid steel, but the upper part is tubular steel. That's where the bend was. I took it to my favorite welder and had him heat it with a rosebud to cherry red and bent straight (as possible).

I can't imagine, though, how in the world that part could have been bent in the first place...any ideas?

I'll post pics later of the restored column. Once we got it apart we found the tube between the shaft and outer column housing was covered in surface rust from top to bottom, and looked pretty bad through the grated section of the column. So, I put it on my wood lathe, sanded to bare metal and then polished down to #000 steel wool before clear coating. Almost looks like chrome, so a nice custom touch that nobody will ever see .

 

[66 Sat]

I wonder if the steering wheel was replaced at some point, and they hammered it on for whatever reason. Who knows with these old cars. I had a '69 Barracuda with power steering about 20 years ago, one day when driving I noticed the steering wheel moving up and down about an inch. When I stopped at work (about 5 miles later) and waggled the wheel with the engine off, the wheel just started spinning around and around. The telescopic column had worked its way up and out of the steering box. The plastic grommets which are meant to shear in a crash had all broken, probably from someone hammering on the wheel and not using a puller. Very lucky, especially as I'd been doing over 100mph the night before!

 

[Cmmopar]

Some good info (original technical service bulletin copy) here on installing/adjusting column and adjusting coupler:

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...ple-issue-Need-help&p=910242718#post910242718

I wonder if the steering wheel was replaced at some point, and they hammered it on for whatever reason. Who knows with these old cars. I had a '69 Barracuda with power steering about 20 years ago, one day when driving I noticed the steering wheel moving up and down about an inch. When I stopped at work (about 5 miles later) and waggled the wheel with the engine off, the wheel just started spinning around and around. The telescopic column had worked its way up and out of the steering box. The plastic grommets which are meant to shear in a crash had all broken, probably from someone hammering on the wheel and not using a puller. Very lucky, especially as I'd been doing over 100mph the night before!

Wow, you are lucky. It seems rare that that the end of steering shaft pulls out of coupler but I am aware of a couple of other instances where this did happen. A damaged column ( collapsed plastic crush pellets) seem to be the common theme. When the plastic is damaged from rough handling or people collapsing shaft to convert manual to power steering length the only thing holding the end of shaft in coupler is friction and the crimped on coupler seal cover. A lot of cars are driven like this and seem to be ok but I would not do this with my car. Adding a steering coupler clamp over coupler will also keep shaft from pulling out of coupler a add a margin of safety.

Coupler clamp:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/301479800762?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[66 Sat]

I actually used a hose clamp, tightened just enough to grip the shaft but which would still allow the shaft to telescope in a crash. Pretty dodgy design really, wouldn't be all owed nowadays.