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Thread: Squeaky/Creaking Steering Wheel Shaft - How to fix?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    Wilmington, NC
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    288

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    Quote Originally Posted by greenmeanie
    The trouble is that there is nothing to make contact inside the column at that point. On the late IIAs columns the steering shaft is supported by the bearing you can see at the very top of the column; on the early IIAs it is a bushing. After that there is nothing until you get to the bearing at the top of the box.

    THis leads to one of two conclusions:
    1. There is something that has worked its way into the shaft at that point.
    2. Something is rubbing and because of the design of the column and it's support it sounds like it is coming from the point you describe.

    From memory you can just pull that top bearing out and replace it. Make sure the preload spring is still good while your there. Is there any radial or axial play is the steering wheel? Another cheap thing to check is that the column mountings are tight, both at the bulkhead and in the engine bay.

    One from left field here. Have you lubricated the indicator doohicky as mine sqeaked something fearsome until I sprayed some lube into the wheel housing?

    Squeaks are rather hard to diagnose over the interweb.

    Cheers
    Gregor

    PS. Your truck looks great with the truck cab.
    I will attempt to pull out the bearing and replace it as well as the spring. But the squeak is definitly coming from inside the shaft where my finger is pointing. Bearing does not squeak at all...nor does the turn signal indicator wheel. I checked top and bottom mounting and they are tight. Steering column has no play whatsoever. Maybe once I get that bearing out I can get some WD or PB blaster down the steering shaft. It literally sounds like a squeaky old door....like the kind you see in haunted house movies or scooby doo episodes. I have a case of the haunted steering wheel shaft.

    Oh and thanks for the compliment. I just need to get the back part of the truck cab painted to somewhat go with everything else. I've discovered the truck cab is great for summer with no windows as its just as cool as not having a top and keeps the sun off your head like a bikini top.

    1971 Series IIa Hybrid: 2.5L MILSPEC 5-Main Bearing Engine|Turner Engineering Performance Head w/ oversized hardened steel valves & phase shift/increased lift cam|LT77 Tranny/LT230 Transfer Case|11mm Ignition Wires/Super Coil|Jacobs Ignition/Petronix Ignitor|D90 Axles|Galvy Frame|Old Man Emu Coils|Cust Rear/Side Fuel Tanks|Cust Drive Shafts|

  2. #12
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    Oct 2006
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    You say you sprayed WD down the shaft. What the others are alluding to is whether you lubed the horn contact ring at the top of the column i.e the large copper bushing on the outside of the column. This is a fairly early form of slip ring for the horn connection to the steering wheel and can produce sqeaks. Lube inside the collar with the mating contact when the steering wheel is off too.

    Cheers
    Gregor

  3. #13
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    Dec 2007
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    Wilmington, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by leafsprung
    might be the horn contact
    I checked that as well. The noise is not coming from anywhere near the steering wheel itself.....its literally down in the shaft...basically where the shaft disappears into the dash.
    1971 Series IIa Hybrid: 2.5L MILSPEC 5-Main Bearing Engine|Turner Engineering Performance Head w/ oversized hardened steel valves & phase shift/increased lift cam|LT77 Tranny/LT230 Transfer Case|11mm Ignition Wires/Super Coil|Jacobs Ignition/Petronix Ignitor|D90 Axles|Galvy Frame|Old Man Emu Coils|Cust Rear/Side Fuel Tanks|Cust Drive Shafts|

  4. #14
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    Not trying to sound alarmist but the only time I have had a steering column that creaked, and I mean really creaked like an old door as opposed to have an "I've not been lubricated in a while" kind of squeak was on my 101. In that case the reason was a failed bottom bearing down in the steering box was allowing the end of the column to ride on the casting instead of the ball bearings. The final outcome was a steering failure, fortunately at low speed in my driveway. The reason it sounded like it was at the top of the column was all the bracing holding it in place made the bottom section stiff so it did not resonate.

    If lubing the top end doesn't help it might pay to look at the bottom end. Make sure the bolts holding the steering box are still tight. Pull the side plate and check for water in the housing and then have a good look at the scroll and if possible the support bearings.

    I think these tings are a pretty long shot but, if you haven't been in there before it is always fun having a poke around and seeing how things work.

    Cheers
    Gregor

  5. #15
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    Dec 2007
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    Wilmington, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by greenmeanie
    Not trying to sound alarmist but the only time I have had a steering column that creaked, and I mean really creaked like an old door as opposed to have an "I've not been lubricated in a while" kind of squeak was on my 101. In that case the reason was a failed bottom bearing down in the steering box was allowing the end of the column to ride on the casting instead of the ball bearings. The final outcome was a steering failure, fortunately at low speed in my driveway. The reason it sounded like it was at the top of the column was all the bracing holding it in place made the bottom section stiff so it did not resonate.

    If lubing the top end doesn't help it might pay to look at the bottom end. Make sure the bolts holding the steering box are still tight. Pull the side plate and check for water in the housing and then have a good look at the scroll and if possible the support bearings.

    I think these tings are a pretty long shot but, if you haven't been in there before it is always fun having a poke around and seeing how things work.

    Cheers
    Gregor
    Thanks Gregor for this info. I will definitly look into this. I've noticed on occasion that there is a popping in the steering....so I'm afraid this may be the culprit.

    Is there anything difficult about getting into the steering box? Anything to look out for or something that is difficult?

    thanks again.
    1971 Series IIa Hybrid: 2.5L MILSPEC 5-Main Bearing Engine|Turner Engineering Performance Head w/ oversized hardened steel valves & phase shift/increased lift cam|LT77 Tranny/LT230 Transfer Case|11mm Ignition Wires/Super Coil|Jacobs Ignition/Petronix Ignitor|D90 Axles|Galvy Frame|Old Man Emu Coils|Cust Rear/Side Fuel Tanks|Cust Drive Shafts|

  6. #16
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    The best thing is to take it off the truck and strip it on the bench and then follow the manual. The only gotcha is that all the ball bearings will fall out of the burman nut at some point. It helps if you only open it up on a clean, contained area. Doing this over a dirty garage floor among years of acummulated crap will have you spending hours hunting them down and wondering if you got them all. Count the balls out and count them back in again. When reassembling coat each ball ingrease to hold them in position while you thred the nut on the scroll.

    Oh and pay good attention to the condition of the ball bearing races. If lubrication has been questionable they can often show spalling as a sign of fatigue failure. If present, this pitting will be obvious when you look.

    Cheers
    Gregor

  7. #17
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    Mass.
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    Perhaps the mounting bolts on the frame end are loose causing the column to rub on the firewall or the mounting brackets?
    Jason T.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jason T.
    Perhaps the mounting bolts on the frame end are loose causing the column to rub on the firewall or the mounting brackets?
    Jason T.
    Checked every single bolt. All are tight. Nothing loose. The problem lies within the steering box or inside the steering shaft...just above the steering box. I took some pics of the setup I have.

    I wanted to take the steering box apart but unfortunately I don't have the proper took to get it apart. Any suggestions on where to get this tool?

    **Also there is a drain plug on the side of the steering box. Can lubricant be added through this? Drained? Please forgive me for the stupid questions....








    Steering setup for reference....









    1971 Series IIa Hybrid: 2.5L MILSPEC 5-Main Bearing Engine|Turner Engineering Performance Head w/ oversized hardened steel valves & phase shift/increased lift cam|LT77 Tranny/LT230 Transfer Case|11mm Ignition Wires/Super Coil|Jacobs Ignition/Petronix Ignitor|D90 Axles|Galvy Frame|Old Man Emu Coils|Cust Rear/Side Fuel Tanks|Cust Drive Shafts|

  9. #19
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    The Granite State (NH)
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    Quote Originally Posted by NC Rover
    I wanted to take the steering box apart but unfortunately I don't have the proper too[l] to get it apart. Any suggestions on where to get this tool?

    **Also there is a drain plug on the side of the steering box. Can lubricant be added through this? Drained? Please forgive me for the stupid questions....
    Is the specialty tool you are talking about the puller to remove the steering drop arm? If so, I imagine that there are other ways to get the steering drop arm off, including using a generic gear or bearing puller.

    As for the drain plug on the side, that may be the adjuster that sets the amount of backlash in the steering box. The adjuster has a screw with a square-drive male end and a locking (jamb) nut which holds the set screw in place.

    Also, I'm not familiar with coil spring conversions, but it would appear that the steering track rod is bent in the last photo. Perhaps it's an optical illusion in the photo--It's the rod that connects the two swivels together so that both weels steer simultaneously. Perhaps this is normal on these conversions for clearance purposes, I don't know, but it surely must weaken the steering system during heavy off-roading.
    --Mark

    1973 SIII 109 RHD 2.5NA Diesel

    0-54mph in just under 11.5 minutes
    (9.7 minutes now that she's a 3-door).

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by NC Rover
    I wanted to take the steering box apart but unfortunately I don't have the proper took to get it apart. Any suggestions on where to get this tool?

    **Also there is a drain plug on the side of the steering box. Can lubricant be added through this? Drained? Please forgive me for the stupid questions....








    Steering setup for reference....



    OK first things first. The plug on the side of the steering box is to adjust the backlash. It's not a bad place to start. Undo the big jam nut and then gently tighten the inner square head nut thing. You should not make it much more than finger tight but you'll know when it's right because the steering wheel won't feel vague any more.

    If that does n't fix things the next thing to do is pull the side plate off. Drain the oil through a paper filter and look for metallic nasties. THat should tell you if any bearings are collapsed. Also look at the condition of the groove in the side plate and the matching part of the burman nut. Look for signs of heavy wear or galling.

    To remove the steering box I had the same issue. Pullers just were not working. I ended up making a U shaped shim out of .062 sheet steel to protect the steering box housing. Having removed the nut I then went to town with a suitably sized pickle fork and off she came.

    As a point of interest you can just see a plug in the top of the steering box in the top picture. That is the fill plug but on yours it seems to be pretty crowded by the brake servo.

    Cheers
    Gregor

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