Steering wheel play
Steering wheel play
- Thread starter Vesuvio
- Start date
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- 14,787
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- 54
- Location
- Springfield, Missouri-U.S.A. Earth
- Vehicle(s)
- '85 CJ-7, 258/4.2L 6cyl. Bought new in 1985. Full cage, Warn 8274 winch, Ford 9" rear, front/rear Detroit Lockers w/4:88 R&P. T-5 tranny and 4:1 t'case. 33X12.50-15 BFG/AT, MSD ign, on board air---
LG
- Posts
- 530
- Thanks
- 59
- Location
- Central Virginia
- Vehicle(s)
- '78 CJ5, 258, D30, AMC 20, 3.54, T150, 33s, Sniper EFI, 4"BDS, 1" M.O.R.E. body, Team Rush, MDS 6A, BDO tie rod flip, Adams shafts, Speedhut gauges, 8274
Honestly, you'd be much better off to just go ahead and replace the entire shaft.
The factory one left a whole lot to be desired to begin with, coupled with the fact that it's now approaching 40 years old. The aftermarket replacements (i.e. Borgeson, Flaming River) are much better in terms of quality and construction.
- Posts
- 530
- Thanks
- 59
- Location
- Central Virginia
- Vehicle(s)
- '78 CJ5, 258, D30, AMC 20, 3.54, T150, 33s, Sniper EFI, 4"BDS, 1" M.O.R.E. body, Team Rush, MDS 6A, BDO tie rod flip, Adams shafts, Speedhut gauges, 8274
Vehicle specific...also dependent on manual vs power steering
If you're not comfortable tackling it, you may want to consider having a front end shop do it. They can take a look at the rest of the steering components that may also need attention while it's in there...ball joints, tie rod ends, etc...and check alignment, toe-in and caster.
I'd highly recommend it from the safety standpoint...particularly if you're having issues with wandering, bumpsteer, etc.
- Posts
- 1,026
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- 8
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- 2
- Location
- Pittsboro, NC
- Vehicle(s)
- 1981 CJ5/258 4.2L I6, Tremec T-176 4-speed, Dana 300, Power Steering, Howell Throttle Body Injection System, Warn Locking Hubs, Warn Rock Crawler front/rear bumper with Tire Swing Carrier, Full Roll Cage, Pro Comp ES9000 shocks
My entire steering column was falling apart, causing a dangerous amount of wheel play. Everything from the output shaft to the upper column was junk. That GM upper tilt column is the biggest turd I've ever seen. All the inner workings were plastic. I didn't have the time to fix it myself, so I found a shop that's installing a new custom output shaft and upper steering column. Its a lot of money, but the last thing I want is to be driving on the highway and a u-joint breaks. I should be getting my CJ5 back next week. I'll let you know if it fixed the wheel play problem.
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