steering wheel problem

[rr41mag]

I mounted my steering wheel. The shaft was disconnected still from just putting the body on the chassis. The splined part to hook to on the lower end is not sticking out now. Do I mount the wheel without the adaptor?

 

[Purple77CJ7]

I have a Grant steering wheel on my Jeep. With the inner snap ring holding the steering shaft tight to the inner bearing, it shouldn't change the length of the shaft. Are you sure all the parts below the steering wheel are in the correct order? With mine installed shaft length did not change.

 

[yellow85cj]

The shaft inside the column is meant to collapse just like the intermediate shaft.

What may have happened is that when you mounted the wheel, you pushed the shaft together shortening it.

If you stood the column on end and applied pressure when you installed the wheel, you pushed it in. Try to grab the splined end ( the end that went away) and with out damaging the splines, slide it back out enough to install the intermediate shaft.

 

[rr41mag]

Ok, I have installed several grant wheels nd done several ody lifts and what I found was this. When you do a body lift on a 78 chevy truck, there are plastic rivets that have to be drilled out for the column to extend. Well same thing on this jeep column. Only they are inside the column. I took my column apart, found the plastic rivets, drilled them out, extended the shaft and bingo! problem solved. I would have put the column back in but my helper wanted to play. Besides that it gets colder at dark.