Big Blue's Chuckling Noise In Steering Column

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Vivek.  But you don't owe me anything.  We had a fun trip and even got to eat at Reba's Place on the way back.

Mat - Yes, the telescoping is the safety feature.  And my Borgeson telescopes as well.  I'm not going to remove any of that, but just stop the movement inside that lower bearing, which is making that noise.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Jeff - I don't think the nut on the screw is hitting, but I'll check.  I think parallax is the issue as the camera was farther back and makes it look like it hits.

Yep, you’re probably right about the parallax.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary, did you fix it?

[Gary Lewis]

No, Jeff.  Wanted to finish the clutch switch bypass and power steering leak before tackling the noise issue.  But now with that done I realize that our grandtwins arrive on Wednesday and they may want to drive the truck while here.  So I'll put a bit of oil on the spot where it is sliding and grinding and wait until they are gone before taking the steering apart.

So it'll be about 10 days before I get to that.

[viven44]

Do check those 3 screws! On the auto column if my bad memory serves me any good, that is ultimately what opposes the nut behind the steering wheel (the actual nut )

[Gary Lewis]

Where are those three screws?  It looks like they are the ones holding the lower bearing in, and if that is so then they are tight.

[viven44]

They are behind the flange extension. They are a pain to get to as you will need to be on the floor looking up... and allen head (at least on the auto column). You will need to remove the plastic surround around the column.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, when I get into it I'll check.  Thanks.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, our grandtwins and daughter went home today, so it was time to pull the steering column apart and see if I can get rid of the chuckle.

The first thing I did was to record a video showing looseness between the bearing and the shaft. Turns out the ID of the bearing is .999" and the OD of the shaft is .988" so there was .011" slop.

Then I brazed the shaft up and turned it down on the lathe, and got it to .995" which gave a pretty good fit. And since I knew I wanted a spacer between the top of the Borgeson shaft and the inner race of the bearing I found that the red retainer for the original bearing is a perfect fit.

I hope to put it back together tomorrow and if there is still some slop I'll open up the top of the column by pulling the steering wheel.

[BigBrother-84]

Looks good!

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Jeff.  

[Gary Lewis]

Well, two steps forward and one backward is still progress, right?

The first step forward was that I got the lower/inner steering shaft back in the column, got the lower bearing on, and the Borgeson shaft on.  And there is NO slack between the top u-joint of the Borgeson shaft and the lower bearing on the steering column, so there will be no movement nor noise there.

The step backwards was that there was still up/down movement in the steering wheel of maybe 1/8".  

So I took the wheel off and found that I could move the shaft up and down at least 1/4" by hand.  Given that I pulled the turn signal switch out and found the situation shown on the left, below, with the snap ring 1/4" up the shaft.

The 2nd step forward is that I pulled the bearing and took the pic on the right - there is a groove for the snap ring.  And the bearing is in excellent condition!

So tomorrow I hope to re-install the bearing, snap ring, turn signal switch, and steering wheel.  

[Nothing Special]

Definitely progress!

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

The 2nd step forward is that I pulled the bearing and took the pic on the right - there is a groove for the snap ring.  And the bearing is in excellent condition!

So the snap ring has slid on the shaft, out of its groove?

[Gary Lewis]

Yes.  If you look closely that groove is shallow and tapered, apparently intended to allow the snap ring to come out under pressure.  I can't say that I understand why, but if you look closely there's a snap ring on the other side of the bearing that sits in a tight groove.  So the shallow groove was on purpose.

Also, although Vivek posted a pic of a cover of some kind with three screws that held that bearing in, the Bullnose trucks don't have that cover.  Instead it is held in with that snap ring, and you can see that in the illustrations shown on our page at Documentation/Interior/Steering Columns.

[viven44]

The pic I posted was for a bullnose non-tilt and manual column. Took that from my 84 factory manual

Even in the pic I posted, the bearing is behind the snap ring. Those 3 screws I wanted Gary to check on… maybe the have nothing to do with what’s going on, perhaps absent even

The lower bearing (in the engine bay) does have another set of 3 screws doing “something” in that assembly … don’t remember

Anyway, glad to know the problem is almost solved

[mat in tn]

well, I'm not going to say I told you so because it was not actually broken. but i was close 

[Gary Lewis]

Vikek - Yes, the shop manuals and the parts catalog show the snap ring.  I think those three screw holes are where the turn signal mechanism mounts.

But, speaking of the shop manual, it says there's a flat on the shaft such that you can only mount the steering wheel in one position.  But I have two shafts easily inspected and both have no flat spots in the serrations.  So the wheel can go on any way you want.

And the lower bearing does have three screws holding it in.

Mat - Yes, you were right.  But it isn't broken, just out of place.  However, I am now wondering if it is the wrong snap ring and is too large to catch in the groove.  We shall see in the morning.  

[viven44]

Ok that clears it up. I have never been inside a manual/non-tilt. Agree those are indeed the 3 screws that seem to be holding the turn signal switch. The way they had them drawn it on that pic… they appeared to be on the backside.

The tilt /auto ones do have another set of 3 screws in that  back area that will add some play if loose and that got me confused.

[mat in tn]

it being the wrong one would imply that it has been off before. it's possible. But you have driven this many miles and seemingly not always on smooth roads. it's more likely that it was removed without snap ring pliers and is not exactly flat anymore therefore not seating properly, and it finally worked out. unfortunately, the most irregular stress the column will endure is being used as a handle to pull the driver up into the truck.