Steering column question

[TLC76]

The deeper I dig into my new rig, the more exciting things I find. I already knew the power steering box was leaking, and the steering shaft had no slip joint in it. I ended up pulling the whole setup out, and the bottom of the column had some bailing wire holding a red seal in at a funny angle. The seal is worn in an oval, and nothing else supports the shaft inside the column. Do I just need a new seal, or is there some sort of bushing or bearing missing here? As you can see they did a beautiful job fabricating the new firewall mount. I also like the 3/8" weld at the bottom of the shaft U joint. Best case scenarion I'm going to redo the steering linkages from that shaft out, worst case maybe I need a new column? Steering is one thing I don't want to take a chance with, as this FJ40 will be purpose built for road racing. Not really. Does anyone recognize this column? GM?

 

[71 redwood]

maybe a camaro/ firebird

 

[fyresq]

GM....my guess is like above or s10/blazer

 

[TLC76]

Can anyone tell me if that red bushing is the only thing that's supposed to be in there? If so I'll reuse this column with a new U-joint.

 

[fj hunter]

cant tell where it came from , but...

from what i remember from a few other columns, that red seal is in reality the bearing that fits into the column housing in the second picture. then the "bailing" wire is a wire clip that holds it into place. the "red" bearing acts to center the column inside the housing, and provides a lube application so the steering column spins freely donw at that end. If you can see a GM or FORD, or whatever, that may "steer" you towards a used bearing, or a replacement. The reason for the oblong hole is the ccw or cw torque throws the steering shaft in/out(left right) and causing the oval shape.

I'd find a used bearing and trim the outer edges to fit. dissassemble from teh steering wheel down, and replace and assmeble oppsite. not a terrible task. the slip joint you are refering to is in teh picture, just under or ahdead of the red bearing. more likely a colision joint. there should be another joint for steering column slip that is not that type, so look for a boot on the shaft somewhere.

 

[TLC76]

Thanks, good info. There is a collision joint in the steering column, but no slip joint anywere else (PO did serious hack work). I'll see if I can't source a fresh seal/bushing. The bailing wire really was just some rusty old rebar tie wire hap hazzardly jam wired in there. The bushing was at a 45 deg angle when I pulled it out, no doubt causing the oblong hole.

I plan on rebuilding it from the first U-joint on, weld a good ujoint on, use some DD shaft, and a isolation U joint at the steering box. it didn't look like the Borgeson DD-DD slip joints came long enough (~30").

 

[fj hunter]

the best slip joints i ...

have seen are four or five fluted just like a drive shaft, but they mate only partically to allow shift along the steering column center line. When i replaced the steering column on my fj40-1/69 i used one from a fj62-88, it has a 10 inch or so slip joint with a rubber boot.

i would agree that rebuilding it all now is the best thing to do. best to your efforts.