This is great, thank you. I've had significant play in my steering column and this fixed it 98%.
Forgive me for being presumptuous for a newbie but there is also an additional
fix I found on ttora and have done on my Tacoma with great success. I had nagging play in the Tacoma steering column on larger or quick bumps, so 4 years ago I did this fix and today there is still no play in the column. Both the 80 and Tacoma have a slip joint on the steering column main shaft which can develop play over time. I've now done this for the 80.
The fix from ttora was to either tack weld or install a dowel pin through the slip joint. Note this is potentially a safety concern because supposedly the shaft is designed to collapse in a crash. Some concluded on the other forum that the strength of the tack weld or dowel pin is much less than the other safety mechanisms and therefore would sheer or break readily in a crash.
The main shaft per the FSM must be removed from the column housing. The tilt mechanism does not have to be disassembled for this. The lock cylinder must be removed and requires tapping the cone bolts. I used a 1/8 drill bit and then tapped in a T-20 torx socket. The shaft cannot be removed without this step, as the shaft lock must be removed to slide out the shaft.
To remove the swivel mechanism bolt studs I used a 19mm closed wrench, a washer, and the nut setup as a puller. The large spring will fall out once the lock cylinder and swivel bolt studs are removed.
The main shaft on my 80 appeared to have two places where either it has been pinched or had a dowel pin installed. Honestly I could not tell. I decided to go ahead with installing a dowel pin. I drilled out the shaft as shown in the photo and installed the dowel pin.
For assembly, the large spring is a PITA. To reinstall I had to install the swivel bolt studs first, then squeeze the spring back into place from above. I didn't think it was going to work but finally succeeded.
