gap between steering wheel and column

[bart]

Hi,
I am trying to fix a non working horn.
I found that the inner brush behind the steering wheel is not touching the disc. There is about 2mm (0,078") space between the brush and the disc. This I can see when looking into the gap between the steering wheel and the column, this gap is about 7mm (0,275").
How much should this gap normally be ? I would think much less, which would also fix my horn problem.
There is about 6mm thread above the steering wheel nut. I tried to tighten the steering wheel nut more but it is tight. What could be the reason for the gap between wheel and column ?
I have not pulled the wheel yet as I do not have a puller (have to make one).

PC280058.JPG

PC280061.JPG

Thanks,
Bart

[fordman]

your steerign column needs to be adjusted up. then on the bottom of hte column shaft on the outside of the firewall is a bracket. (bearing retainer) that needs to be adjusted up also. that will pull it all back together.

[bart]

That makes sense, I renewed the power steering box last year and had to push the column into the cab to create some space.
So what I need to do now is loosen the brackets and slide the column over the shaft in direction of the steering wheel, and I do not have to loosen the rag joint ? How much should the gap between column and steering wheel be ?

[fordman]

not much. just a normal sized looking gap. 3/16 maybe at the most. you should have to mess with the rag joint.

[zoomer]

Mine is doing that same thing.. I changed out the turn signal switch and replaced the rag joint.
Now My horn doesn't work and the I've got an enormus gap. I thought I didn't put the steering wheel back on right.

[fordman]

the horn will work when you close the gap up. it will let the horn brush contact the horn ring when you close the gap.

[Mach428]

Hey, isn't there a snap-ring that goes at the top of the steering shaft at the turn signal housing? In order to move the column up to close the gap, what would happen to this snap ring?

[fordman]

only on a 73-79 column.

[bart]

Thanks Fordman, that was much easier than I thought !
Just loosen the clamp inside cab and outside and slide up the column. Horn working again. 5 minutes. I have a feeling that this advice saved me a lot of time.

[ForingaMex]

Hey bart,
There is one more thing you need to do though. At the bottom of the column there is collar (baering retainer) around the shaft. You need to loosen that collar (mine has 2 set-screws in it and some are different) and push that collar tight against the lower bearing and tighten it back up. If you don't do that than the only thing keeping the steering wheel gap constant is the rag joint between the column and steering box. Does that make sence?
Jake

[bart]

Jake,
thanks a lot for your important remark, I checked and found a gap between the collar and the lower column bearing, so loosened the collar (just one nut) and moved it upwards. I don't think the collar will affect the column position, but it will definitely prevent dirt to enter the column bearing, and keep the bearing in place !

[fordman]

that is what the retainer is for is to keep the bearing in place.

[Racer Z]

It's been a while since the last post on this thread, but I just found it. Did you fix the gap?

I had the same problem on my 70 F250. I fixed.

The factory service manual said to adjust the steering column by loosening the bolts and sliding the outer column. That did not work for me and I ended up removing the entire column assembly and taking it apart completely. I found that there is a ball bearing at the bottom end and a plastic cone shaped bearing at the top. Mine was missing most of the balls.

I have a 69 parts donor and took it apart to find that it had all the bearings and races. I used the best parts to make one and installed it to find that I now had a 3/4 inch gap. One truck is power steering and the other is manual. I took it apart again and found the solid steerer shafts were different lengths. (I later found a write-up about that here at fordification) I reassembled it with the correct steerer shaft for my steering gear box and set the adjustment as described in the Ford Factory Service Manual.

A perfect fit! And as an added bonus, the play in the steering went away. I had been thinking I needed to rebuild the steering gear box, but now I don't need to.