Loose Steering and slop in the shift column

[jmc1975]

I have a 70 F100, there is alot of play when turning the steering wheel left and right and when shifting gears the column shift has alot of play in it but goes into gear and stays in gear just fine. Any Idea how to fix the problem or where to start looking?

[fordman]

probably the rag joint at the bottom of the column between the steering box and column. what transmission do you have? 3 spd on the column? all of the steering columns have bearing in them upper and lower. they get worn away and bad over the years and need replaced. if it is a 3 spd it could also be the gromments on the shift arms or tha tang the shift tube shifts with too.

http://www.fordification.com/tech/3spd-column_01.htm

[jmc1975]

Its the 3 spd on the column, is there a rebuild kit for the rag joint?

[jmc1975]

so what are my options?

[fordman]

if it is bad. you can buy a new one from any vendor that sells them. i have even seen the vendors selling them on ebay but i dotn know where they come from.

[wildcard]

My 71 with manual steering has an adjustment to take slack out of the steering. Don't know about p/s trucks. If it's not the rag joint, you might try this for removing play in the steering wheel.
It's located on top of the steering box. Looks like a nut screwed down over a screw with a slotted head. ( I gotta figure out how to post pictures.) Loosen the nut and take a flat screwdriver and turn the slotted screw to the right to tighten the steering. I turned mine a half turn at a time and checked the play and kept on until I had it where I wanted it. Then tighten down the nut.
Hope that helps some.

[jmc1975]

mine has p/s not sure if any such nut is on top of the steering box.

[fordman]

all the boxes are adjustable. it is to better mesh the gears together. it can do soem good if yours is out of alignment or the gears are really worn. otherwise it may do nothing at all that you will notice. i would leave that as a last guess.

[timmytim]

if you over tighten that adjustment nut it will were out the gear box too

[jmc1975]

I looked at the steering and had someone move it back and forth and it looks like the rag joint, are the one's from LMC worth the 60 or 70 bucks?

[wildcard]

I guess they all have their pros and cons. But I got mine a while back from an aftermarket parts rack for about $10. Got one like that before and ran it for years with no problem. This one seems to be holding up good so far. Just my opinion. I have learned over the years that more expensive is not necessarily better.

[jmc1975]

do I need any type of puller to the remove the rag joint or any of the bearings in the streeing column?

[fordman]

no special puller needed. the bolt for the rag joint is a 7/16 12 point socket.

[quantumleap]

if your changing the column bearings while replacing the rag joint...might need a steering wheel puller if it hasnt been pulled in a while.