Steering column play

[tonypy1]

I seem to have play in the column between the inner and outer tubes that allow for the length adjustment. Does anyone have any ideas / experience on how to deal with this?

Many thanks

Tony

[jleyton]

Yep, I had that

It'll probably be because the lower bush (153040 - although this diagram is misleading as the bushes are mounted further up, between inner and outer column tubes, closer to the steering wheel) has worn away or disintegrated. Others have said that the replacement ones are very poor quality.

In my case I rescued the bush that had dropped out and managed to wedge it back in place. Far from a perfect repair but as it's only me who ever drives the car and I never adjust the column now, there is no pressure or movement on my Heath Robinson repair

Cheers

Julian

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[stagwingnut]

I seem to have play in the column between the inner and outer tubes that allow for the length adjustment. Does anyone have any ideas / experience on how to deal with this?

Many thanks

Tony

hi tony ,i have done this job a few years back ,and it is very tricky to do ,there are 2 circular nylon bushes with a locating lug on each one , you have to slide these up the outer tube inside and get the lugs located in there respective holes,on reflection i cant remember the exact procedure ,but probably i must have placed the bushes on the narrower tube and fiddled with them that way ,good luck ,regds graham

[jleyton]

Wow - I've managed to play with 'Paint' for the first time and have relocated the lower bush to the correct place

Cheers

Julian

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[martin]

Hi Tony, do you mean that the wheel/column move ? If so, there's an easy fit answer, it's a ring that stops the original (nasty) adjustment from moving. Most suppliers keep them. Martin.

[jleyton]

Hi Tony, do you mean that the wheel/column move ? If so, there's an easy fit answer, it's a ring that stops the original (nasty) adjustment from moving. Most suppliers keep them. Martin.

I've had both types of free play but from Tony's description I assumed it was the play between the tubes ?

Cheers

Julian

[tonypy1]

Thanks for all the replies and yes it is play between the tubes. Looks like I need to get hold of the 153040 bush parts - hope I can find some good quality ones....

Thanks again

Tony

[tonypy1]

Looks like the only two companies I can find that list them (so far) - Paddock's & Rimmers are both out of stock. They both have photos on their site and one type is green and the other black but despite them being different they look rather crudely made so I think I might have a look at making something or trying to repair any remaining parts.

[elvimto]

Tony if you can make these bushings that would be better than what you pay good money for. I would make them out of teflon or nylon solid bar and machine them then drill and plug or pin them into the hole in the tube or glue them in. After I rebuilt my column and used the bushings when I was fitting them together one of the bushings tore I just left it in and you cannot tell. If I had to do it again I would make my own.

cheers Stuart

[tonypy1]

I like the sound of that - will look into it.

Thanks

[73stagman]

Tony if you can make these bushings that would be better than what you pay good money for. I would make them out of teflon or nylon solid bar and machine them then drill and plug or pin them into the hole in the tube or glue them in. After I rebuilt my column and used the bushings when I was fitting them together one of the bushings tore I just left it in and you cannot tell. If I had to do it again I would make my own.

cheers Stuart

Because the original ones fell out of the column in dust I also discovered they were "nil Stock" So I just made a set. They are VERY thin (about 1.5mm wall thickness) but using PTFE solid bar allowed them to be machined without too much hassle and also because the PTFE is quite flexible it took up the ovality of the two sliding columns. I then used a drill bit whilst wearing a glove and hand cut two cross holes for two rubber bungs in each bush. I punched four small rubber "bungs" from ten mill thick rubber and pushed then into the cross holes in the outer column to wedge the new bushes in place whilst I re assembled the column. One fell out from the top bush once it was all in the car but the other three have stayed put and there is no play in the column! No pics unfortunately because I just got stuck in and made them in my lunch hour...( well stretched hour really)

[tonypy1]

Thanks again for all the very helpful replies.

Just as an update the bushing material required to take up the play between the inner and outer columns whilst also allowing articulation needs to have an outside diameter of 38mm and an inside diameter of 35mm. There are various aluminium and steel tubes available on e-bay but I wanted to use plastic - unfortunately the wall thickness of plumbing waste pipe in the easy to get hold of sizes was too thick. I didn't really have time to machine anything and didn't want to use lots of 1.5mm section o-rings so started having a look through the kitchen cupboards etc. with some measuring calipers to hand.

The tube that Dylon stain remover comes in ( http://www.dylon.co.uk/product.php?alias=stain-removers )was a perfect fit after cutting the ends off, I also used a section from an old Turtle Wax Colour Magic container that I had lying around. I was able to cut a tube frrom the cap leaving the threaded part so that the container still had a sealing lid.

The two tubes fitted perfectly and I've flowed a little superglue through the locating holes in the outer tubes to hold them in place - the superglue needs to be high viscosity as the thicker gel types won't flow through the hole. Result - no play and a really nice sliding motion between the two column tubes.

[73stagman]

Well done! and that just proves there is more than one answer to one's question!!

[73stagman]

I think the top of the "lateral thinking class" is yours for the moment too!

[DJT]

I now have play in this area of the steering column which I know will cause a problem at the next MOT (March). Spoke to both Paddocks and Rimmers and neither have stock, nor are they expecting to get any more.

I guess this is a task for SOCTFL..............

Dave