Steering Bushing Replaced - Still Have Play?
 

When i tapped in the bushing it took all of the play out of the shaft. After i put it all back together and got it out on the road i noticed that there was less up and down play but there is still some there. I'm wondering could i have tapped it in to far? I used a socket and then a punch to tap it down farther. I also had to use a ball hammer to make the end of the bushing larger to fit over the shaft.

Any ideas?
did i destroy the bushing with the ball hammer?
could i have pushed the bushing to far down the shaft?

'73 911 T

- "Talking about music is like Dancing about Architecture"

Which bushing did you use/buy?

There is one sold that is about 1/2" long and another one you can buy that is about 3/4" long.

The shorter one tends to ride up the shaft and become ineffective. It takes the longer one to sit properly against the retaining ring on the shaft.

I don't know for sure, i wanna say it was longer 'cause i know it was longer than 1/2" - i'm going to pull my wheel back off tomorrow to look at it.

When you pull your wheel, if you can move the bushing up off the shaft or it is not fully seated down on the shaft, then it's the shorter bushing.

Did you get buy the plastic or metal bushing?

I purchased the metal one, i was concerned about having to make the end of the bushing bigger (as in beat the hell out of it) to fit over the shaft, i know that shouldn't make any difference but you never know

well, i pulled my wheel tonight and my bushing had slipped down past the retainer ring, (the bushing is the longer one) so i pulled the bushing and reset it against the retainer ring careful not to push it to far, i set it snug against the ring this took all the play out of the shaft so i put my wheel back on torqued it down backed it out of the drive and when i turned the wheel i heard and felt something SNAP my steering became very stiff and sticky at this point, but by the time i got it back in the drive i heard another snap and it was free of the stiff steering but all the play came back. I'll try again tomorrow. So i'm assuming the bushing slid past the retainer ring again or i busted something. I know this is a very easy job, but i'm beginning to wonder if i need a new retainer ring and bushing? should i get the plastic one? would it seat better?

Here's the sequence.

Pull the steering wheel off. Remove the retaining ring. The bushing should slide onto the shaft, tap it down to snug the shaft. replace the retaining ring. The retainign ring stops the bushing from riding up off the shaft.

Ok, i'll try that tonight - i've been doing some more research on this and it seems that on the pre '74 cars like mine this has been a problem, from what i've read the Metal Bushing doesn't fit properly on our older cars. I'll try putting the bushing in before the retaining ring (bearing) tonight and see what happens. Thanks for your help, i'm not mechanically inclined at all but i'm learning, i think it's that right brain thing.

We've all been there.....

Check out this thread. Since you have a '73, it is very possible that the bushing you bought is not the correct one. Check out the pictures that I tried to post. Do you have the pieces that I mentioned?