Steering column bushing ordered...any tips?
 

Hey all,

Got the old sloppy steering wheel and ordered the metal bushing from Pelicans. Should be in by the end of the week. What am I in for on this repair? Car is an 88 model 911. What size nut do I need to be ready for? How do I get the nut loose without damaging the steering lock or rack? Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks,
mark

1. Remove horn pad by simply pulling, as hard as it takes. Trust us on this one. It's still attached by a wire to the wheel once it comes off though, so remember to stop pulling once it lets go.

2. Just use a deep socket and a looooong ratchet or breaker bar on the nut. I counterhold the steering wheel with my other hand. If that doesn't work, recruit someone stronger, or hold the wheel with a Club, or a second breaker bar, with rags to cushion the impact point on the wheel. It's only 50 lb-ft or so.

3. Sit down in the car and note how much easier it is to sit down without that pesky wheel in front of you. With the wheel off, put the bushing on the steering wheel shaft. Use a very deep socket that fits around the steering wheel shaft well to tap in the bushing. It will match up exactly with a whitish/yellowish plastic bushing already on the shaft. As you tap the new bushing on, it displaces the old one down the shaft a bit.

4. Reattach steering wheel. Use a torque wrench if you have one to reattach the nut. 46 lb-ft torque, which is less than "really tight", "gorilla", or "fused", but more than "loose", "snug", or "firm". It's "Pretty Tight". The horn button just snaps on once you reattach the wire.

Enjoy smooth steering.

Uncanny...

As this thread was being written, I was searching though the archives to find some information about this problem.

I'm not quite sure what my problem is yet... but I was just getting ready to ask. :)

Just these past few weeks I've noticed an increased amount of "play" somewhere in my steering.
Lets say I'm going over a slight curb at about 5 miles an hour... as soon as the tires hit the curb, there is a delay of sorts before I feel it in the wheel... it's slop... I'm just not sure where it is coming from.

I can't hear any audible clicking or other noises... just a bit of unusual "play" in the wheel... It is especially noticable when in reverse.

How do I go about trouble shooting this?

Leland, are your lugnuts tight? :) That's where I'd start.

The bearing being shot usually results in symptoms like physical lateral play at the wheel, grinding, and increased steering effort.

I would look seriously at your tie rods, wheel bearings, and steering linkage. One place to easily look at your linkage is in the smuggler's trunk, if you didn't know.

......you'll be hearing from me again, Mr. "Old Skul"... ;)

... I'm going to go look.

Well I went and did a quick check...

...all wheels are tight and I did an inspection of the universal joint of the steering rack in the smugglers box.
No sign of wear at the joint... but I can move it back and forth by hand... does this indicate a bad rack?

The wheel bearings are old... I repacked the fronts about two years ago... maybe it's time for a new set all 'round?
I understand that the rears are a bear???

I remember Warren saying that the front wheel bearings are over-designed (as far as load capacity, I guess) by a factor of 5. If you repacked them a few years back, they're most likely still good? I'd search elsewhere.

Take a look at the steering coupler on the rack if you decide to go there. Rack relubing is plenty simple if you wanted to do that as well. You'd be surprised how much grease has left the rack and resides as slime in your boots.

Well, how're the tie rods?

I'm no expert, Leland, just ticking the easy ones off. Lugnuts're easy :)

After a quick search I found this post but was wondering if I am diagnosing the right thing? My car basically feels like it has sloppy tilt steering but I don't have tilt steering.What I mean is I can lift my steering wheel up and down about a 1/8 of an inch or so.I never noticed it before today and now I can't stop doing it.Is this the bushing that needs to be changed?Thanks

Critter,

This is likely the bearing at the top of the steering column. It has a nylon/plastic part that is notorious for wearing out and causing play at the top.

You can replace the bearing, but it is a tough job. Alternatively, there is special repair part for this.

It is a little "sleeve" that slides inside the existing bearing. It replaces the worn out nylon piece. Real easy to install since you don't need to pull the bearing.

I assume Pelican carries this item.

Geez....talk about syncronized car failures. My steering wheel has developed the sloppy syndrome too. This weekend while on a club drive all of a sudden it started to feel sloppy. When I pulled over I found I could move the wheel up and down with about 1cm of movement.

So I searched the board and found the suggestion of repairing with the metal bushing from the 968 (?). Anyhow I thought this was a fairly straight forward job but I see Chuck says its tough.

Geez.........:mad:

Cheers
Mark

Leland,

I've found it helpful in the past to have someone in the driver's seat rocking the steering wheel back and forth while you look along the steering column, rack and tie rods. While the steering wheel is moving, feel each part - you'll know where the play is.

The column bushing is probably very difficult to replace. I put the repair sleeve on and it is a piece of cake.

Here's a picture of my disintegrated bushing - you can see the flecks of beige plastic where the top of the bushing was. After you remove the clip (the one with red paint on it), you just slide the repair sleeve onto the shaft, pushing all the old bushing into the column.

Chris.

Mark (old skull)...so are you saying no need to remove the old bushing, just slide on the new metal bushing and the old will slide further down the shaft out of the way?

Thanks heaps.

Cheers
Mark

Geez....talk about synchronized car failures
 

G'day Mark.
Crikey, you can say that again! Telepathic Porsche de-bugging?
I have the same shaft movement and you may recall in our last conversation regarding the bump steering kit I mentioned I was chasing my steering column chatter.
I ordered the bushing, installed it - and it made absolutely no difference! In fact the nylon bearing WAS intact (not disintegrated) before I installed it. In hindsight I now wish I'd left it alone, oh well. The installation of the bushing is a piece of cake - a talent rating one, but it WILL destroy what maybe a perfectly good nylon bearing as was my experience, causing an increased lateral movement between the shaft and the bushing. Interestingly it was a snug fit upon installation but after a couple of days .....I was disappointed. :(
I don't mind if someone here says I'm giving wrong advice - but my humble opinion is that if the shaft itself is worn - the bushing will do nothing or very little, except maybe where the OEM nylon bearing is visibly and actually knackered - it *may* reduce the lateral shaft movement but I'm now sceptical that it will actually eliminate it. I'm sure the flexibility of the upper OEM nylon bearing is designed correctly as a snug firm fit (albeit sacrificial)
I found the shaft to be slightly worn where it is contact with the upper bearing but I don't have the tools to remove it so I've booked it into Melbourne Porsche with instructions to dismantle and rebuild the complete assembly - replacing the upper OEM nylon bearing and being new it will take up the worn shaft slack) replace the shaft if necessary, the uni joints, the yoke will be investigated and the lower bearing replaced together with what ever else they diagnose.
This is all happening in 3 weeks and costing $$$ but I'm assured of near as new steering :) Stay tuned if you wish.

Sean,

You can buy another bearing and tap it in on top of the old bearing!!! I don't think want to pay to have the steering column removed. It's a pretty big job because of all the surrounding things you need to remove in order to just get the column out of the car. I've done this job and it's not fun. Lots of potential for your car to get boogered up by someone who's impatient.

I'm not sure how the shaft would wear unless the plastic sleeve was completely gone and causing the shaft to contact the bearing metal surface. Those u-joints aren't going to be cheap either ($120 over here). Most of the time you can put a few drips of oil on the joint pivots and they'll move like new again. If I were to do it again, i'd do the new bearing on top of the old bearing method. Just my two cents...............

As long as you're overhauling the whole steering assy., why not tackle the steering rack as well? A good repacking of the rack grease should make a big difference in the feel of the steering system. Much smoother operation. New tie rods sure would help (if they're needed) as well.


Good luck.

Leland,

I have had the same thing you are describing in the past but found the problem in a different area.

Get someone to sit in the seat and move the wheel. Put your food against the tire on both sides to stop the movement and see where the play is in the system.

I found one car where the rack was moving on the frame and that was where the play was, not in the tie rods, steering wheel or bearings.

Joe

Kevin
 

Well there ya go! I didn't think of that. Just remove the retaining ring and tap the new one over the old, then replace the retaining clip. Thanks Kevin, I'll check it out. Thing is, this chatter noise maybe coming from inside the old upper bearing and I've had a gut full of it in my ear, so I'll definitely remove it if that's the case.
Yeah I know what you mean "It's a pretty big job" in removing the shaft. The whole fan plenum assembly, uni joints, lower bearing, steering wheel and binnacle etc etc - about 6 hours there and back (for me).
The tie rods are good but I will do the rack. Thanks for the tip.SmileWavy

hey guys,

I have to do the same repair!

I already ordered the upper shaft bearing for an early car. Does the repair sleave work for pre 74 911s?

If not can the new bearing be pressed over the old as described above?

Thanks

Brian

Yeah Sean. That job was crap. You have to take out all sorts of crazy stuff to get that column out. Tach, ignition lockset, a handful of shear bolts (easy to install, some a PITA to remove), ventilation box, some air vents inside the car, blah, blah, blah. I'd bet this is a job that the shops do not look forward to doing!!!!

The bearing sandwich idea was not mine. Ray from Motodelta in Chicago suggested this fix. My pea brain was too tiny to come up with this simple solution! Lots of room inside that steering column tube. You could probably push 5 or 6 new bearings in there!!! Not that you'd want to............. just saying there's no doubt that there's room for two. ;)

Sean,

What have you decided to do now?

Guys,

The info here is a bit confusing but am I right saying there's basically three ways to attact this sloppy steering shaft problem?

1. Buy a sleeve that slides inside the existing bearing. Seems simple enough...where do you get this sleeve?

2. Buy a new bearing and simply slide it on the shaft. As you tap it in, the old plastic one just moves further down the shaft. Seems simple too.

3. Pull the whole steering column and renew the bearing. Seems like a major PITA.

Thanks guys.

Cheers
Mark

Mark,

You are correct. There are at least three ways to tackle this job.

1. The sleeve you can buy is from the 78-89 Porsche 928 parts bin. It's a metal sleeve that you slide in place after you've pushed the deteriorated plastic (on the I.D. of the existing shaft bearing) down and into the steering column. This sleeve is part # 928 347 739 02.

2. The new bearing placed on top of the old bearing is good too. Probably quicker than #1.

3. Pull the whole column and replace bearing. This is your last resort. This job sucks. I did it and I don't want to ever do it again. Like you said, major PITA. Too much crawling under the dash and in the trunk. No thanks.

I first tried the new bearing pushing the old bearing down the shaft. The new bearing with the new plastic ring lasted a very short time. I think it would have lasted longer if I had taken the column out and got it absolutely properly positioned. I'm not sure if just pushing it in gets the new bearing properly seated

However, still desiring to avoid the column removal job, I found another solution from one of Wayne's competitors. (Automotion, the most expensive P-Parts source) It is a hard plastic sleeve that pushes the old bearing down the shaft. This lasted two years and 30,000 miles.
I am soon to order another of these.

If you don't have a long socket, a piece of PVC pipe works wonderfully well. The part came with instructions on the size of PVC pipe to use.
David

Thanks guys for the information.

So David, are you going to remove the sleeve you put in two years ago? If so how, or are you just going to push this new one in too? How much space is there inside for these things:eek:

I'm also a bit confused still on the sleeve vs the bushing defintion.
I imagine the sleeve to be something that slides inside the existing bushing, like a spacer to fill in the gap, whereas the bushing is a new bearing that replaces (albeit, pushes out the way) the original bearing.

Sorry for the ignorance. I haven't even look inside the column yet, just checked my Bentley.

Cheers
Mark

Mark
 

Option 2. I like the bearing sandwich, but
Option 3. (PITA) If the chatter is within the old bearing then I'll be "replacing" it.

I'll be speaking to my mechanic tomorrow hopefully so I'll let you know what he thinks about the bearing sandwich idea.
When I mentioned replacing the upper bearing he didn't think it such a big issue - mentioned something about drilling and anchoring a press to the bearing face and extracting it? Or something like that without the need to remove the shaft.

For the sleeve option, I found that a short length of ceiling fan pipe was the PERFECT size to slide over the shaft and tap the metal sleeve down to push the plastic part of the bushing down.

Steering Shaft wobbles FIXED. part 1.
 

Okay, this is the work I had done to rectify vertical and lateral movement in the steering shaft, felt by moving the steering wheel in any direction, and a rattle - chatter noise emanating from the steering column over a bumpy surface:-

1. R/R steering wheel, speedo, tacho and wiper, indicator and ignition switches.
2. R/R fresh air fan/plenum box assembly, replacing upper and lower bearings, retaining clips and shear bolts. (They would not entertain the idea of a quick fix "bearing sandwich" - tapping a new bearing over the old one, leaving the defective bearing captive in the steering column. I still think this is a neat trick for a DIY, but what do I know)
3. R/R Steering universal shaft and rack coupling. tightened rack yoke nut.
4. and whilst they were at it - Replaced front sway bar rubbers, wheels balanced and new brake calliper kits and hoses all round.

WOW! I've got near-as-new steering.
Everything is FIXED - no wobbles or rattles and tighter at the wheel.
:D

Steering Shaft wobbles FIXED. part 2.
 

So I'm a happy little vegemite now.

It's a bugger of a job reflecting the invoice cost at 80% labour content!!
Cost me Aus$1099.00 after a 20% "special discount" and this, which I reckon is pretty fair considering the nature of the job, from Melbourne Porsche Centre whom I am very happy with. They appreciate a customer who is passionate about the marque, even though it's an old Porsche. I get the feeling their run of the mill customers (the ones with plenty of cash) treat the car as ......just a car?

Melbourne Porsche loan out a new A3 Audi (at no cost) whilst they have your car. Mine was waiting the weekend and a couple of days for the brake hoses, so I quickly got very comfortable driving this, easy fun little buzz-box. Trouble is, when I jumped back into the Porsche - Struth! ....pressing that clutch in! I forgot. I gotta get used it again. Still, there is nothing like a Porsche.....with a tight front end.
SmileWavy

Ok this is really p_____ me off. I went to the Porsche dealer today and asked for the plastic sleeve that fits inside the bearing. We checked on their computer parts list and diagram - no such part. The wrench assured me (not to bloody well I might add) that there is no plastic piece at this bearing location. He said my shaft was probably worn and gave me the price on a new one AUS$500 + labour if I wanted it!!!!!!!!! Naturally the bearing was to be removed and I don't have a press to do this.

So I remorsefully headed home with only one option in my now throbbing head. Get the dealer to fix the problem.

NO WAY I SAY TO MYSELF!

I get home and check, Sure enough, I knew I wasn't a total idiot. There was the plastic sleeve, in pieces, exactly where I thought it was!

So back again tomorrow to show them a picture! Does anyone know the part number?

What's even more annoying than thinking I was right about the plastic sleeve was they they were laughing and talking as I walked away from the counter (naturally in Chinese). I felt really dumb, because I had explained that I had seen this information on the internet and I was sure there was a sleeve even though my Bentley doesn't show it.

Oh well, tomorrow I'll go back and show them the picture and see what the story is this time! Wish me luck!

Again, does anyone have a part number.

Has anyone had luck trying to remove the plastic sleeve? I really don't like the idea of leaving broken pieces of plastic sitting inside the steering column, and I can't remove the bearing because I haven't got as press and I don't really want to pull the whole steering unit out just to get a new plastic sleeve in.

Thanks, cheers
Mark

The sleeve you want is a metal one, not a plastic one. It's a part from the 928, not the 911 and that's probably why your "friends" couldn't find it! The part number is as I listed it above in a previous reply.

You don't need a press to remove the bearings, you need a puller. Leaving that pushed-out plastic material around the shaft isn't going to harm anything. I know it feels kinda crappy leaving it in there, but i'd rather leave it than R&R that steering column tube again. That job sucks. I know, 'cause i've done it!

Picture
 

Hello,

in the picture one can check out a brown wire, that should be connected somewhere. On my 2.7 -74 this end of wire is not connected????

Kris

Some are making a mountain out of a molehill here. It was a 10 minute job for me.

definitely use the metal ring. The plastic one is junk. remove the s-wheel with that 27mm deep socket and tap in the metal ring with a pipe of suitable diameter. You don't need to pull anything out either. I've not had another problem in the 4 years I've owned the car

Pelican Part #
 

Mark,
you need to contact Wayne for Pelican Part #
F-347-739-02 1 Steering Column Bushing, 911 (1974-89), 928

and heed Kevin's hindsight - try the meatl Steering Column Bushing fix first. I'd reckon the job'd rate half a wrench in Wayne's scale factor, and in your case it'd probably do the job okay.
If it doesn't work, then ...... you know the route *I* took, $$$$!

John,
maybe, but the "mole hill" did not fix it for *me*. The "mountain" did, and I'm glad I scaled it.
:D

I guess I should have kept following this thread.

I will let you in on my little secret. Method #4 for replacing the actual bearing WITHOUT REMOVING THE COLUMN!

Now don't tell anyone, this is just for you.

1 - Pull off the plastic cover under the steering column so you have access to the steering column tube.

2 - Drill a hole in the steering column tube big enough to fit a steel rod (maybe 1/4 inch diameter).

3 - Elongate the hole so you can angle the rod toward the back side of the bearing.

4 - Put the rod on the backside of the bearing, then tap it out with a hammer. I may have bent rod a bit to get to the bearing, I don't recall.

I did this to my '77 about ten years and 80k miles ago. All is well. Sorry no pictures since the plastic cover is back in place.

Good luck.

Pelican lists two parts:

Steering Wheel Repair Sleeve

and

Steering Shaft Bearing

Are both needed to correct the wobbly steering wheel?

No, not if the "Steering Column Bushing" part will fix it.
If it doesn't, then order the bearing.

Will the quick repairs also work on a 1966 911 ? I seem to recall that the sleeve did not cover the early years but not sure.

-Don

Anyone know if this quick fix works on a 67 911? I was told by a reputable Porsche parts catalogue that it doesn't, and that I need to replace the upper steering column bearing, which is Porsche part#914-347-711-00 and the gasket. Total cost = $190. Is that possible?
Also, is this a 914 part????Why can't we use a 928 part too?

How bout having the old one machined?

Did anyone find out if this fix is for early 911's as well? My 65 is in need of a fix! My wheel has become quite wiggly, and is scary on the race track under hard braking. Yikes!

anyone ever learn if these fixes will work on an early car? My '69 has the old wobbly wheel and needs help!

Terry