Upper steering column parts

Cacti_Ken · Post by **Cacti_Ken** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:58 am

Has anyone replaced the rubber seal and bearing race sleeve in the upper steering column? I guess you would have to jerk out the race which would probably cause damage to it and have to replace it also. I'm not sure how to go about doing this. My races are still good, so are the bearings, only thing is I lost one of the bearings when removing the top race. Most of them spilled out onto the shop floor. So far I have recovered all but one. I wondered if all the parts are available so I could go ahead and replace the seal, races, bearings, and spring.

OKCM38CDN · Post by **OKCM38CDN** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:53 pm

Try John @ Midwest Military...

Post by **wesk** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:53 am

Accurately measure the diameter of the balls and go to your quality hardware store and buy a new set. Are you sure you are missing one? The reason I ask is that most loose ball bearing setups have a deliberate empty space.

Cacti_Ken · Post by **Cacti_Ken** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:13 am

Well the reason I think I am supose to have one more is, I looked at the parts list and I'm pretty sure it specified 22 balls, I have 21.
I went to a hardware store here that has all sorts of oddball stuff, but didn't see a drawer with single ball bearings. I thought maybe a BB would work, but it is larger than the ball bearing needed. I'll continue to look other places for one. I also need a spring. I don't recall if there was a spring in it when I removed the column from the jeep, if there was then I misplaced it. Stuff happens. Anyway I am not ready to install the column at this point. Still working on getting body components prepared for painting.