Steering column movement

I have noticed that there seems to be a good bit of up and down movement of my steering column. It moves enough that I can see the ignition switch move up and down in the dash, and it doesn't take much force to make it happen. I know all of the hardware is tight because I have had the column out of the car for ignition switch repairs. Can anyone tell me if this normal? I can't recall if it was like this before, but I think it was.

 

Ok, I'll rephrase the question. Has anyone noticed up and down movement in the steering wheel of thier 3x8? I did a search and came up empty.

 

Yes..some. Excessive movement points toward loose steering column bearing behind the hub. Verify that the four mounting bolts are indeed tight firt, though...

 

Mine doesn't move at all. All original, never touched in that area.

Doug

 

Thanks guys.

The bearings are good and all of the bolts are tight. I'm afraid there may be an issue with the mounting bracket. It moves enough that I'm worried about work-hardening the bracket and breaking it.

 

Yep, mine moves a bit too. I recently had the dash out for a recover and inspected the mounting points. Everything is snug, just some natural play at the bracket.

 

If you look closely at the metal bracket under the dash which supports the upper column bearing (to which one end of the casting for the key tumbler housing attaches), you'll see that it's designed as a deformable bracket in the event of colision. In other words, it ain't too beefy because it's designed to be able to distort in a frontal. That said, it's worth looking to make sure that the bracket hasn't stress cracked. You'll see upon examination that the bracket is made in a sort of latice work design, so, you'll have to look real close to notice any fractures.

Good luck!

 

I can't find any cracks in the bracket. I'll be checking occaisionally to make sure none show up. It's a fair amount of work to remove and re-install the steering column (for me, anyway) so I'll measure the movement and if it gets worse I'll have someone check it out. There is an FCA event comming up in May and hopefully there will be some 3x8s I can look at for comparison.

I really appreciate the help.