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Steering coupler free play

Paul_G

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How much free play is normal within the steering coupler? If I hold the coupler with one hand and the steering column shaft with the other and rotate them opposite of each other, there is just a hair of free play in it.

I removed the steering coupler from the car, disassembled and cleaned it all up. The cover was poorly installed and held in place with bailing wire, seal was ripped, so I know someone was in it before. It looks like the shoes and internal parts are newer. Should the shoes, when assembled properly with the spring, slide in to the housing easily? Or should they go in snug leaving no free play?

I dont want to replace the shoes and springs for this slight amount of free play if they all have some play.
 
If the parts were assembled correctly you should be ok. Keep the 13/16" measurement when installed on the steering box.
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Last edited:
should be tight when you slide it together
 
I recently had the same issue. I replaced everything and still had the slop. Couldn't get the cover on. I had a chat with the po and he said the steering box was the issue for all the slop and he couldn't get it fixed right, even after 3 new boxes. As it all turned out, it wasn't the box the steering column had been collapsed by 1 1/2 inches. It couldn't get all the way into the coupler and the shoes wouldn't seat right accounting for all the slop! I tapped it back to length and everything went back perfectly. I also used one of these going back together

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/301416193929
 
If you look up DMT, you will find that clip in stainless for just a few bucks more.
 
If the parts were assembled correctly you should be ok. Keep the 13/16" measurement when installed on the steering box.
View attachment 548877
View attachment 548878

Thanks for all the replies.

The 13/16" puzzles me? In that pic of the assembly, is the hole in the shaft the same hole the pin for the shoes goes in? Or is that another hole?

Also, I am working on a 49 Plymouth, I believe the steering is from a 76 Aspen/Volare since the engine cradle and suspension is from an Aspen/Volare. When I removed the steering coupler from the steering box, the steering column shaft was almost bottomed out in the steering coupler. Is that normal? I would like to have seen the shoes inside the coupler riding midway in the steering coupler outer housing, not almost at the bottom.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

The 13/16" puzzles me? In that pic of the assembly, is the hole in the shaft the same hole the pin for the shoes goes in? Or is that another hole?

Also, I am working on a 49 Plymouth, I believe the steering is from a 76 Aspen/Volare since the engine cradle and suspension is from an Aspen/Volare. When I removed the steering coupler from the steering box, the steering column shaft was almost bottomed out in the steering coupler. Is that normal? I would like to have seen the shoes inside the coupler riding midway in the steering coupler outer housing, not almost at the bottom.

Thats a different hole. It's a guage hole to measure the distance to the coupler to insure that the shoes are centered in their travel inside of the coupler.

The shoes being centered in their travel is what you want. They are located there for frame and body flex. If you feel binding while driving you might want to make some kind of an adjustment. Maybe pull the steering column up to get what you need. There may not be a guage hole in the newer shafts.
 
I am not concerned with looking OEM,so I went this way.

View attachment 548962

The problem with a universal is that it will not allow for the range of movement that the factory coupler does. That movement is important in a unibody, which will flex quite a bit during normal driving. The result is that you will wear out the bearings in the column prematurely.

If the factory coupler has been dry for an extended period of time, there could be wear on the inner surfaces that the shoes slide on, causing slop.
 
Also, make sure the 2 blocks that go into the coupler are set the way the picture khryslerkid posted.
 
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