Steering wooly bugger

[Tool_man]

1976 Dart automatic on the column.

When turning the steering wheel I can feel several “tight” spots (lightly tight) with every turn, both directions. The ball bearing at the steering wheel is good. I’ve replaced the power steering pump and the gearbox. The pitman arm is loose.

I can turn the input shaft by hand with some difficulty. I don’t feel anything odd. The lower end of the steering shaft is supported by the input shaft of the gearbox.

Any ideas?

 

[WileE]

How long have you had the car ? When did this symptom begin ? Why did you replace the pump and box ? What do you mean by "loose", is it loose or disconnected ?

 

[Tool_man]

How long have you had the car ? When did this symptom begin ? Why did you replace the pump and box ? What do you mean by "loose", is it loose or disconnected ?

I’ve owned the car 15 years or so. The symptom started about a month ago. Describing the problem to this group, it was seen as likely that the box had a problem. One account of apparently the same problem by one guy said he fixed his by replacing the pump. Pitman arm is disconnected.

Having the coupling disconnected from the box, I noticed the same symptom when turning the steering wheel. The Chrysler shop manual does not make it clear as to what is located around the shaft at the bottom of the column. There’s a stout spring that preloads something. I was trying to avoid removing the column completely but it seems inevitable.

 

[Tool_man]

I have the column out of the car and the shaft out of the column. The problem lies in the lower bearing in the column. The book doesn’t show it in any exploded parts view for a standard automatic shift column. (In the text it refers to plastic bushing which is shown in an exploded view.) The bearing is pressed into the tube. There is no rubber isolator.

If I knew the bearing manufacturers part number, I could probably buy it cheap whereas some of the prices online referring to the Chrysler part number are ridiculous.

The top and bottom bearings are different from one another.

Any input would be appreciated.