Steering: Lower Bushing / Bearing

I have been living with a dreaded knock in my steering for, oh, about 25 years now. Well it's time to fix it! The schematic shows two 'bushings'. Is it actually a putter metal bushing with a nylon inner bushing.

I bought a really nice bushing a while back from one of the gents on here.

How do you remove the old bushing?? Is there nowhere to buy an inner nylon bushing?? Any other ideas on a good fix??

Service manual

 

A pic of my lower steering column and my bushing.

 

use to be NLA..
barleys Jeep parts (eBay store) started offering them.

JEEP CJ5 CJ6 1972 - 1975 LOWER STEERING COLUMN BUSHING 999769 NEW!

 

I was going to rebuild one I had, but instead just went with a new column from speedway for 100 bucks. Came with a quick release hub for steering wheel. I really like it.

 

Crap, i've never seen this, I started making these cause a guy sent me a drawing of what he wanted. That bushing actually fits my old style steering shaft so I thought it fit like he wanted. He never called back to verify what he did so I didn't know.
He must have altered his column, thats why the bolt was there, you can remove the bolt and do with out it.

Very Sorry!!

 

I contacted Barney about that not long age because I was looknig for a DJ column bearing.
This bushing does not fit early tube diameter.
Here's BARNEY"S reply....

Ken, Bushing is approx. 13/16 ID and 1 & 1/32 OD approx. From the company we had make them:
.8709/.8741” Minor: 1.4360/1.4380” Major: 1.492”±.010
Remember, this is the business end of a 2-pc assy with an upper receptacle that mounts in the tube first.
You did not say if you had a DJ5 Dispatcher (postal Jeep) or a regular DJ5 (2WD version of the standard CJ5). For sure on the regular DJ. And I believe it's the same for the Dispatcher as long as it's the one with the big, black steering wheel.
Hope this helps.
- Barney, Barney's Jeep parts LLC (740) 947-7030

 

Not sure what the issue is - the solid bearing Mike made for me replaced whatever was in the bottom end of the column of my '75, and works perfectly. According to my book, the original bottom-end bushing was two pieces, but they were not available separately from Jeep.

 

Looked at the drawing and thought about this a little more. The U-joint goes over the splined end of the steering shaft, and there is a keyway in the splines for the bolt that holds the joint on. IIRC there should be no exposed splines. The bushing fits into the end of the column, and the shaft slides up through the bushing and stops where the combined washer and u-joint touches the bushing. The bearing should be riding on the shaft, not the splines. The top end is secured by the steering wheel, which rides on the top-end bearing. IIRC there is only, say, less than 1/8" in-out travel of the shaft when the wheel is nutted down. You can feel a little movement if you pull up on the wheel, but it's not much.

 

Looks like your u-joint is not far enough over the end of the steering shaft. Dirt and rust on the splines and your previous comments makes me think part of the splies have been exposed above the u-joint for a while. The bolt in the u-joint has to go through the keyway in the middle of the splines. Maybe the top end is not assembled correctly?

 

Excellent perspective! Thanks Tim!

Anything holding the upper steering shaft in there? Can I just pull up on the steering wheel and pull it out?

Anyone have pics of their original bushing set up? Am I looking at that pic correctly? Is it two pieces?

 

the horn contact is in there and could hinder removal

 

Not sure what I did to install the bushing. I think if you remove the horn contact on the steering column (white plastic plate) the column will move upward enough so that the u-joint splines come off of the steering shaft. Don't force anything ... the column may need to come out of the Jeep altogether to remove the shaft completely, so the shaft can come out the bottom end.

 

So I am trying to remove the upper steering shaft from the tube. The lower steering draft is already out. I removed the lil plastic contact that is on the tube that goes to the turn signal. I thought the upper shaft just fits in there and I would pull up in the wheel and it would come right out. Nope.... When I pull something is holding it in...... Any thoughts??

Not sure about the horn wire...

Thnx fellas

 

I think the contact flipper of the nylon horn think rides on a copper sleeve pressed onto the shaft. Maybe that is what's preventing it from pulling out?

 

(I thought I posted this ...)

There is a sleeve on the shaft for the horn contact that probably stops the shaft from coming out the top - guessing it won't go through the top bearing. If it won't come out the top, you will have to remove the steering wheel, remove the column from the car, and pull the shaft out through the bottom end. Again, I'm not certain about this since I do not have the column in front of me. I know that I removed the lower steering shaft and bushing in the bottom of the column with the column in the car, but at the time I did not think it was difficult enough to make notes or save pictures.

If it were me, and the shaft would not go far enough through the column, I would take the steering wheel off and look at the top end of the shaft and its bearing. Removing the wheel can be difficult, and you need to be careful not to damage it.

 

i have been able to push the shaft up just enough to remove the lower on the three i run, i remove the bolt at the box and push that end down while pulling up on the wheel gain just enough room to remove the lower shaft.

 

Ok.. the steering column is out of the Jeep. Anything special about the steering wheel puller to get the wheel off? What does the puller push off of? The horn button is right at the top of the inner shaft where I would assume the wheel puller will push off of.

I am going to completely disassemble the column to figure out why the inner shaft does not come all of the way down.

For the sake of asking.... anywhere to buy a rebuilt colum?? Not one of the uber expensive adjustable ones.

 

I wanted to quote Tim from a different thread:

Some of this stuff is available from the aftermarket. The rest you'll have to find from wrecking yards, private party sellers, or fabricate the part. Don't expect everything to be available from the aftermarket, especially for an Intermediate Jeep.

The easiest way to find this stuff is with the part number. Google "Jeep <the part number>". The parts manual is available as a reprint. I looked up some of the numbers for you:

column top bearing 801422 - definitely available. Listed through '71, but it's correct through '75
column lower bearing 999769 - not available AFAIK - but it can be made pretty easily
spring 639191
spring seat 639192
horn button parts 930673 927413 990395 - didn't get any hits on these, but there must be a source for the horn button parts.

 

I got my steering column apart.

The inner upper shaft and wheel will not pull right out cause the top bearing is pressed in and the horn wire holds the inner shaft in when you try and pull it out the top.

I did a bit of a 'slide hammer' action pulling the steering wheel and inner shaft up and out of the outer tube. The horn wire is what pushed the upper bearing out. You risk damage to the wire FYI.

The OEM lower bushing is steel. You can try to pop it out the bottom with a thick broom type handle musket style. I have an oak one that is abt 1.25 in diameter. I actually cut my lower bushing with a dremel cutting wheel. Be Careful! The bushing is thick but the outer tube is a Really thin. I got a nick in my outer tube.

I installed my brass lower bearing that I had made. It's inner diameter matches the diameter of the steering inner shaft.

My problem is that my inner steering shaft does not come all of the way out of the upper shaft. I need to take apart my upper bearing to find out why it won't come all of the way down. I am debating fighting with taking off the steering wheel or cut the horn wire and solder it back on later. I would also remove the horn contact.

I have a new upper bearing on its way... thanks for the part # Tim!!!!

 

Some great pics of the upper bushing and spring:

Removing steering shaft from column etc.