Tech Tips from Capp’s Hot Rods: Steering Column Troubleshooting and Repair

A customer pulled into my shop with his ’65 Big Block Corvette.  He was having issues with the steering and wanted me to replace the steering box.  First, I looked under the hood and noticed that the steering coupling, normally referred to as a “rag joint” was damaged.  Generally, this is caused by considerable misalignment.

Next, I inspected the steering shaft play.  A quick and simple check can be done by grabbing the steering wheel and assessing the side to side movement.  The play was excessive.  Excessive movement means there are issues with the upper and lower column bearings on the steering shaft.

I carefully removed the rag joint and noticed that the alignment to the steering box was off by about 3/8″.  This put excessive stress on what seemed to be a newer rag joint.  I proceeded to remove the column, cautiously disconnecting the wiring and mount, and that’s when I found even more issues.  The column mounts on the inside were shimmed.  The mount appeared to be over tightened and bent, and instead of simply fixing the issue, someone added the shims to try and compensate for the damage.  I immediately repaired the mount and placed it aside.

I placed the column on the bench, and the lower steering column bearing came out in pieces.  The upper bearing was bad, and a few ball bearings also fell out, as seen in the below picture.

Once on the bench, the rag joint bolt showed damage.  This was caused by the improper installation of the rag joint, with the bolt getting damaged from interfering with the splines on the column shaft.  It is imperative to pay close attention when installing the rag joint.  This damage is easily avoidable by making sure that the bolt parallels the flat spot on the steering shaft.

In this picture, you can see the new lower bearing and bearing seat.  I pressed out the old bearing seat, pressed in the new one, seated the new bearing, and then I aligned and pressed in the upper bearing.

Once the bearings were pressed in, I installed the column to specifications noted in the 1965 Corvette Assembly Manual.  Prior to installing the rag joint onto the steering box, I used the firewall column mount to align the shaft and coupling perfectly.

I slid the column down and onto the steering box shaft, tightened all connectors and mounts, re-installed the steering wheel… and then went for a test drive.

The car drove and steered perfectly.  The steering box required no adjustment.  The column play is now within spec thanks to the new bearings.  And, actually, the steering required much less effort now due to the new proper alignment of the steering coupling.

With over 40 years of combined restoration experience, Capp’s Hot Rods rebuilds and restores Model As, Deuces, ’33s and up, classic cars of all makes and models, and muscle cars.  Located in Woodland Hills, California, Capp’s specializes in complete wiring services, from repairs to complete harness installations.  Visit their website or call 818-974-7530 for more information, or to schedule an appointment for your classic car.  You can also find the Capp’s team at the Pomona Swap Meet on Road 22, Spaces 22, 24 and 26.