Hi all- replacing my column bearing (the bearing housing actually, the bearing is in 472 pieces inside my column somewhere..).

the housing is coming out in microscopic pieces it seems vvery dry/brittle. i spent almost an hour with a hammer/tiny pick. i thought i'd be able to get an area to deform enough to grab it with needle nose or something but all i'm getting is tiny little slivers of metal.

Anyone have any tricks/tips to do this? Thanks

 

My trick: tap with and hammer and screwdriver all around the lip towards you, keep tapping and going around. Needs quite a bit of force and tapping.

 

thanks, i thought the same thing, but after about half way around, the lip is just chipping into tiny pieces. Man it seems dry, no bending at all, just chips. never seen metal act like this. you would think it's thin plastic it's chipping away so bad

 

You don't want to bend it in, you want to tap it out, towards you.someieces do break off.

 

Well, after almost 2 hours, finally got the bearing out (or what's left of it). The lip around the edge about completely chipped apart, i ended up getting enough material in the slot on the cloumn to bend in and deform enough to let this sucker out. see pic..

Now, trying to re-install the new one, i spent about a 1/2 hour last night tapping and that sucker is NOT going in, only at a terrible angle. My thought was to use a thin block of wood, hole saw it so it'll slip over steering shaft, and use the steering wheel nut to suck it into the column. Not knowing the exact details on how the column is attached down below- is this an OK method to getting this bearing pressed in?? it's the only thing i can think of other than using a 150psi jackhammer. Patience is running out... TIA

 

Did you replace the ball bearing inside of the steering column too?

Mine was toast when I bought my car so I had it replaced along with that bearing, if you can wiggle your steering column, the bearing is toast.

 

Yes the ring in the picture is actually the only thing left of my ball bearing housing at the top of the steering column behind the collar. Just doesn't seem right I have to pound this thing so hard to get it into the column and it just goes in on and angle no matter how straight I keep it with a block of wood

 

your best bet is to use a piece of metal thats flat with a hole in it this could also be a deep socket .

NOTE trying to press the bearing into its bore with the wood will not work,
as you will simply be pulling on the spring on the lower end of the shaft,
so the bearing wont go in .
but the shaft will pull out and possibly damage the lower shaft spring.

Just make sure the column inner bore is clear of burs and that its round.

the new bearing should go in.

NOTE after the bearing is seated, install the inner collar,
Then place the nut on the shaft ,
then use a set of vice grips to pull the shaft up,
then insert the E clip.
This will preload the bearing

 

Thanks Stan, you're right the wood even being hardwood is just collapsing and the shaft is pulping out enough to "lock it up" until I loosen everything and retry it, seems the tolerance is so tight even using apiece of flat metal bar isn't doing it, it's just cocking the bearing over as soon as it starts. Can't believe how tight this is.. Wtf. Might be time to go inside and regroup before I bust something up..

 

Can you freeze the bearing and apply heat to the collar?

 

Thanks ATB, was gonna try that tonight and also get a deep well impact socket to fit it perfectly. I ended up going inside about 9:30 last night before I threw a hammer through the windshield..

Stan was right, I even cut two more pieces of maple to try and the damn thing cocked sideways and dug into into each one and the steering shaft moved into funky positions so I stopped.