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Steering column lower bearing issue

82OilBurnr

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Joined
Apr 9, 2019
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Good morning everyone. I’m about to embark on replacing my power steering box and all the front suspension components like ball joints, tie rods, drag links, etc. I also bought an XJ steering column figuring this would be the time to do all the steering components in one swoop. I just noticed the lower bearing on the tilt column is not even in the housing. The retainer is there but the bearing is below the retainer, causing the shaft to slop around inside the housing... see pics... It looks like the factory steering shaft has something funky going on as one of the previous owners wrapped it up in electrical tape and added a hose clamp... any suggestions on what I need to do to get the bearing back into the column to eliminate the shaft play?

171C2577-D168-4FAD-AE8A-9DC79C94B399.jpeg 97F604FA-0118-4A7E-9FAD-F0F3A96D0312.jpeg A3BFF142-4B81-426D-9ED8-162D879701D7.jpeg
 
I just did all the ball joints, tie rods, drag link, steering gear box, stabilized bushing, new shocks, and had caster fixed. Only think i didn’t do is the XJ steering shaft. PO has a 4-5” lift already. Steering was crap... much better after everything listed that I replaced except still some slop in steering... Mine seems to have play in steering column before steering box.
 
I put some washers on my steering shaft as spacers to hold the bearing in place.

full
 
I think that bearing may be bad. Your bearing is supposed to have roller bearings on the race, but it looks like they are gone. I believe that bearing is supposed to be a sealed roller bearing.
 
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