Siciliano15

iTrader: (7)

Has anyone ever had an issue with their steering wheel feeling like it has some play in it? If the car is off i can wiggle it back and forth a couple inches and it feels like something is loose inside or stretched out. when the car is on and im driving around, say i hit a bump and it jerks the front wheels one way or another, i can feel it in the steering wheel like something is loose. it seems to have happened after my battery died one time and i had to have the car pushed while steering it and the steering is very heavy when the engine isnt running. could i have stretched something out inside the steering wheel?

the extra play is definitely inside the cabin and not the engine compartment so i was wondering if there is something i can do to tighten it back up somehow. thanks.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

How are you SURE it is in the cabin? Because there isn't much between the steering wheel and the firewall that can actually loosen up. There is nothing in the wheel that can stretch. Steering is always heavy when the engine is off.

The steering wheel attaches to the splined steering shaft, which connects to a pivot joint for the tilt wheel, which goes straight through the firewall, to a U joint, to the steering rack. Not a whole lot there. I suppose that the pivot could be worn but that would clunk and flop around if that were the case.

sopes

I can move mine up and down just a slight bit, I think mine will need a new column though. yours sounds a bit extreme. are the nuts tight that go to the collar under the knee bolster

guy7bmwm83

iTrader: (5)

I had about an inch of play in my steering when turning the wheel from left to right. I installed a new steering rack and the play is gone. The steering is nice and tight now.

myth

iTrader: (7)

If you can grab the steering wheel in the 3 and 9 postition and move it from side to side? Then there are 4 bolts that back out that hold on the knuckle for the tilt mechanism.

jimmyducati

iTrader: (3)

the bearing that supports the steering shaft at about the spot the steering wheel bolts to it is prone to going out in some makes/models... I replaced the steering column in my F350 last year because of this bearing, its due to grabbing the steering wheel and puling on it to lift yourself up into the truck. I noticed the same type of play in the steering wheel of the camaro this spring and realized how much pressure I put on the wheel when climbing in and out of the car, kinda like my tall truck but in reverse for a lowered car, just using the steering wheel to support yourself or putting stress on the wheel in an unusual way ( steering with no power steering, pulling on the wheel to turn in that case) can cause this bearing to wear out prematurely or cause a bearing with lots of miles on it already to give out. In my F350 its easier to just replace the column than it is to replace the bearing, hope there is an easier way on the camaro!

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

At one point the tire shop dude was inspecting and found
one of my U-joints on the steering linkage was almost all
the way off while the other was past fully seated. I put
it to some long-ago carelessness during the K-member
install, but who knows?

Siciliano15

iTrader: (7)

i know its in the cabin because if the car is off and i wiggle the wheel back and forth with my head down near the gas and brake pedals, i can tell where the almost click type sound is coming from and its basically from somewhere directly behind the steering wheel.