Upper steering column removal

[Drakman]

Hi Guys and Girls,

 

I am going to change my 2014 Roadsport 175 upper steering column, fixed steering wheel, to a removable steering wheel type.  I tried to remove the upper column by removing the grubscrew and clamp where the upper and lower shafts meet in the engine bay and pulling on the wheel from inside the car.  The wheel moves about 1 inch then seems to hit a solid object, i guess that is the sleeve on the standard shaft hitting the back of the steering column bush.  Do i just keep pulling to get the shaft out or am i missing something?  I don't want to use brute force and damage something so i thought i would ask here.

The new detachable wheel upper column doesn't have the sleeve on it, does anyone know why the standard upper column has the sleeve?

 

Thanks

Dave

[JohnCh]

Sounds like you are hitting the anti-theft steering lock mechanism.  Have you tried rotating the wheel while gently pulling once you hit the stop?

 

-John

[Drakman]

Hi John, 

Thank you, no i didn't realize there was an anti theft lock on the car.   So to remove the column should i remove the steering lock/switch then or is the slot open ended and can pass the lock?

 

Dave

[JohnCh]

No need to remove the lock.  Usually just rotating the wheel so things line up is enough, but you may need to turn the key while doing it to release the lock if you've triggered it.  Hopefully that's the issue.

 

-John

[Drakman]

Thanks John, I'll give it another try tonight.

 

Dave

[pethier]

1991 Caterham 1700 Super Sprint:

 

Same problem?  I didn't forget to turn the ignition key for the steering lock.  Horn and turn signals work on the dash.

 

I do notice that the bushing at the dash level is bulging towards me as the shaft is acting like a slide-hammer.  What goes on here?  Can I slide-hammer the bushing out towards me, or am I going to break something? 

 

Do I have to fish the shaft out the front of the car?

 

Do I need to remove something uder the dash?

[Drakman]

I don't know anything about the older Caterham's but if your upper steering column is like mine it has to come out the top.  Obviously you have undone the slip joint where the top and bottom steering shafts join.  Have you seen what the rubber bush the upper shaft sits in looks like?  It has 2 ears that catch in the sides of the frame.  I used a syringe 5cc case and a 23 gauge needle to inject  WD40 in around the rubber bush, with the steering wheel on and your feet firmly planted on the floor pull the steering wheel up toward you.  Cover the dash with pillows or something soft, be warned when it comes out it does so with considerable speed.  I was told at the factory that when they build the cars now they remove quite a bit of the rubber ears on the bush. 

[pethier]

12 hours ago, Drakman said:

I don't know anything about the older Caterham's but if your upper steering column is like mine it has to come out the top.  Obviously you have undone the slip joint where the top and bottom steering shafts join.  Have you seen what the rubber bush the upper shaft sits in looks like?  It has 2 ears that catch in the sides of the frame.  I used a syringe 5cc case and a 23 gauge needle to inject  WD40 in around the rubber bush, with the steering wheel on and your feet firmly planted on the floor pull the steering wheel up toward you.  Cover the dash with pillows or something soft, be warned when it comes out it does so with considerable speed.  I was told at the factory that when they build the cars now they remove quite a bit of the rubber ears on the bush. 

 

Hmm.  Maybe I can get it out. The stop seems really hard, but the movement of the bushing, and the fact that I seem to be well-past the key lock seems encouraging.  I just don't want to break stuff.

 

If I can't get this shaft out, plan B is to add my new removable-wheel kit (bolts to Moto-Lita 9-bolt Caterham boss and bolts to Moto-Lita 9-bolt wheel) so the release mechanism sits AFT of the steering wheel. I want the wheel to wind up in its original position.  This is possible because the Moto-Lita central hole is big enough to clear the release mechanism.  A spacer 1.5” thick gets me within a half-inch of the original position, and I think I have enough slide room on the safety clamp to do the rest.  I think I have designed a method to work the release from the driver side of the wheel.  When the car has to be pretty, the Caterham-Logo plastic wheel trim should cover the workings.
 

[pethier]

I guess what I don't know is what is sticking out on the shaft that is hitting the bushing?  I thought the shaft was the same diameter on both ends.  Is there another layer of tubing that holds the shaft together that I can't see because of the enclosed steering column?

[MV8]

Pickup a cheap dial caliper and check the shaft od between the dash panel and the wheel hub, then compare that to the shaft forward of the bushing. I think it should be larger and need to pull from the front but that is just a guess. It seems no two cats are the same.

Use emory cloth to wrap around the smaller end of shaft and a shoe lace/paracord/twine looped a couple times around then pull the ends back and forth to clean/polish the shaft.

[Drakman]

1 hour ago, pethier said:

I guess what I don't know is what is sticking out on the shaft that is hitting the bushing?  I thought the shaft was the same diameter on both ends.  Is there another layer of tubing that holds the shaft together that I can't see because of the enclosed steering column?

Hi Pethier,  Mine would move in and out a little, it felt and sounded like it was hitting a very solid metal stop somewhere inside.  I even removed the steering lock at one stage because i thought that was what it was hitting.  The shaft has a much larger diameter section where the steering lock is located, it will only come out toward the driver.   This is my old shaft, you can see the added larger diameter sleeve that is for the steering lock and the rubber bush with the ears.  I really did inject WD40 in around the bush it helped a lot.

[pethier]

Thanks!  I guess that's what I imagined.  it explains how there is the same dimeter on both ends of the Secret Tunnel.  I have to admit that this is the first car I have ever had in which I could not see the ignition key from the driver seat.  (It being on the left side of the wheel is no problem; it is on the left in my Cayman, but I can look around and SEE it!)  My previous Caterham was from 1971, and the key was directly in the middle of the dashboard.

 

I think I will continue on with my "negative spacer" project before traveling farther down that road.  When I get this first phase done, I will post pix.

[Wayne Stambaugh]

I am still trying to get the column out of my 86 Caterham. I have the clamp off the firewall end and have rotated the shaft 360 degrees while pulling on the steering wheel but no luck. May  the lock assembly has to come out on mine.

[Drakman]

Can you move the steering column at all, in or out?   I could move mine in about 2 inches and then pull hard out then it would stop with a resounding bang which turned out to be the larger diameter steering lock hitting the back of the bush.  I removed my steering lock assembly (2 bolts) but it didn't make any difference if you look at the pics i posted you can see the slot that the steering lock bolt drops into to stop the wheel turning, as long as the steering lock bolt is withdrawn it shouldn't stop the column coming out.  I really think i helped it when i injected the WD40 in around the outside of the bush.  I had to pull so hard (that doesn't sound quite right) that when it did come out i nearly ended up falling backward out of the car, if the roll bar wasn't there i might have, so it is tuff to pull out.

[Wayne Stambaugh]

Yes, with the lower clamp removed I can slide the column out maybe 1 1/2” then it goes “bang” and seems to hit a hard stop. I can slide it back in where it originally was. This is all I can do with it. Am i supposed to just pull harder after it hits this hard stop I’m feeling?

 

So what you are saying is leave the key lock switch alone, it doesn’t need to be removed. Flood the column with WD40 and keep pulling even though I’m getting the hard metallic sounding stop and eventually it’s going to come out?

[Drakman]

Yes, just brace yourself and keep applying more pulling power, I'm 6' 2" and i have been weight training most of my life and i had trouble with mine.  You need to get some lubricant around the outside of the bush where it sits in the chassis/dash tube.  I must stress though that my car is a 2014 SV model, I don't know if your set up is the same.

You should be able to see the steering column bush start to bulge out as you apply pulling force, be warned when it comes out you might end up on your back.  As long as the key is switched to unlock so that the steering can turn the lock should not impact the column.

 

Good luck

Dave

[MV8]

22 hours ago, Wayne Stambaugh said:

Yes, with the lower clamp removed I can slide the column out maybe 1 1/2” then it goes “bang” and seems to hit a hard stop. I can slide it back in where it originally was. This is all I can do with it. Am i supposed to just pull harder after it hits this hard stop I’m feeling?

 

So what you are saying is leave the key lock switch alone, it doesn’t need to be removed. Flood the column with WD40 and keep pulling even though I’m getting the hard metallic sounding stop and eventually it’s going to come out?

Stop. Take a pic from the footwell up, forward of the dash panel, showing the column and steering lock. Why do you want to remove the column? 

[Wayne Stambaugh]

1 hour ago, MV8 said:

Stop. Take a pic from the footwell up, forward of the dash panel, showing the column and steering lock. Why do you want to remove the column? 

I’m going to install a quick release steering wheel hub, weld on type.

[Wayne Stambaugh]

Just now, Wayne Stambaugh said:

I’m going to install a quick release steering wheel hub, weld on type.

will get a picture for you later today.

[MV8]

I forgot about that. Once the column is out, it will be simple to make a new one rather than mod the old, using dom tubing. It may be easier for future work to use a tube od slightly less than the bushing id then slip on a sleeve in the bushing area and spot weld to the tube, then grind/sand/turn flat. It sounds like the lock will need to be removed and/or the wheel hub removed to slide it forward of the dash, then drop it below the dash to pull to the rear.