Upper steering column removal

[pethier]

10 hours ago, Drakman said:

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

I think that by the time you are bulging the bushing that the larger-diameter overlay that engages the anti-theft lock is aft of the lock and no-longer a factor.  if you can spin the wheel with the ignition key out of the car, I believe the lock is no-longer relevant.

 

I have stopped trying to remove the shaft since it looks like my "negative spacer" trick is going to work. When I get my spacer made, I will photograph everything.  Using Socket Head Cap Screws to assemble the quick-remove gizmo.  Figured out that by drilling 9 more holes in the male half and the stock boss and then counterboring all 18 holes I can make the screw heads all "disappear" into the boss.  This means that all I lose for arm-reach is the half-inch thickness of the male half of the removable gizmo.  I think I have moved the shaft forward that much, so I think I will be able to make the wheel removable and still have the wheel in its original position.  After moving the shaft, I bolted the wheel to the boss and I think that with my gloves on I would foul the headlight high-low switch.  A half-inch aft of that should be abut perfect.  The irony here is of course that if this system pans out, there was never a reason to pull the boss off of the shaft in the fist place.  This is what happens when you design by degrees...

 

If I do wind up pulling the shaft someday, I may run a pulley to the rollbar crossbrace or some such trick to get more power.  Have to think about a setup to catch it so as not to damage anything. 

[pethier]

On 10/30/2023 at 3:57 PM, Drakman said:

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.

This photo implies that there is no need to unlock the steering to pull the shaft, as the forward end of the locking slot is open anyway.  Of course, they might not all be built like this.  On my car at least, this locking collar can not be seen on the assembled car.

[pethier]

On 10/30/2023 at 11:31 AM, pethier said:

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.

 

I have now actually done this. The spacer is 1.6" thick.  See this Flickr album and read the album description.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/albums/72177720321594711/

 

Edited December 19, 2024 by pethier

[Slonie]

On 10/30/2023 at 1:57 PM, Drakman said:

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.

 

 

Thanks for this pic and explanation, that's very helpful!

 

I've gotta change (at the very least) my upper bushing now as the plastic part has seemingly gone missing and there's a considerable amount play in the position of the steering wheel as a result. I was wondering what the process is for re-fitting the upper bushing in this case. Most guides online seem to suggest that you can install the bushing in the dash first and feed the column down to it, but doesn't the column lock collar prevent one from doing this? I've seen one post suggesting grinding off the tack welds on the collar (and maybe, if you want, welding it back after) but I was wondering if there's another way (removing the steering wheel and slipping the new bushing onto the wheel-end of the colum then installing together?).

 

Admittedly, this all might make sense once I actually have it apart but it's better to go in with a plan, right?

 

 

 

 

[Drakman]

Hi Slonie, 

 

You cannot fit the bush first if you are still going to use the original upper steering shaft with the steering lock.  The steering lock block with the slot in it for the lock is the same diameter as the bush. 

 

However if you change the upper steering shaft to the detachable steering wheel type without the steering lock you can fit the bush first.

 

Cheers

[pethier]

Whatever you do, made sure that the steering column will telescope if you get in a collision.

[Slonie]

Thanks folks! I gathered all the info I could find from this thread and others, and asking Josh at RMC, and went to work today.

 

This was a great link, although they've got a QR column.

https://caterham420detailedbuildblog.co.uk/2020/01/29/steering-column/

 

 

The short version (perhaps not that short) is, I got the column out, and got the new bushing in. 

 

With the clamp bolts undone and the key in the "1" position to undo the steering lock, I encountered the expected "hard stop" after a few inches when pulling on the wheel. I got it out with the ole slide hammer technique as many have done before me. I didn't lose any teeth in the process, but that's probably dumb luck.

 

The bad news is that the upper bushing is "stuck" to the column and rotates within the steer tube when the column is turned. This was caused, I believe, by me shearing off the ears on the rubber part that keep it from turning within the tube, and also that my steering column doesn't line up perfectly with the tube (you can see in my earlier photos of it sitting to the left and then the right, one of those photos is its natural position before I started taking anything apart). I also used silicone spray lubricant during the assembly and maybe I got the outside of the bushing slipperier than the inside, and maybe the white plastic liner was already a bit funky on the part as delivered to me.

 

In any case, with everything back together and torqued, the steering "works" but I can see the bushing turning around with the column and it's very squeaky. Surprisingly, steering effort isn't too bad (as tested by lifting the front wheels off the ground, I can still steer with one finger that way).

 

I'm not totally sure yet what my resolution will be besides getting another bushing and trying again (maybe with a change to the QR column!). 

 

Other errata:

 

1) The assembly manual specifies the flat part of the steering column facing up when assembled and the wheels turned straight. Mine was facing towards the right side of the car so that the clamp bolt heads presented themselves to the left side of the car. I left it alone. It did make it easier to use a torque wrench on those bolts with the steering wheel straight, at least! I left it alone as correcting this would require repositioning the lower column by 90 degrees.

 

2) I noticed I'm missing the 17mm locknut that is supposed to go onto the grub screw in the steering column clamp. I should probably source that.

 

3) A three inch long segment 3/4" ID PVC pipe made a nice drift for tapping the bearing into the steer tube (with the upper column in place, as is I believe the only way to do it). This tip may not really be that useful though given my predicament. Note that I had to get the column clamp completely done up before I could tap the bushing into place, because it was tight enough to cause the column to telescope immediately otherwise.

 

4) I've heard of people grinding off the steering column lock in order to be able to install the bushing in the same way as with a QR column (It's only tack-welded into place) but I didn't do this.

 

5) I needed to borrow a jaw puller to get the steering wheel boss off of the splines (in order to fit the new bushing) but that went smoothly after that. To take the nut off with the column out of the car, I used an impact wrench and it came right off.

 

6) Surprisingly, I did not have a problem with the lower of the two column bushes popping out even after a few rounds of feeding the upper column through towards the clamp It does make me wonder if it is there to begin with.

 

 

 

 

 

[Drakman]

8 hours ago, pethier said:

Whatever you do, made sure that the steering column will telescope if you get in a collision.

The steering column doesn't really have much telescoping effect, maybe an inch or so if the clamp slips.  You can get an "energy absorbing" upper steering shaft that looks like a large flower petal that the steering wheel attaches to though.  Lets face it if you have an accident in a Caterham with any thing solid you are going to loose. the steering column will be the least of your worries.

[pethier]

The clamp is designed to slip.

[Slonie]

This is what I learned in this procedure - the joint is designed to slip in an accident and can be used to provide a modest amount of reach adjustment otherwise. 
 

After seeing a photo from Josh at RMC of what the lower bushing looks like in situ, I can see that mine must be missing altogether?

 

Correct photo:

 

My car, looking into the frame tube. I think the circled area is the hole in the tube where the nub on the bushing is supposed to sit. In any case, the bushing would be completely visible from the outside.

 

(I know it also looks like a huge amount of wiggle room here but i took this photo with the upper/outer column removed and you’re looking at the inner column here)

 

[MV8]

The column clamp section is just like a '70s Triumph. The grub is just tight enough to take up any looseness (no relative motion between the upper and lower column when turning back and forth). Hold the grub with an allen key to prevent it turning when tightening the jamb nut holds it.

[Slonie]

Update to this topic: Despite the above photos and claim that I am missing the lower bushing, I think it's just that my car has a different bracket at the firewall than the photo of the "correct" installation. If I look underneath the steering column in the footwell, I can see the rubber of the lower bushing through the positioning hole. Also you can see white in my photo with the red circle on it which might be the inner sleeve of the lower bushing.

 

In any case, I got everything installed again and learned a few more things:

 

1) I needed that jaw puller to free the column from the boss/wheel. If I didn't have access to one (or an impact gun for removal of the nut) I would have had to remove the steering wheel first before undoing anything else, loosen the nut (but not all the way!) and then re-attached the steering wheel to wiggle and yank it off. Since I didn't have that forethought, the jaw puller worked with the column and attached boss out of the car.

 

2) Yes, you have to install the upper bushing with the upper column installed if you have a steering lock (non-removable wheel column). This is annoying! Also more on this below. (At least the column lock makes it easier to destructively remove the old upper bushing (slide hammer technique)

 

 

I used a few-inch length of PVC pipe (3/4" diameter) and a rubber mallet to install the bushing with the column installed. I used silicone spray lube to help things out. I made sure to position the inner sleeve so that the tab facing out was away from the split (this is to keep the sleeve from being driven out of the bushing during installation).

 

And after all was said and done and torqued to spec.... My steering wheel turns!

 

Unfortunately, for whatever reasons (bad condition of new bushing, plastic sleeve collapsing, insufficient lube inside the bushing and insufficient lube outside the bushing during installation), the installation has resulted in the upper bushing being free to turn inside the steer tube but binding on the column itself. So I can steer and the bushing is where it's supposed to be, but the bushing just turns in the steer tube. This is noisy, adds steering effort (though less than I expected), and feels like there's potential to bind up at an inopportune moment so I am not driving the car.

 

 

Next steps:

 

All that being said, I believe I sheared off the locating nubs on the top and bottom of the bushing during installation (via mallet, see above). I don't have a surefire way of re-doing this successfully but I will use grease on the outside and inside of the bushing and try to be more gentle while tapping it in. I also might try to slightly chamfer the leading edge of the locating nubs so that they don't shear off when pushing it into place. The locating nubs are what keep the bushing from rotating within the steer tube.

 

So I need to order another bushing or three and try again! 

 

I am also curious about this uprated bushing available at Moss Motors and others. I've heard it's "better" and would seem to avoid the problems with the inner sleeve pushing out. It also is probably more slippery than the ancient plastic used on the OEM bushing. I have read though that the "rubber" part is also a lot harder and makes for a difficult installation (or requiring more chamfering of of the leading surfaces to aid in installation). If anyone else has tried this one, please let us know!

 

https://mossmotors.com/525-021-bearing-steering-column-uprated

 

 

 

[Slonie]

Some accompanying pics for reference!

 

 

What it will look like when you finally get it free, hopefully not sending a steering wheel into your face (it went into my chest instead). Due to the bushing's metal core it will feel like a hard stop when the steering column lock collar contacts the bushing, but (in my experience) it will come out. Slowly... then rapidly.

 

 

Upper column removed with old bushing in place. Steering wheel would be at the top of the photo. Note sheared off rubber nub, plus what I believe is the old white plastic sleeve which had actually been there all along but pushed further into the steering column so it wasn't in contact with the bushing. At the bottom you can see the steering column lock collar which is welded on with 3 tack welds. I have heard of people just grinding them off to make this job easier...

 

 

Installed bushing, note white tab of inner sleeve is visible (was missing on my car before I started!)

 

 

 

View from below the steering column showing hole where the rubber nub of the bushing should be protruding into. As you can see though it's been sheared off. If you look further under the dash you will see the lower bushing (not pictured)

 

Photo from Caterham.jp of the uprated bushing compared to a normal one

 

 

Measurements of the uprated bushing from caterham.jp (they also had measurements of the original, it's very very close)

 

[Slonie]

An update! So where we last left off the bushing was turning inside the steer tube after a somewhat difficult installation.

 

 

On 6/5/2025 at 11:31 AM, Slonie said:

Next steps:

 

All that being said, I believe I sheared off the locating nubs on the top and bottom of the bushing during installation (via mallet, see above). I don't have a surefire way of re-doing this successfully but I will use grease on the outside and inside of the bushing and try to be more gentle while tapping it in. I also might try to slightly chamfer the leading edge of the locating nubs so that they don't shear off when pushing it into place. The locating nubs are what keep the bushing from rotating within the steer tube.

 

So I need to order another bushing or three and try again! 

 

 

Subsequently I ordered two more bushings from Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham. Pulled the column again (the old bushing came out easily, attached to the column).

 

The new bushings appeared to be better quality or at least had spent fewer decades in a warehouse compared to the one I had installed previously. Or, if you can notice from this photo, I may have been doomed from the start the way the plastic liner had doubled over on itself on my old bushing:

 

Old new bushing:

 

New new bushing:

 

In any case, it was damn near impossible to get the old bushing off the column - it was REALLY stuck on there, no wonder the whole bushing was rotating in the steer tube — it had nothing to do with column alignment and the little rubber nubs would have done nothing to hold the bushing in place versus the column.

 

In any case, I used the jaw puller again to remove the old new bushing...

 

 

Then took a detour to remove the ancient fused-on plastic sleeve of the OLD OLD bushing that came on the car which appears not to have a split in it, or had welded itself together. Got it off (destructively) with a mini pry bar. That's the old old one on the left compared to the new old one on the right.

 

 

 

I reinstalled the column clamp. Take care with the position of the clamp as it will foul on the brake master cylinder. I thought I had noticed this and positioned it accordingly, but this photo depicts "too close" and it hit the MC when the column was turned 180 degrees. Only noticed that when everything was torqued up, whoops.

 

 

 

I also polished the steering column in the bearing surface areas with metal polish to give myself a better chance of success.

 

Note that according to several other guides I've read, you want the plastic sleeve's protruding tab that faces you to be the one opposite the split, this will help prevent the sleeve from coming out of the bushing. You can see both sides in the photos of the two bushings above. Apparently this is more of an issue with the lower bushing, which I did not touch for this job but do have a spare now...

 

I've buried the lede here which is that the new bushing, with a modest amount of silicone lube on it, went home with only a bit of hand effort, no mallets required and no destruction to the rubber nubs. I actually pushed it a bit too far on my first try as you can see here when viewing from below the dash (steering wheel to the top of the frame).

This required undoing the column clamp (again) and nudging it back outward with the steering column lock collar until the nubs aligned with the holes.

 

 

 

 

That's better! A mirror would have helped here, I used my phone camera instead.

 

With everything back together and torqued to spec (60Nm for the big 3/4" steering wheel boss nut, 14Nm for the clamp bolts), the wheel turned freely in the bushing and I can finally put this topic to rest* for the time being. Hopefully this will help someone out in the future!

 

*except that I am still missing the locknut for the steering column clamp grub screw, need to source that. Also, if you have any play in your steering, that grub screw is the first place to look.

 

 

 

 

[jbcollier]

It is pretty easy to pull a steering wheel off the column spline and no need for an impact gun or puller.  Loosen the nut using a breaker bar and socket, bracing against the wheel itself.  Back off the nut but leave it in place with at least a few threads engaging.  Wiggle the steering wheel side to side while pulling it off.  It will just pop right off.

 

Now the bad news.  The replacement stock type bushings out there right now are crap.  They don't last long.  Go with the uprated type you referenced earlier.

[Slonie]

2 hours ago, jbcollier said:

 

Now the bad news.  The replacement stock type bushings out there right now are crap.  They don't last long.  Go with the uprated type you referenced earlier.

 

Next time, next time! I would love to be able to add more information to this thread after all...

 

(as for removing the boss from the column using the wheel, that would have probably worked fine except that I wanted to use the steering wheel to slide-hammer the old bushing out, and had already loosened the column clamp at this point in the proceedings. With hindsight, a good order to do things would have been to follow your suggestion first though! Second time I did the job, the boss actually appeared to be stuck on but the column fell out on its own (narrowly missing my rear fender!) so YMMV.

 

Final data point for now: Even though it's probable that they all come from the same source, bushing I just installed was from Rocky Mountain Caterham, and the one that gave me issues was bought in 2018 from Rimmer Bros (i.e. https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-209423 ). Now that I look at their stock photo I see that there's no split in the plastic part (maybe that's an even older version), maybe that's what I found way down the steering column of my car. The one I actually received from them didn't look like that but it didn't look as tid y as the one I got from Rocky Mountain Caterham either. I know these are an ancient part that's used on tons of Triumphs etc.

 

I did find a dealer that has a quantity discount on the uprated bushing if anybody wants to do a group buy... (only downside: the quantity for a price break was 25 pieces)

 

 

Edited June 21 by Slonie

[Xhilr8n]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.  I spent most of yesterday working hard in the sun revamping a troubling old water feature.  Over two days of tedious effort in the sun.  Got that pretty well under control and went to the garage to do a simple steering wheel change.

 

I was pretty worn down so when this literally ran into the normal stone wall of somehow removing a brand new bushing that was never meant to be removed I was pretty floored.  Not much mental energy left.

 

So the car is in pieces until I can source a couple of spare bushings to hammer on.  Great.  Removed the steering wheel of a Rover SD1 decades ago.  When it finally freed up after three days of effort, it sounded like a gunshot.

 

In my brief experience with these cars, it seems that if you don’t get something in the original build, it’s just not like other cars. Changing it later requires real engineering not just some wrenches.

[Xhilr8n]

This thread has been super useful to me.  I’m running a thread with plenty of parallels.   My car is back together and I’ve learned a bit.  Many thanks Slonie.