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 n ow 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/