I noticed that I have developed some play (forward and backward) in the steering wheel. Checked the nut and it is as tight as it will go. There is no washer or lock washer - Ford manual doesn't show one. Steering wheel moves back and forth about 1/8 inch or so. The shaft is tight - no back and forth movement at all. Any ideas?

 

i would check out everything in the colum/linkages. i had my steering wheel come off in my hands while i was driving. not a fun experiacne. luckily i was on a small two lane road and my brakes pulled me into a nice soft ditch and no real damage to speak of. could have been very bad.

 

I checked everything and it's all tight. The nut won't go down far enough to make contact with the steering wheel.

 

I see a part with some small ball bearings on the column when I remove the steering wheel. Should these bearings be visible or encased in something? If they are worn would that cause the play in the steering wheel and cause the nut not to tighten?

 

Did you check the rag joint yet?

Have someone turn the wheel for you while you look at it, if it twists before making the wheels turn then you have a bad joint.

 

When the nut that holds the steering wheel on the column is as tight as I can get it, the steering wheel can be shook forward towards the engine and backwards towards the driver about 1/8 inch or so. It's not left to right play in the steering. It was tight when I replaced the turn signal switch about a year ago but has recently become loose. It's like the nut won't go as far as it needs to in order to secure the steering wheel.

 

Is their a gap in between the wheel and the column right were the turn signal is. It souldnt affect being able to push and pull it. But the whole column is adj forward and back.

 

Yes, the gap is between the steering wheel and the turn signal switch. I tried pulling and pushing on the column shaft itself and there's no play there.

 

What type of aftermarket wheel do you have?

Have you consider simply sliding a washer between the wheel and the nut so you can get it tight?

 

It's the original one - base standard black. Liek I said before, when I replaced the turn signal switch about a year ago the wheel was tight. It's become loose since then. I'm wondering now, since it's starting to look like the shaft has moved towards the driver (is longer) if the worm gear might be worn.