Rebuilding your steering column

[shawns fords]

OK. I hope this wil lhelp you all. Before I start, I have to Tell you. my 64 F100 did not come with the turn signal switch, it was removed before and an expernal mounted one was on it, therefore i might not have everything in there that you see when you take yours apart. I am doing this to give you a simple guideline to follow. As always you will find differences between vehicles from year to year as well as what type of column you have. ( column shifter, 2wd or 4wd etc etc. Mine is a 1964 F100 2wd.
I removed the original steering wheel and replaced it with a Grant with mohogany wheel handle. this entire column was taken off the Truck and cleaned up. replaced bad or worn out prts and reassembled.
Bear with me here and thanks for your Time.
Shawn

I would really appreciate anyone else that would like to chime in on anything you see missing or needs to be added

first, youll need beverage of your choice to begin, here is mine

[shawns fords]

now we will begin with the column, youll need to disconnect the battery, or the terminal connector, I prefer you do both for safety measures, then remove the turn signal lever steering wheel and horn button first




I have a ton of pictures you can see them here on my photobucket, both the factory steering wheel and the aftermarket one so you can see the differences between the wheels hubs here is the link
http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s318 ... /?start=20

[shawns fords]

Here are more shots of the horn hub, and the bracket to hold my grant wheel to the column shaft as well as the turn signal switch

[shawns fords]

now, here are the shots of the nuts and bolts you need to remove to get the turn signal switch off the column, as well the housing around the switch to get access to the column tube. when you remove your switch, if it has Bullett connectors you can just slide them out one or two at a time until you get all of them out, same goes for reassembly, The two nuts at top and bottom have a small square hold in the column tube where they hold the switch housing to the tube, make sure you do not lose these, youll end up looking through salvage yards or buying one from Unlce skip or another slickster that saves this kind of stuff

Next to each of them nuts os a tiny phillips screw that holds the lower section of the signal switch housing youll need to remove them as well as the three screws that hold the turn signal switch onto the upper housing
Also, pay attention to your horn contact spring, its a tiny little bugger and you will drop it a few times before you decide to put it somewhere safe only to wonder where it is later

[shawns fords]

once you have the switch out, you can start with removing your switch housings and there will be a spring, bearing cup, and a bearing inside the switch housing, you can get to the bearing once you slide the housing off the column tube
here is the switch and harness
the nuts to remove your switch housing

here is the switch housing removed and the bearing cup

[shawns fords]

the bearing inside this one was shot I replaced it, I dont remember how much it cost but was not to oexpensive I think about 9 bucks from local parts store Car quest, Big A auto in some parts. here is the lower part of the switch housing. just slide it off once you get the upper hub off


you can just slide out your turn signal switch harness, if your replacing it, and its not a bullet style connector, I would recomend writing down which wire went to which tab on the connector, then cut off the connector with your wire cutters. pull out switch and wires, then install your new one if this is where you were heading, otherwise you can keep on going

[shawns fords]

now, if you need to remove the complete column, all you have to do from here is remove the column drop bracket here


then slide the tube off, at the bottom youll find a seal and grommett. you can replace those as well, I cleaned mine up as much as possible, greased everything new up and reassembled which is the opposite of what I just showed you. Remember, always keep your work area clean and organized. if you have ADD or short term memory like I do then its best to make notes on everything as you take it apart so you wont have to remember how to put it back together. I used to do this with beer and found out I forget even more so il lstick to coke or pepsi or something else without any alcohol and save that for after the job is done. If you have any questions just ask.

also on your original steering wheel, I believe your turn signal cancel cam is mounted to the lower part of wheel itself. there is ap icture of it on my photobucket link below. I dont have one in mine now due to the Grant wheel, but thats ok I like annoying others while driving down the highway in the fast lane with my left blinker on

http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s318 ... /?start=20

[crewzinforabrewzin]

so how was that coke never mentioned if you finished it. dont forget to look under the cap to see if you won a free one. lots of good info there nice having all the pics, seems like most tech manuals, tutorials, they show very few pics which often leaves a person confused or guessin

[shawns fords]

the coke was finished and very deliscious. I tried to give asm uch information as I could. I know I left somethings out, like how to replace the bearing in the switch housing, but thats pretty simple to figureo ut, if you have gotten this far im sure youll do fine lol. I tried to do one of them magazine articles on this " the window kit" they didnt give me half the information. Good thing I am creative enough to figure it out myself.

I cant write an article like greg can but I gave it a shot. and its for a good cause