I’m getting some play and a slight clunking when I move my steering wheel back and forth. 93 Chevy g20. I’m guessing the intermediate steering shaft. Has anyone done one of these on the Chevy vans. The rubber cover is completely in the way of checking it out and looks like it’s gonna be a pain. Any helpful tips would be appreciated. Thanks Zach
If you're getting play, it's most likely bad bearings. I would check those first. Best way to check a steering column in need of work it to remove the whole thing and check it thoroughly. Trust me, from first hand experience, it can end badly.
A few years ago I was going hunting with my father-in-law and I took my 68 Chevy K10. The steering was sloppy and clunky when I bought it a few months earlier, but I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. As I pulled into the hunting camp parking spot, the steering snapped completely in half. The steering wheel would spin freely, but did absolutely nothing. If this had happened about 5 minutes earlier, when I was driving down the small country road on my way to the camp, I would have likely not been here to tell you this story. The road had about a 30 foot drop off into the river.
I ended up finding a spare column at the junkyard and was able to get the thing rebuilt in the bed of the truck at the camp site. The picture I'm attaching with the bearings shows what the bearing should look like on the top, and what I had on the bottom, just the race was all with no bearing left. The shaft had ridden on the race for a while, wearing it down to a taper before it snapped.
Before you condemn the steering shaft, check to make sure all the front end components are tight. Tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, ball joints, etc.