Thank you 4Crawler for the help!

I started from the rag joint up and determined that the in and out play of my steering column was between the firewall and the steering wheel.

I pulled the column and all of the u joints and bearings appear fine, but I was still getting in and out play. It turns out that the play was from two halves inside the steering column. It looks like there was plastic dowels holding the two pieces together and these broke at some point in time. When the halves compress it tightens everything up and the steering gets stiff; drag on the plastic cover and steering wheel. When I pull them apart the steering appears fine; no drag.

Is there any way to fix this properly? Appears to be a safety feature in case of impact with the column.



Thanks!

 

Yep, that is the compression joint that allows the column to collapse in a front end crash and avoid skewering the driver. Fixes are to either build up the inside part, squeeze down the outside part, drill through the holes where the plastic filler was injected (not dowels) and put in a small bolt and tighten it down, or add a spacer to the rag joint to shove more of the two sections into each other. More engagement = tighter fit. That is what I did no my truck:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...eringExtension

I like being able to separate the shaft, makes it easier to work on the truck if I have to remove/install the shaft.