do i need a new column?

[juggalomania92]

alright, so i have a 94 ex cab ranger 4.0 5 speed no tilt wheel, no air bag.
i can grab the wheel and pull it towards me and hear a banging? noise... dont really know how to describe it. but its annoying that i can do that, also i popped the hood open and looked at the column, and the plastic piece thats bolted into the column near the firewall is rotted out (the metal that holds it) so i can grap the plastic piece and move it, do i need a new column? how hard is it to swap them out? what tools are needed? and would it be worth going to a tilt wheel while i have it out?

thanks

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Yes a swap would be wise They can be a bitch to swap and you need to start taking it apart to figure out what tools you will need. If you can pull yours out first and throw all the tools you need in a box and take it to the bone yard and find a same year hopefully with a tilt and depending on if it has cruise and such you will need to swap the ignitin to fit your key. As long as it is wired the same you should look into a new cupler while you have it apart.

 

[juggalomania92]

alright, thanks for the information ill definitely do a couple when i have the one from the junkyard out, it doesn't matter what motor the other truck has as long as it has power steering right?

 

[doorgunner]

take a good pic of your steering shaft in the engine compartment & compare it to the shaft in the donor truck to make sure it's a easy swap...for example, I swapped from a p/s box to a manual box---even though the steering shafts looked different--they both went straight from the column at the firewall to the steering box without any weird angles or supports.

 

[juggalomania92]

alright will do, im gonna take a picture and post it on here so you guys know what im talking about or maybe a video so the noise can be heard too ill do that tomorrow morning

 

[AllanD]

First remove the column covers (to access the wiring connectors and switches)
for this you'll need a T20 to remove the "knee board" from under the column,
13mm socket to disconnect the clumn under the hood, a 10mm on a
ong extension to unbolt it from the firewall and finally a 14mm socket
to unbolt it from the pedal support and

Yanking one takes at worst 20minutes, getting it back in usually requires
an assistant under the hood to guide the column into place.
but it doesn't really take materially longer.

NOTE: if you have an auto trans it's a bit more challenging.

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