Hi all, I am looking for the lower steering column bearing for my '67 tilt column (floor shift). All my looking and I only find '69 and on up. They are approx $80 and I don't want to try one to find out it won't work. I did not see one on Ames or other parts suppliers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Happy holidays
The only advice I can give you is from my years of being a mechanic. Just about all bearings have multiple uses and are Ethier identified by the numbers on it or by directly measuring. In my area we have a company that only deals in bearings called EB Atmus and they have always had anything I have worked on from cars and motorcycles to lawn equipment and even a washing machine I fixed once. If you are near a metropolitan area there will be a similar business there. The price is always much cheaper because you are cutting out the middle man. If after removing you are not proficient with a mic. they will gladly measure it for you. I have brought in bearings that had to be brutalized for removal in pieces that they were able to get measurements from and set me up. This is the only way I have been buying bearings for years.
Hi all, I just wanted to close the loop on this thread. I found a lower steering column bearing that worked for me. Strangely it’s branded for a Jeep. Made by crown automotive and was $25 on Amazon. The replacement bearing came as a multi-piece kit with bearing, housing, clip, etc. I only used the bearing which I installed in the plastic housing from my column. The bearing is slip fit (was expecting a tighter fit) to housing or my housing is slightly worn out. However it still worked for me. See pics below Hope this helps someone in the future
The housing from the kit does not simply fit the end of our columns, so no. The bearing housing from the kit is slightly smaller diameter than is the ID of the column tube. That being said, I think that with a little ingenuity you could adapt it to work. My first idea would be cutting apart a soda can and use that material to shim the ID of the Column tube while pressing the kit bearing housing into the column tube. We are talking about a small diameter mismatch so soda can aluminum may be too thick, dunno it would be close tho. The bearing kit was $25 amazon prime so at worst its not a huge loss if it doesn't work out. Hope this helps
Side note: the first bearing kit I ordered came to me with the bearing not freely spinning. I returned it at no cost to me for a replacement. the second one I received was great, spins freely.
