911 - Steering shaft bearing replacement

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:33 pm

Well the bumps of Wales have taken their toll on what was already pretty dodgy steering, it feels like I'm turning with a blancmange wheel as it wobbles around

Took the wheel off today and had a look inside, also took a look at the PET diagram, question is, how the hell do you replace the bearing

Alan @ CanfordClassics · Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:09 pm

Hi James,

I have some pictures some where showing the steering column stripped out. I will look later.

There are actually two bearings in your steering column, an upper and lower. We remove the whole column to change the bearings but we normally remove it anyway during full resto work.

The lower can only be removed out of the car as there is not enough space to remove the inner steering shaft. The lower bearing is located by 2 lock rings, remove the lower and knock the steering shaft out. Once the steering shaft is removed it is easy to knock the upper bearing out. The top cup bearing can probably be pulled out in situ. 9 times out of 10 the sloopy feeling in the wheel is due to the cup washer at the end of the spring either being installed the wrong way round or is missing. The PET shows this cup washer up to 69 but not from 70 even though they were still used. They are available new from Porsche but the price is silly for what it is.

I hope this helps and if I find the pics I will post them, they show all the bits I mention above plus differences between the 72 and 73 models.

Alan

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:17 pm

Many thanks Alan and if you can find those pics that would be great - had another look tonight and I think the parts you mention are missing

-
Cheers

Alan @ CanfordClassics · Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:35 pm

Hi James,

I found the pictures today but they are on the computer in the work shop. I will send them tomorrow but if it helps give me a call. It is quite a bit of work to remove all the sheer bolts and associated parts to get the column out. But first lets see what the problem is as there may be a solution which can be done in situ. With regards to bearings I buy the cup bearing from Porsche and the lower bearing from a local bearing supplier.

Thanks
Alan

Alan @ CanfordClassics · Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:47 pm

I found one pic. Here is a pic of the upper cup style bearing on a 73 E we are restoring.

Alan

Alan @ CanfordClassics · Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:09 pm

and the lower bearing....

HTH

Alan

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:02 am

Thanks for the photos Alan, looks like I'm missing the spring and washer which as you say are listed in the '69 parts diagrams but not for 70-73 even though they should be there (looks like the wheel has been replaced at some point in its life as its date stamped 2/69 and the rest of the car is stamped 12/70) so I'll replace these and see what difference it makes before stripping the column

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:30 pm

Well I installed the support ring and compression spring and the wheel is now rock solid

, hopefully I wont be getting any more doses of vibration white finger, thanks Alan

sdelan · Post by **sdelan** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:19 am

Good morning James -

Did you get the support ring and compression spring from Porsche ? and if so - do you mind me asking how much they cost ?

Regards
Sean

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 9:58 am

Yep, from OPC
69534772500 Support Ring £17.70

91434771300 Compression spring £0.45

sdelan · Post by **sdelan** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 5:59 pm

Evening all -

As the play in my steering wheel is also quite bad - I decided to check whether or not the spring and support/cub bearing was intact - or even present.

The spring and cup/support bearing are there but I assume the wobble/play is due to the cup/support bearing simply being worn??

If that is the case - presumably it needs to be removed and replaced. However, I couldn't get it out - am I doing something wrong ? Is there a knack to this ?

Also - please note - I have a Momo steering wheel - not sure if that makes any difference or not.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Sean

Lightweight_911 · Post by **Lightweight_911** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:14 pm

Alan.UK wrote:9 times out of 10 the sloppy feeling in the wheel is due to the cup washer at the end of the spring either being installed the wrong way round or is missing.

Alan

I would go further than this & say that 99 times out of 100 this is the reason for excessive play at the steering wheel.

Is your 'cup washer' installed the correct way round ?

The spring goes on the back of the steering wheel (or Momo hub in your case) first, followed by the 'cup washer' with the flat side against the spring.

Lightweight_911 · Post by **Lightweight_911** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:20 pm

Here's the correct orientation:

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:25 pm

Sean, I have replaced the bearings on mine in a 'belt and braces' approach but it made no difference to my symptoms, getting a proper alignment, tracking set up and new tyres did

Here's a couple of photos of what I replaced

From L to R

The bearing under the cover between the smugglers box and column, the lower of the 2 bearings in the column, the upper cup bearing and the support ring

As Andy's photos show, if you've got the spring and support ring already then check they are installed as per his photos

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:27 pm

Oh and just to add, the upper cup bearing can be removed using a slide hammer, with the wheel removed, there's just enough of a lip for the legs of the puller to sit behind, its not in tight. It was the easiest of the 3 to change

DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker