I believe it's called a steering damper. It dampends out the vibrations the
steering box sends up thru the column. I had this problem on my Mustang
after driving it for a year with no power steering.
It may be possible to omit the rubber and bolt the pieces together directly,
but the may be too much of an angle involved. If you do that, the wheel
will feel strange (vibrations, etc) but as long as there if not too much
flex it'll do.
While I haven't done this on a Brick, the process should be similar to a
Mustang: Drop the column and bolt the rubber (it's a piece of tire,
actually) piece onto the column. Remove the other metal piece from the
stering box, then bolt it to the rubber. Install, lining up the wheels and
the steering wheel to get them both straight. Probably take an hour, with
beer breaks. :-)
----- Original Message -----
From: David Ebel <david.ebel@visitalk.com>
To: Bricklin (E-mail) <bricklin@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 10:17 AM
Subject: Steering Troubles
>
> Okay - got the brick in for repairs and maintenance. I was looking
> at the car's underside, when I noticed something quite disturbing. At the
> point where the steering column meets the gear box, there is a rubber
joint
> - that is supposed to decrease vibrations to the steering wheel. Well,
mine
> is completely chewed apart, and when the wheel is turned, it does not make
> contact with the other side of the column until a couple of metal pieces
hit
> up (about a fourth turn). This is pretty bad - and the rubber joint
thingy
> will need to be replaced. Has anyone done this? I will be needing to
know
> where to get the part, and if there is anything tricky in the
> installation... (BTW, I was successful in fixing quite a few air
leaks...)
>
>
> Thanks a ton,
> Dave
>
> -----------------------------------------
> David Joseph Ebel PCN: 3333-2222-1111
> david.ebel@visitalk.com
> visitalk.com - Software Developer
> Office: (602) 776-2026 | Cell: (602) 315-9585
> Owner- Bricklin #841 <www.davidebel.com>
>
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