1986 upper steering column question

[toddf]

Is the column itself compatible with the newer models?
Mine is tilt as well

thanks I haven't seen much info on these

[wraithracing]

You can interchange the 79-89 columns. You will have to swap the switch gear depending on year model, but they will interchange. The 79-mid 83 have the splined shaft for the steering wheel. The mid 83-89 use the D shaped shaft. The 86 will have the D shaped. Hope that helps. Good Luck!

[toddf]

Thank You, I was hoping it was the same my steering wheel is a bit wobbly I am hoping it is the two bolt for the tilt steering.

[erratic50]

where are you located?

Steering Column repair here in Omaha does one hell of a nice job on columns.

[Ray Dog]

Are the bolts in question mount the column to the dash, or the steering wheel to the shaft?
The Torrington Co built some of the upper shafts with a bolt holding the steering wheel on.
A few of these "bell yokes" had a problem with the diameter of the point of attachment being too small.
The result was the bolt would bottom out and the wheel was not tight. The fix was a washer
placed under the bolt that looked like a freeze plug with a hole in it. The hole was larger than the shaft
So the end was in the washer which seated the wheel correctly.
I don't remember the year this occurred, and I don't remember if it involved Mustang columns, because
we were making upper and lower shafts for multiple Ford models at the time.

[Mr. Ranchero]

Don't mean to hijack, but I have a somewhat related question. I'm wanting to add cruise control to my 85 vert. It has an 86 wiring harness for the EFI 5.0 that I put in it. Will an 84 tilt/speed control steering column work with the 86 wiring harness and 85/86 cruise steering wheel?

[toddf]

I tightened the two upper column bolts that made a difference in the steering wheel wiggle itself, now I plan on modifying the rag joint to a solid u joint.
hopefully that will tighten steering up even more.

[swearint]

Curious about the rag joint upgrade. I've always felt that the steering was way too sensitive (floaty) at speed in my 85GT. I think that is mostly due to the power steering boost being excessive. But how would a solid u-joint affect the overall feel? I expect it would make it more precise, but wouldn't that also take out a bit of 'buffer'?

[erratic50]

Floaty steering is mostly solved by

Smaller (under drive) crank pulley
— UPR and other similar kits
smaller (overdrive) water pump pulley
— 93 cobra or Summit repop
Better inner tie rods
— reman rack or replacement inners

better outer tie rods
— new OE style outers or a bumpsteer kit

A synthetic PS fluid instead of typeF ATF

I also added a small inline filter on my car. Happy with the result

[toddf]

how does synthetic PS fluid help? That seems like a fairly easy mod
Where did you add an inline filter?


I also put a pulley from a v6 mustang which is a bigger diameter that helped slow it down a bit.

[swearint]

I also put a pulley from a v6 mustang which is a bigger diameter that helped slow it down a bit.

Can you provide a part number? I was looking into this awhile back, but got bogged down in all the different options.

[toddf]

sorry for delay. I believe it was a 2002 or close v6 mustang. I just pulled it at the pick and pull for 2 dollars or so.
I brought the old one with me to reference size.

[robertcladner84]

Thanks for sharing might