F100 72 manual steering gear replacement/gap in shift tube

[pickly]

hey all,

My manual steering gear box recently went out on my 1972 F100. I bought a refurbished one from Summit and installed it. I'm a little confused though because when I put the steering wheel back on and tightened the nut there's about 1/2" gap left over. The steering column is pushed all the way down on the spline at the steering gear box input. I loosened the ring at the firewall that limits the shift tube play but I still can't get the space reduced. I've replaced this same part before but didn't have this issue.

Any ideas on what I should adjust?

Thank you!

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[cep62]

are your cab mounts rusty?
What can happen is the cab settles and the steering column holds up the cab.

[pickly]

Good point. Yes, they are. I will check that out. thanks!

[cep62]

And if you have a stick shift , that'll also mess up your clutch adjustment.

[1browski]

I put new cab/core bushings and hardware on my 72 f250 4wd. This is a full resto, so my column was completely apart and rebuilt as well. I had to put it all together and adjust the bottom keeper on the shaft that the lower bearing sits on to get that gap tightened up.