Play in steering wheel column?

The time has come to sort out my wobbly steering wheel - if I grab it I can wobble it up and down quite a bit. It doesn't bother me while driving but seems like something that needs fixing sooner rather than later.

I've had a quick look and seems that either the top bearing in ignition switch housing and/or the lower bush can fail. How can I check which is gone, or should I bite the bullet and replace both? Do I need to check the rack or other components too?

It's a 1989 Clipper with ~160k on the clocks that is used daily in the summer but wasn't particularly well looked after before I bought it 3 years ago.

Would appreciate any tips / pointers before I start taking things apart

Cheers

Look under the kneebar, the lower shaft bearing has fallen out of place.  Shove it back up there and use a Screw-Type hose clamp to hold it in place, whilst you source a new one.

With the steering wheel removed you can easily check the top one by wiggling the shaft around. Bottom one will almost guaranteed need replacing. I did this on mine (on approx 120,000 miles) and really made a big difference getting rid of knocking sounds and overall feeling more solid over bumps.

Briano1234
I had a look but couldn't see anything obviously out of place - managed to snap a photo - am I looking at the rusty circular bit to the left (above) the spring?



lancia7550
Thanks, I'll give this a go when I get enough time away from the kids  Steering (and car in general) is a bit loose and rattly but not horrendous… yet.


Short video of the wobbliness:

https://youtu.be/3hEvox9yD5s

Lower bearing is £10 from VW Heritage on eBay so ordered one of those - more expensive than they used to be looking at older posts but cheap enough to have in stock if I don't need it Cheers

Cheers