Yeah, I think given what has been said above that it's going to be a press fit in the cup. The cup was in there pretty good. When it's all cleaned up I'll see if it's a tight fit. If it looks like it wants to flop out I'll come up with some sort of retention method, perhaps involving the spring, who knows.

 

I'll be doing this bearing install once I get to the truck. Had 3 other vehicles go down that were a priority. One fixed itself, lol - guess it was the 11.5 year old battery that the 31 year old engine computer didn't like, and the other is now running but needs additional parts to be road worthy. The other is in my shop now awaiting me.

I started disassembling the column in preparation to remove it back in January. It was 15° out there, and I couldn't find my puller to get the wheel off, so I had to walk away from that one for a bit.

I've been flip flopping on whether I want to send the column out to be completely restored, or just throw that bearing in and call it a day. My plastic pin has broke inside the column assembly, causing the spring to serve ZERO purpose. Explains why my OE bushing slid out after going airborne over a speed bump in the city last year. Caused the rag joint to snag the inner fender and bind my steering while trying to make a right turn, headed right towards traffic taking a left. I had to JAM the wheel with considerable force to keep from smashing a couple cars there, then force it back with the same amount of force trying to keep the truck off the sidewalk and someone's front lawn.

I've got an old Borgeson shaft in there, but it's the rag joint one, thankfully, or I would've plowed all those cars, had crash damage to fix, had an insurance surcharge and claims to deal with. Would've been a friggin nightmare ...




Notch caused by the rag joint when it got stuck on the inner fender.

 

Quick update, a 42mm bearing DOES NOT fit the housing. It's 40mm bore for the ring bearing. The bearing mentioned by Keith may have stated measurements of the common 42mm OD size, but he much be correct that he did in fact get a 40mm bearing.

 

Interesting. Must be only that chinese Ali Express bearing that will fit, since the standard 6905 bearing OD is 42mm. Maybe they tried copying it and got it 2mm too small? You never know with chinese parts.

I might have to be the guinea pig for the greater good and buy a quality one, and a Ali Express one that he got, and measure the two and see for certain.

EDIT: OH!!! I see what I didn't see on the first go around. Says, "NON STANDARD" in the ad he posted. That explains it! Mystery solved! Glad, since it saved me about $20, lol.

 

From post 6 above.

I totally missed "Non Standard" in the title! That's a BIG one ...

 

The shaft is also not 25mm really. It doesn't install onto the steering shaft, even when cleaned up. It would be a press fit at best and in that position you're asking for trouble on the install. Hard to service in the future.

I'm probably just going to put the stock stuff back in and double up on retention of that spring to ensure it stays preloaded.

 

That's ok - I'd rather a press-fit there anyway since I want the steering as slop-free as possible. I've got the tools to make that happen.

The way mine is right now is abysmal. Can't believe I drove it 2 years like that! Thing wanders all over the place, and whenever you hit a puddle the wheel gets YANKED right out of your hands! It's insane.

 

Nothing about this is a press fit.

I ordered the bearing from ebay and couldn't return it, so I decided to see what I could do to make it work. I machined the outer race down to fit the housing, and what was left by the time it got to press fit was basically aluminum foil thickness. It lost it's structural rigidity as well as it's ability to retain the seals on each side, and the pressure from the housing caused a slight binding in the bearing due to the outer shell being so flimsy, making it less smooth than the factory setup.

Also, I don't know the gap between the ID of the bearing and the shaft, but I can assure you it's going to also require machining the ID of that bearing a significant amount.

 

Sounds like you got a true 6905 bearing, and not the "non-standard" 40mm OD version. The standard is 42mm OD.

EDIT: I just read your post 23 I think it was - no good quality brands like NSK, or SKF make a non-standard 6905 - that is the issue. It HAS to be a "Non Standard" 40mm OD to fit. I've looked, and only chinese bearings are available "Non Standard".

So that means when mine arrives I'll be prying the seals out to get some REAL grease inside, AND the correct amount. It'll need all the help it can get to survive. Luckily it's not a high speed application in the slightest.

 

Correct on the OD.

The ID on your bearing will still be an issue.