Its the acuator. They break all the time. Go to any ford dealership and go to the parts desk and tell them thats what you need. They will most likely know right off what you need. If serves me right I paid a little over 10 dollars for a new one. Im assuming you got tilt wheel since you need this part. Anyways pulling apart the cloumn is easy enough to do. Your gonna need a little screw to pull out the retaining nuts on the sides. Good luck.

 

The second guide is broken off in the steering column. If you look into the hole that it matches up to you'll see the piece that was formerly attached to the "stub". I had to use small drill bit on a drill to drill into the broken piece and then pull it out. Just drill into it enough that the bit gets stuck in the metal. It's just pot metal so it's pretty soft.

You probably want to buy the upper and lower actuator rod assembly. No sense to replace one without the other 'cuz you don't want to do it again. Once you see the upper assembly you'll know exactly what was broken off.

Be careful taking the tilt assembly apart, you don't want that spring embedded in your forehead. The real PITA for me was getting that dang spring recompressed to put it back in....but you'll see

 

I agree there eddy , its kind of an art lol.

 

Yeah, the kind of art that makes you want to get your rifle and start taking people out from the top of a tower

JK.

I guess the whole process of replacement (including figuring out how it works) took me about 4 hours. Stupid spring.

-Eddy

 

LOL well i just removed my coulmn and it took me 15 to 20 mins hehe.

 

Yeah, I had no idea how it worked when I started taking it apart. Taking the steering column and the tilt mechanism apart was a breeze but then I prolly spent two hours trying to fish that broken piece out with a little screwdriver - didn't work. That's when I thought of the drill.

Then probably hour and a half to get that damn spring back in there right. Stupid spring.

 

hehe yeah , all I had to do was tip mine over and give it a couple taps and it fell out.

 

Fast Eddy and Froggy,

I'm having trouble getting everything apart to get to the stub. I can grab the stub with pliers, but it won't come out. I took of the smaller spring on the underside. The tilt assembly seems to be next but I cannot figure out how to get it apart. Could you give me some tips? Also if it is easier to remove the column, please tell me how that is done. My Haynes manual sucks.

Thanks,

Don

 

yeah on the sides is 2 silver looking things they are threaded. Get a screw that will thread in and grab a claw hammer and yank em out , then your column will fall apart so be careful. Then you shouldnt have much of a problem. If possible remove it , its alot easier to work on and doesnt take long at all.

 

Thanks, I think that will get me going. Any instructiona on removing the column? I see your'e in VB too. Its supposed to get cold the next couple of days, so I'd rather have it on the workbench.

Thanks,

Don

 

wow where in vb are you lol. also ill post more in a bit about removing it , gota run right now.

 

oh btw , have you ever been to the mudhole off of birdneck road , right across from water country and moto world?

 

I'm in Croatan. No, never been in that hole. My ride is stock and subject to getting stuck on steep angles of departure. Need 4" lift + 35's.

Where are you? Since this serves no-one else, should we take this private?

Don

 

Im right over by pembroke mall , 2 minute walk from there. If you know where the rallys , miller mart is on independence. Then your about 20 seconds from my place.

 

i replace these all the time. but let me warn you, its a lot of work. you have to virtually take the whole steering column apart. there is a couple of special puller you need to do this. the part is cheap. about 10 dollars but it could take up to 2 hours for a seasoned pro such as myself. if you try it yourself, expect double that . and make sure you put everthing back exactly the way it came apart.

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Ford F-150 4WD Actuator - Direct OE Replacement Parts