Posted this originally in the body and interior forum, but got no responses so trying it here.... I admit it. I'm not always the brightest penny in the jar.... I've done the searching, in fact, I was using the three posts on this subject (plus my Helms shop manual) during this effort.... My steering column tilt mechanism was not the tightest. If you pulled down on the top of the wheel, it would move down an inch or so but go back up when you let go. Not sloppy or loose, but I figured I'd tighten it up while replacing the ignition switch. During the re-assemble, I bought the new bearing and rack kit from the dealer. The original bearings disintegrated during teardown of the column. The upper most bearing and the inner bearing race - WHICH WAY DO THEY GO ON THE SHAFT? I tried assembling it, and once the wheel was on i had all kinds of slop, the column was sloppy. I also folded up part of the rounded top cover that the spring sits on. And to make matters worse, the pulling down on the tilt mechanism still moved the wheel like before. Please tell me (or better yet, show me with pix!) how the bearing and inner race and this spring seat are supposed to be installed so I can get rid of the slop and have it like it used to be. The 4 reverse torx bolts didn't fix anything in my case, either, but I can live with that problem... Does the bearing get installed with the little lip outwards (towards the top on the upper one and towards the bottom on the lower one)? The inner bearing race has a stepped portion on the upper bearing (there wasn't one that I notoced on the lower bearing), shouldn't that be installed with the stepped part going inside the bearing? The little slotted bushing that the spring sits on appears to be exactly the same diameter as the smaller part of the inner bearing race. Are the slotted arms supposed to be flexed a bit so it sits inside of or outside the inner bearing race? Why did not tightening the 4 reverse Torx screws not eliminate my tilt flexing? Surely someone here has actually done this "mod" and can lend me a small hand here. I actually collapsed and bent the ring seat where it contacts the inner bearing race, and have a new one on order, but probably won't get it until Tuesday or so....

i wish i had my camera, some pics would be easier to show how the bearings go.
the bearings have 1 side that is rolled over a little, i think it is the lip your talking about, the lip or rolled over edge goes into the housing first, the other more open side faces out of the housing.

if they post, here are 2 sucky drawings to show how they go.

drawing #2

on the slack,
if you have the tilt down to the lowest lock & then pull down on the wheel it unlocks & goes down even lower, let up on the wheel & it goes back up to the lowest lock.
if this is slack your talking about, most every GM with this type of steering column i have thought to check has it.

the cup with the legs on it just fits over the shaft & kind of inside/under the inner race with the legs pointed down.

does this make sense?

just a thought, you may want to ask one of the mods to move this back over to Body and Interior.

Thanks for the reply!!!!!

Sounds like I have the bearing in correctly, I did put the rolled over edge into the housing. So at least I won't have to tear those up turning them around!

As for the bearing race, it is stepped, meaning two different diameters. from what I could tell, the larger diameter side fits over the shaft and sorta inside the bearing. I don't think the smaller side will slide of the shaft step and into the bearing, which would leave a gap between the bearing and the shaft. So I put the larger diameter in first so it kinda goes inside the bearing. But it sounds like you're saying it should be the other way around?

The spring seat cup I had put on the correct direction, but I don't think it will fit inside the smaller diameter part of the bearing race. Looks to be the same diameter as the smaller end of the race.

So what am I missing or doing wrong? Is my race put on backwards? Sould it be like in this crummy drawing? (I've been trying to do it the opposite of this drawing)

Here's the drawing which is NOT the way I've been doing it. Is this correct?

yes, the smaller end of the race goes into the bearing on both bearings as in your drawing.
the inner races have a bevel on the inside of them, the spring seat cup goes into the bevel.

OK, I'll give that a try, I looked at it both ways when I assembled it and I didn't think the small end would slide over the step in the shaft, plus I didn't think it would even contact the bearing that way. I'll look at it that way again tonight.

I sure appreciate your replies to this post - THANKS!!!

Especially since no one else has offered any assistance....

Wanted to say BIG THANKS! for the reponses. You were right, the smaller end of the race does fit on the shaft, and then it goes on far enough to take the slack out of the steering column. Now I'm just waiting for the new spring seat cup to show up (should be today) so I can finish putting it back together.

Again, T H A N K S ! ! !