Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Greetings all. I removed the steering wheel from the project car (23rd series) and the parts car, but for some reason either wheel won't go on. It seems to stop about 3/8" short, the pins under the wheel do not engage the indicator cancel mechanism. I have tried cranking the nut as hard as I dare, tried the persuader, it won't move. Is there a trick to installing a wheel? Advice appreciated. Gary.

If the nut is pretty well flush with the end of the shaft then the wheel is on all the way. Can't recall if those cars had one double spline to center the wheel; that must match up.

Otherwise you need to loosen the steering column clamp down at the steering gear and the the dash clamp at the instrument board and slide the column up to within 1/16" or so of the wheel.

As Ross suggests, loosen the clamps and slide the column up a small amount. If you find the column does not want to move enough you may need to remove the wheel and heavy spring again. Under the heavy spring there is a small stamped concave ring around the shaft that forms the inner race for the upper ball bearing. The ring may be recessed in the bearing and hard to see or can be covered with grease. After the spring pressure is gone the column may move but sometimes the ring is so snug on the shaft it will still not allow any movement. You can manually move the ring up a slight amount and then move the column. When the ring is away from the bearing and the inner area is visible also take note of the bearing condition to make sure all the balls are present and securely retained by a little cage like affair.

Here is a 47 photo showing the ring. Later cars thru 54 have the same bearing and ring arrangement but the shroud holding the shift lever and turn signal switch is styled differently..

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Thanks everyone. I think the bearing is out of place. the meantime I have removed the hard spring, and the wheel will still not go fully home on the shaft, the splines are still only half engaged. I have looked for burrs on the splines and the unsplined part of the hub, as I said it goes part way and stops.
Gary