Many of you may notice a clunking noise in your steering column.  A few may actually feel play in your steering wheel, yet your steering wheel is tight.  Where is the clunk coming from?  Where.  There is a bearing on the steering column on the other side of the dash board.  What makes this such a common problem is that VW chose to use a plastic retainer to keep the bearing onto the race.  What's worst is when someone "fixes" the bearing, they tend to only push the bearing back up onto the race and put a zip tie around the column to hold it.  Like a zip tie is going to fix that!?!?  By the time the zip ties breaks or falls off, the bearing is so chewed up, you HAVE to replace the bearing.

What you REALLY need to fix that clunking steering column is a washer with an inner diameter the same as the outer diameter of the steering column's shaft.  I made mine to such a tight tolerance, that it barely slides.  Then, instead of a zip tie, you want to use a hose clamp (or two).

My washer is a wheel hub bearing washer w/ the inside ground out. ->

To get the washer (and the new bearing, if you end up needing one) onto the shaft, you'll need to undo the steering column chaft from the u-joint that attaches the column to the steering rack.  This is done by loosening a nut and bolt, with 13MM heads, from the u-joint and pulling the column out from the joint.

<- This is the shaft in the steering column stuck in the u-joint.

There is a taper inside the tube portion of the steering column.  This taper is where the bearing race seats (so does not move UP the shaft).  The shaft may hang up where the bearing race meets this taper.  If the shaft does not pull up out of the u-joint, wiggle it around until you can get this past this taper.

Pull the bearing off of the shaft and clean it up real good.  Take a good look at it and check to see that all of the bearings are in place and the bearing's cage is in good shape.  Lube it up REAL good, too.  I used a whole bunch of white Teflon grease.


Above is the bearing from the steering column.
Below is the shaft pulled completely from the steering column.
Note the race that the inner surface of the bearings roll on.
This race DOES move on the shaft.  It's tight, but it moves.

After you have greased the bearing, slide it back onto the shaft and up into the steering column tube and over the race.  Take your washer and slide it up the shaft until it is up against the bearing race.  If the bearing race sticks out of the tube a bit, you'll need to slide the washer/race/bearing assembly up the shaft until it is nice and tucked inside the steering column tube.  If the race is up into the tube too high so as the washer never comes into contact with the race (and the bearing will then likely flop around), then you need to pull the whole shaft out and slide the race down the shaft. :(  Suck!  This involves removing the nut for the steering wheel, pull steering wheel, unscrew the three screws that hold the turnsignal/wiper to the column, pull the plastic cover off of the column and undo the 6MM allen bolt that holds the ignition on.  It's actaully quite easy, just time consuming, to pull apart the entire steering column.

<- Here I am sliding the washer up the shaft and up to the bearing now tucked inside the tube.

Once the washer is pushed up onto the bearing race, you'll want to fashion yourself a means to keep it in place.  I've taken two hose clamps, clamped together, and tightened it down just under the washer.  The excess of the hose clamps needed to be ground with a Dremel.

Voila!  Everything is said and done and my steering wheel is as tight as a bug that is snug in a rug.  Ahhhh!  No more KATHUNK!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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