I have a 1987 Ramcharger LE 4x4 with a 318. The tilt steering wheel is shaky. When you are behind the wheel you can move the wheel up and down about an inch. This condition exists whether the vehicle is turned off and the wheel is locked, or you are driving down the road. I removed the steering wheel, Retaining ring, wheel lock wheel plate, and turn signal assembly. There is a bearing but I id not know if this is the problem.

I was told there are a couple of bolts to tighten. I did not see anything but a couple torx head screws, they were tight.

When I had everything apart you could pull the shaft out of the column about a 1/2 inch.

What the heck, do I need a new column. I would rather not go that far

 

There should be three torx head screws in there. They become loose over time and need to be tightened. You see this problem a lot on the truck columns that have tilt. I would pull those three screws out to make sure that they are still straight and then before you reinstall them, or new ones, put a drop of loc-tite on them.

 

I saw the torx screws, I tried a little pressure to tighten. I will tear it all down again and readdress the torx screws. There is also a bearing that looks to be o.k., should I replace that while I am at it

 

You can if you want. I rebuild a couple of these a few years back and never had to replace that bearing. It all depends on how good/bad it looks.