1992 Montero loose steering wheel

Well, take the wheel center out and tighten up the steering column nut. You don't have air bags, so this is simple and easy to do. Another possibility is one of the unijoints in steering column is worn out. Or the joint clamps on the rack may be loose. Get under the dash and have a look.

Stewart DIBBS

Hi Stewart,

I took out the wheel center as you suggested, and the steering column nut appears to be snug. I loosend and re-tightened it to be sure. I found one clamp under the dash that looked relevant, and it is snug as well. So I removed the shroud from around the steering column, and find that the point around which the wobble appears to pivot is about three inches inches down the column from where the wheel bolts on. Is this one of the unijoints you mentioned? Is it replaceable, or do I need to be looking for a steering column?

thanks, Frank

I'd guess here that this loosness is either

- the bearing in the top of the column. I've seen these get a little loose in various vehicles but never fail completely; or

- if you have tilt, something to do with the tilt mechanism. There's some sort of uni-joint there.

If this was my car, I'd take the column apart a bit more and see exactly where the problem was located. Bearings can be replaced, and tilt hinge joint may be replaceable, but not with a Mitsubishi part.

Some time back I replaced the unijoints in an 89 Vista Wagon column. Main problem was locating a supplier for the joints which had 19mm caps. Found them by an internet search, for about $18 each. The replacement assembly (not the whole column) was about $450.

Stewart DIBBS

There is an adjustment on the top of the steering gear. You can adjust the amount of free play.

Here are some links