[Metalaroundstone]

See my post "When is a steering shaft toast" that I posted today to see what a bad lower bearing can do to your steering shaft. My steering wheel seemed to have too much side-to-side play, but the upper bearing looked okay. I just got around to checking the lower bearing, which was totally disintegrated. I imagine you could check this bearing visually by loosening the pinch nut and pulling back the clamp and spring and using a mirror and flashlight to look up into the bottom of the tube. Maybe there is an easier way, but this certainly would have identified that my lower bearing was missing all the ball bearings, and my shaft had been eaten away.