I have an aftermarket steering wheel on my 90 Dakota column. It uses a Grant center hub, and has been there for a couple of years. About 6 months ago, when it got hot (above 85 outside temp) I would get a short squawk when I turned the steering wheel to go around a corner. Now it does it all the time.
I've pulled to column out of the truck, dissembled it, cleaned everything up and greased both the upper and lower bearings and reassembled it. The squawk is still there! If I pull the hub, and install the factory wheel, the squawk is gone. If I reinstall the Grant hub, and leave it a little loose there is no squawk, but if I tighten it, the squawk is back. I have two Grant hubs here, both do the same thing, one is a new hub. I've compared and measured the ends of both hubs and don't find a reason for the squawk. Any one else experience this? How do I fix it, short of using the original steering wheel? Gene

spacer/ sleeve? It sounds as if the Grant adapter is "pulling" the column up farther than the stock wheel when tightened.

A spacer/sleeve would probably work, but what would the spacer sit against on the column shaft? There really isn't anything to seat against other then the snap ring pretty far down the shaft, that I saw. There isn't much room in there, the clearance between the hub and the shaft below the splines is pretty small.
I do agree, it seems as though the aftermarket hub is seating lower on the shaft then the original wheel does.
About a 1/2 of turn loose of the nut gives the clearance I need, but I can feel the free play between the wheel hub and the shaft. Not a good feeling when the only thing containing the turns are some pretty fine splines on what appears to be an aluminum or pot metal hub. Gene