I have a FSM and it shows how to use a bearing puller to push the shaft out of the bearing in the column but a Mopar guy I was talking to the other day says he just taps the shaft out from below. The rubber bearing isolator is only a snug fit in the column so the whole assembly slides out without using a lot of force. So my question is if the shaft will come out fairly easily that way, then why does the FSM say not to do it? The bearing and the isolator have to come out anyway for replacement so why not just tap the shaft out with the bearing and then replace the parts on the bench? This is on my '65 Coronet so the shaft is solid without any plastic pins.

All I can add is on the early A bodies, the solid inner shaft just comes right out (from the bottom) once everything is undone up top (bearing/clip etc).

Maybe the FSM instructions show best practice of removing the bearing without removing the shaft from the vehicle?

on my '65 coronet I've had the shaft out a couple of times. I've tapped from the bottom up and I've tapped the shaft thru the bearing top to bottom. didn't seem to make much difference. the bearing on mine was not a tight fit and some "sensible" tapping would easily separate the shaft from the bearing. if your doing a column rebuild it may be easier to just do it all on a bench. the column on '65 didn't have a bottom bearing like my '69 and I did have some delron shaft supports made to fit in the of the column. the only factory thing that supported the shaft at the bottom of the column was a thin plastic type washer. either way it shouldn't be difficult with a little patience.

The FSM procedure is the factory approved method probably so that nothing is damaged. Have you ever seen what some knuckle draggers can do with a hammer?

My guess is that the bottom bearing is exposed to moisture, dirt, etc and can potentially rust ad seize onto both the shaft and the tube. Trying to tap it out would snap the plastic pins. However, I have removed min a couple times by tapping from the top with no issues.

'65's don't have a pinned shaft and to the best of my knowledge don't have a lower bearing.

There has to be a lower bearing of some sort !!

maybe bubba got mine,..lol. all mine had was a plastic disc.

Some don't use a bearing at the bottom of the column. My 73 Challenger is one of them. Just a piece of plastic with a foam gasket inside. No bearing.

Not in the early floor shift columns. There might be something in the column shift setup. The floor shift column has a rubber and nylon type of seal arrangement at the bottom but not a bearing. Here are the two columns I'm working with. I need to convert my red column over to PS from manual steer so I'm parting out the blue column and putting the parts in my red column.

that is what I was doing with my early A, swapping the inner shafts to go to power steering, piece of cake & yours look like the same type. I would dig in & you'll know quick if you need to regroup on your procedure.

So the longer shaft is for the manual box?

that should be a simple swap. I had a piece made for the shaft to fit thru to fill that bottom column void. seemed it needed something.

Yes...

Andy what your doing is exactly how I did the one for my 65 Bel II...
I had a 65 Column shift auto that came in my Bel II and bought a 64 floor shift column that had a bent p/s shaft...
I used it installing a manual shaft from a 63 Dodge 3 on the tree car to make one for my 65...

I've never seen any type of lower bearing and as you previously mentioned they are all solid shafts...

A simple look in the parts manual will show a bearing or lack thereof.

No need to guess.

with auto

this is what i use in the bottom of the column.

A source would be nice, unless you make them yourself

I’ve used an actual Timpken bearing