I'm doing a Borgesen Power Steering conversion on my 71 Superbee, 4 speed original manual steering. I see there is no lower steering column bearing. It just flops around using the whole ID of the column tube, Reading the Factory shop manual it seems Chrysler did build some this way. I've owned this car for over 40 years so I know it never had one. All I have is a white plastic piece right at the end and nothing else, Anybody else with a B body around that year have the same setup? The reason I'm concerned is I am also going to the Borgesen U-joint instead of the factory style coupler. Wondering if nothing supporting the bottom of the shaft will be a problem. Anybody add a bearing??

My 73 Challenger is that way. No lower bearing. Just the plastic piece at the bottom. I've heard that from the factory there used to be a foam seal inside the plastic piece. It kept hot air from traveling up the column and heating the interior.

On my 68 Dart, there was a lower bearing but it was seized. The factory replacement was expensive so I used an ER-16 bearing instead. Lots of people are using it.
https://www.amazon.com/HD-Switch-SE...&hvtargid=pla-487637004623&psc=1

I made a bushing out of Delrin for mine.

Thanks for the replies.. when I restored it years ago it didn't seem right but that's the way it was. Now changing the coupler got me to worrying. Mine is also missing the seal, think I'll order or make a replacement and look at that bearing mentioned. I feel much better hearing others are like that. The factory shop manual does mention " ones without lower bearings"

Mine same way 71 Road runner

Excellent pictures! Thanks, that's exactly what I have. I'm having a guy on ebay make up a delrin bushing and glue it or bolt it inside that useless white plastic retainer. I know there should be a seal in that but I figure with the heat from the header close by it wouldn't last long anyway. Making OD to fit in that retainer and .100 or so bigger than the od of the shaft just in case it isn't perfectly centered to the box. should help center it for installation and reduce all that play . Feel better seeing others like it

Beautiful restoration job by the way!

FWIW, I drilled a couple of holes and screws to lock mine in place.

No need for a lower bearing. Mopar did that in 68 & 69 and then someone probably said "WTH are we doing?" Theres a bearing up by your steering wheel and the column is FIRMLY attached at the steering box. Why would you need one in the in the middle. Especially with some body flex a bearing in the middle would just bind. Funny thing is they added a lower bearing again in 74 and someone must have said "Hey we tried that in 68 & 69 and it was a bad idea". Also a solid bearing would transmit harshness back up through the column. The upper bearing actually sits in a rubber "isolator" (that I reproduce). And in 68/69 the bearing that they put at the bottom of the column actually had an o-ring on the ID so it wasn't metal on metal. I have an NOS sample of both a 68 and 69. There was actually about a 1/16" of clearance on the OD of this NOS bearing. That "clearance" was taken up by the o-ring. I had a few people return the aftermarket lower column bearings I was reselling because they said they were "sloppy". THEY WERE DESIGNED TO HAVE CLEARANCE! I dont resell them anymore. I just dont have the time to go through all this info each time.

In the picture you can see the "reproduction one above with no intemal o-ring. The NOS one below has the internal o-ring again so it wasnt metal on metal. And yep one year, 68 or 69, was alum (like the NOS one in the picture) and the other year was nylon.

Thanks for the info and excellent pictures