Tilt tube has a lot of play?

Hey guys, long-time lurker, first-time poster, so please be easy on me!

I'm the proud owner of a 1985 supra marauder, I picked it up this spring for $2500 and felt like I got a pretty good deal, despite some pretty obvious and substantial rot In the floors and stringers. I've overcome some big hurdles so far (replaced transmission seals that were leaking bad, replaced a very damaged prop, swapped out a bad starter and replaced the starter relay) and am now in the process of replacing the original steermaster steering unit (cable snapped on the lake last weekend) with a new uflex rotary helm and cable from skidim. So far so good, but the tilt tube makes me nervous...

It seems to me like there's an awful lot of play between the tilt tube and the bracket that holds it in place. Is this typical, or am I missing a rubber bushing or something? I'm really new to all of this, but my gut tells me something's not right with it...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
I'll try to get pics up asap too!

If you have substantial rot in the stringers you should be replacing them first, anything else you do now just means doing it twice. If it's that bad, you need to start from the bottom up.

Completely valid point cadunkle, but while replacing the transmission seals I had the chance to look them over pretty well, and they're solid enough to let me finish out the season. I plan on redoing the stringers, foam, and floors this fall. No question I'm doing things a bit backwards, but hey, it's all in the name of having some fun on the lake! :) We just have a small window of opportunity up here in Maine, so I figured I'd tackle the big jobs once the snow flies.

Yes, pics would help. If you're talking about the clamp block that attaches the aft end of the steering cable to the hull (stringer side wall or rudder backing plate), my 89 was just a metal on metal ball and socket. Mine was worn so bad we lost the steering during the test drive. Good for me - we couldn't determine the cause at the time & a strong negotiating point to drop the price further. Double good for me - a relatively easy and cheap fix to replace the assembly.

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Originally Posted by sybrmike

Yes, pics would help. If you're talking about the clamp block that attaches the aft end of the steering cable to the hull (stringer side wall or rudder backing plate), my 89 was just a metal on metal ball and socket. Mine was worn so bad we lost the steering during the test drive. Good for me - we couldn't determine the cause at the time & a strong negotiating point to drop the price further. Double good for me - a relatively easy and cheap fix to replace the assembly.

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Good for you! One of the few times you can actually benefit from a problem! Yeah the clamp block is what I'm referring to apparently. Turns out I was making a big fuss over nothing, I have the same ball/socket setup and the wear in it tells me it's been that way for quite some time if not forever. Bottom line is that it looks solid and has significantly less play with the steering cable reinstalled. I As a side note, I I'm super happy with how the steering wheel unit install went! Definitely easier to steer than before :)