Standard steering column upper bearing source?

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71' Grande project.
Edit- It wasn’t the bearing!  The shaft itself was undersized.  A second used shaft out of my parts car was a perfect fit.  Lesson learned the Ford bearing NPD sells is fine, but inspect your steering shaft.

Okay- I got my steering column together and I need to take it apart again.  
 

I have been thwarted by the upper bearing.  It is supposed to be 1 3/16” OD , 3/4”ID and 1/4” thick.  I ordered up and new one from NPD that was branded as Ford. NPD part 3517-4.

The ID isn’t 3/4” on the new Ford part.  I plan on pulling it apart but my guess is that it is at least .030” oversized.  This results in a fair amount of play at the wheel. (CORRECTION - bearing was fine- shaft was undersized!)

Anyone have a line on new bearings that are 3/4” ID?  I got to dig around and see if I tossed my original.  At this point if I can’t find my old one I plan on getting a used one from WCCC or OMS.  It seems like folks have size issues with both the Ford and Daniel Carpenter branded bearings from NPD...

 
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Do you have a bearing supply company near you? A bearing is usually pretty common, so they should be able to match what you need..... unless you've got a BMW !!

 
Closest bearing place is about 60 Miles away- I think I have it figured out though.

Pulled the column apart and the new bearing is a tight fit on my parts car steering shaft, but a loose fit on my cars...

The knurled part of the shaft is where the bearing rides.

Looks like I might be swapping shafts.

D8D50191-57BC-449B-B71F-3F031534F9BD.jpeg

 
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That's good info. I might have to pull mine out again as it's developed a clonk when I turn the wheel. No idea yet what that might be, any ideas?

It looks like the column is knurled to "step" the bearing shaft size so it is a tight fit. Weird!

 
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