Hand brake cross tube end float . . how much?

[craig.cootsona]

Hello all,
I'm assembling my hand brake cross tube with renewed bearings on the ends. The chassis measurements check out and everything runs straight and true. However, I notice there is a large amount of lateral movement of the cross tube sliding in and out of the bearings when I move it side to side. It appears that the ends of the tube contact the chassis before the stepped part of the tube touches the inner surface of the bearing. So the bearings currently only function for torsional force on the shaft.

The assembly appears to be engineered for this lateral movement, presumably to accommodate chassis flexing without binding up. But has anyone ever shimmed the bearings inward from the chassis just enough that they help cushion the lateral motion to prevent the cross tube ends from sliding into the chassis rails?

I should mention that I have not yet bolted the hand brake cross tube to the gearbox crossmember bracket so maybe this will locate it sufficiently enough that it will never move sideways to the extremes of hitting the chassis.

Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but any experience with this would be appreciated.

Craig Cootsona
TA 2962