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Tilt Steering Column Loose


Guest Simpson36

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Guest Simpson36

It seems like the hinge for the tilt steering wheel is comming very loose. Steering wheel can wobble side to side about an inch.

I would appreciate some ideas on how to go about repairing this. Any special tools needed beyond a wheel puller? Tips and tricks?

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3,503 lbs of trouble
It seems like the hinge for the tilt steering wheel is comming very loose. Steering wheel can wobble side to side about an inch.

I would appreciate some ideas on how to go about repairing this. Any special tools needed beyond a wheel puller? Tips and tricks?

I have two words for you:

"Jim Shea"

Contact him. Here's his CF profile:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/member.php?u=10219

He is a retired steering system engineer. He can tell you EXACTLY how to address this. He's well known and well respected in the C3 section of the CF.

If you don't want to tackle it yourself, I know of someone who can. Let me know, otherwise good luck. Steering columns suck!

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Call American Key and Safe. 480-668-SAFE (7233)

I met the owner, Jody Howard, working on a C3 at Bromley's place. I mentioned that mine had a tilt / tele that was loose and I think he said it would only be like $150 to fix it. Last quote I got was above $400 so I stopped looking to get it done.

Now I just haven't had the time.

Call him and see if they will do it. If it works out great let us know the price and how the service was.

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3,503 lbs of trouble
Call American Key and Safe. 480-668-SAFE (7233)

I met the owner, Jody Howard, working on a C3 at Bromley's place. I mentioned that mine had a tilt / tele that was loose and I think he said it would only be like $150 to fix it. Last quote I got was above $400 so I stopped looking to get it done.

Now I just haven't had the time.

Call him and see if they will do it. If it works out great let us know the price and how the service was.

:agree

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Guest Simpson36

Thanks for the info!

I will be doing it myself. The first part I bought for the car was a GM shop manual and a couple of restoration books, but there is no substitute for first hand experience. That's why I love these forums!

Question: what is 'worst case' for these columns? Will it just flop around eternally, or should I be concerned that it might jamb, fall, or otherwise become inoperable?

I was browsing around once and found a place that sold the pivot pins. Since turning 50, I suffer from CRS and can't seem to locate them again . . . anybody know who has the parts?

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3,503 lbs of trouble
Question: what is 'worst case' for these columns? Will it just flop around eternally, or should I be concerned that it might jamb, fall, or otherwise become inoperable?

Again, contact Jim Shea. He can answer these questions far better than any of us. He is thee expert.

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mine has been loose since I bought it over 5 years ago. It's never done anything but move around about 1/2 - 3/4" when I push on it.

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  • 5 weeks later...
Guest Simpson36

Update:

After a bit more research, I decided to pull the steering column out of the car to work on it. Glad I did as it is full of sticky grease that I wouldn't want on the car's leather interior!

The column comes out very easy and only took about 20 minutes to get it out . . and a lot of that was getting the wiring harness unplugged!

Once out, the column is not too bad to work on. There is also no hassle with getting enough slack in the wires since the whole connector pops off it's column mount and you then have a good 6 inches of slack to take out the blinker switch without fear of damage or pulling wires of of it.

Here are some tips and tricks I learned:

Someone suggested using a 3mm bolt to pull the hinge pins (instead of an unavailable special tool). That's what I did and it worked like a charm. I grabbed the head of the bolt with the claw of a hammer and then tapped that hammer with a second hammer and the pins popped out. Naturally a slide hammer would work best.

The 4 bolts that get loose are screwed into a single "LOCK PLATE" that is captive in the column tube so it will not easily fall down into the column if you are working on the column in the car and take the bolts out to clean and lok-tite them. Although to be extra safe, you could just do one bolt at a time and the plate therefor could not move.

Since I had the column out of the car, I took out all of the bolts, removed the . . "STEERING COLUMN HOUSING SUPPORT" (GM speak for the whole casting that is the bottom half of the hinge and literally is the attachment point of the whole head to the steel culumn). I also took out the plate, cleaned the screws and the plate with degreaser and reinstalled everything with blue lok-tite.

Reassembly is not too bad until you get to the "STEERING SHAFT LOCK" which must be compressed down into the column against a stiff spring in order to get a retaining 'C' clip back on it. Checker Auto has a tool for this ($13) but it won't fit on past the special star headed bolt (screwed into the end if the steering shaft) that must be in place to lock the telescoping shaft. I took a standard bolt of the same size and thread as the special bolt and cut it off a bit longer than the special bolt and cut a slot in the end of it so I could turn it with a screwdriver. Once installed and tightened (in place of the special bolt) this piece will allow the compressor tool to screw onto the end of the steering shaft and compress the plate. Then the 'C'-clip is easy to get on.

Pretty much downhill from there.

I have the column back together and will be putting it back in the car tonight.

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I need to have the column in my 1980 done. Anyone want to give me a quote for the work? It also has a problem with the turn signal arm sticking and I want to replace the ignition cylinder (key). I don't like it when the key falls out of the column when I hit a large pothole.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Simpson36

Last Update:

Column is back in and all is well.

What is most surprising is that all of that looseness in the column must have translated into radial play in the steering wheel because not only is the column solid now, but the steering is FAR tighter and more responsive.

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