Rant: Stupid GM tilt steering columns

What a friggin PITA. My 90 1/2 ton has done the very common backoff of the E8 Torx screws that hold the tilt together, and so far, I've probably got more time in disassembly than pulling the engine. I finally figured out how reassemble the ignition switch "rack" and then the F%#&*(@&*($ing ball bearings fell out of the inner race, and of course, three of them have since disappeared into the driveway.

Now I know why people told me to just swap the column with a junkyard one, because now I'm off to get replacement ball bearings so I can resume swearing at the stupid thing reassembling it.

By the time I get it reassembled, I'll be an expert, but I don't think I ever want to do it ever again.

Ray

That has also been going on for a long long time and it IS a PITA>

Yep... $25 at a "u-pullit" and 1/2 an hour later you would be done (albeit with a different ign key).

A couple of plugs, six bolts....Viola!!! No more slop.

Instead of fighting the lock plate, impossible to reach, oddly sized torx bolts and much cursing...

BTDT.

U-Pull. Best junkyard invention ever. Break three of theirs while learning how to reassemble yours.

Al

Here is the "semi-posterior" repair method (only tighten the 2 most accessible torx bolts):

I feel somewhat better knowing it's a common problem.

And yeah, next time I'm swapping columns, even though I have the tools and know how to do it.

And I think my old box of bike parts might contain the ball bearings I seek. I gave up today before I put my hammer through the windshield. :)

Ray

Preach it, brother. I've done just that quite a few times when I had to fix a type of car I've never taken apart before. It's so nice to go learn on one at the wrecking yard knowing if you break something it isn't going to cost you....

Chris

Never ran across it, though my tilt columns start in '90. Might have had one in my '78 G20 van. Looks like this is confined to the Saginaw tilt column, long discontinued, and that column may have been used in certain Jeeps too, or they had their own problems. This guy has done the job in 40 minutes.

But you have to figure it took him a couple years to get the tools and experience together. I've noticed that with some tilt columns moving the locking lever without restraining the wheel will result in it banging up pretty hard. Wonder if this a cause for the screws loosening. Reminds me of letting a tape measure slam back home without restraining it. Good way to add an 1/8" to the tape.

--Vic

My 1983 Dodge has a tilt steering column/steering wheel.One day, I was wondering what that extra lever is for.I put it back in the posistion it was in before (it suits me just fine) and left it alone.In 1971, I traded my 1968 Ford Mustang car to a guy in Lawrenceville,Georgia for his 1957 Ford T Bird.It had a steering wheel that is suppose to slide back and forth, but I couldn't turn the locking ring so I left it alone too.

All the many years before tilt columns/tilt steering wheels and sliding steering wheels, people got along just fine without them.The more complicated they make cars, the more trouble and expense they cause. cuhulin

A few weeks ago, I bought a T Square at the Lowe's store.It says on the T Square, Length of rule is intentionally short 1/8'' to compensate for pencil mark during measuring. I am not sure if I like that. cuhulin

They have a special tool for that: J-696969

My steering column began loosening up on the Bonneville this past May. My regular mechanic kept putting off fixing it, so I brought it to a local repair shop here in town. The column was moving in all four directions about an inch & three quarters maybe. Just turning the ignition switch was moving the column in the days before it was fixed. $120.00 to fi it.

harryface

91 Bonneville 319,065 05 Park Avenue 86,911

Money well spent. a)you don't end up swearing all afternoon. b)by the time I'm done, I'll have $120 in specialty tools for a job I hope to never do again. (E8 Torx driver (set), lock plate tool, pivot pin remover tool.)

Ray

I much prefer non adjustable steering columns/steering wheels and also I don't like steering wheel ignition locks.I once owned a 1970 VW van.One time when I was down town getting a hair cut, when I got back into my VW van, the lock decided not to work/unlock at all.I had very little steering.I did make it home though, driving very slowly.When I got home I removed the lock thingy.

When I bought my 1983 Dodge van last September, the ignition lock/unlock thingy, sometimes I have to play with it untill it will unlock.I guess my 1983 Dodge needs a new steering wheel ignition lock. cuhulin