How to fix loose gm steering column

[89Suburban]

Cruise Switch Nightmare

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[89Suburban]

Infamous Pain in the Ass High Beam Plastic Parts

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[HotRodPC]

Some real good **** in these vids !!! Rep given.

 

[roy c]

The other day the spring load on my column shifter handle is flapping in the wind any idea's on how to fix this i have tilt steering. Thanks Roy

 

[chengny]

Shift Handle Control Spring

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Good price here:

http://www.classicparts.com/1981-94-Shift-Handle-Control-Spring-w_o-Tilt/productinfo/91-132/

Tilt or non-tilt - no matter. Drive the pivot pin (at the base of the shifter handle) out. Use a pick to remove the parts of the broken spring. Use a small pair of long jaw needle nosed pliers to hook the new one into place. Re-install the shifter handle and pivot pin.

 

[Scorpion]

Out of dumb luck I was looking for the tilt version and came across this thread. Part number 91-131 for reference.

http://www.classicparts.com/1973-02...pring-w_Tilt/productinfo/91-131/#.UfiN8su9KSM

Thanks!

 

[roy c]

Thank you for your help I'll get on it tomarrow

 

[89Suburban]

Shift Handle Control Spring

You must be registered for see images attach

Good price here:

http://www.classicparts.com/1981-94-Shift-Handle-Control-Spring-w_o-Tilt/productinfo/91-132/

Tilt or non-tilt - no matter. Drive the pivot pin (at the base of the shifter handle) out. Use a pick to remove the parts of the broken spring. Use a small pair of long jaw needle nosed pliers to hook the new one into place. Re-install the shifter handle and pivot pin.

Question, does that pivot pin also wear out? Can it be replaced to remove more slop out of the handle? I can clearly see some play in mine.


Posted From Hell

 

[chengny]

I doubt the pin itself would wear, but the holes in the "gearshift lever bowl" that it fits into might.

If that were the case, I suppose the hole in the gearshift lever and the upper and lower holes in the bowl could be drilled out to accommodate a split pin with a slightly larger diameter.


Or you could get a whole new shift bowl for about $65:

http://www.steeringcolumnservices.c...ntiac/bowl01-7836007-shift-bowl-with-tilt.php

 

[HotRodPC]

I think the tip of this shift stick itself can also wear and make a difference.

 

[Scorpion]

This is slightly off topic but does anyone know where to get the internal gate to convert the tilt column from 3 speed to 4 speed? I know what it looks like in the non-tilt column but not the tilt column.

 

[speedyjerry]

Thank You for this topic.

bottom two bolts fell out on my Burban other day.

 

[HotRodPC]

This is slightly off topic but does anyone know where to get the internal gate to convert the tilt column from 3 speed to 4 speed? I know what it looks like in the non-tilt column but not the tilt column.

Are there really different gates in the columns? I thought once you got into D/OD then the rest of the way down was dependent on the manual valve detent in the trans on the valve body.

 

[HotRodPC]

bottom two bolts fell out on my Burban other day.

That don't sound good.

Welcome to GMSB. Nice Burb. You can skip the Into thread if you want. How about starting your a Under Construction or Project thread.

 

[Scorpion]

Are there really different gates in the columns? I thought once you got into D/OD then the rest of the way down was dependent on the manual valve detent in the trans on the valve body.

That's what I thought too until I took apart my non-tilt column to see if I could fix it. As luck would have it, I need a new shift tube and you can't find them unless I buy another donor column...so it's basically junk. Once I figured that out I decided to completely disassemble it to figure out exactly what was involved. After playing with it, it seems that the shift tube housing needed to be relieved so that the bracket attached to the linkage itself could rotate a little more - enough to get into low (apparently the actual distance between park and low is greater on the 4 speed but just a little) which jives with what the GMTiltColumns guy said to me on the phone when I called him a little while back. Other than that I can't find a confirmation on the 'net that this is in fact correct and I can't know for sure until I get the new column (currently waiting on parts) in (a 3speed tilt) and attempt to get it all hooked up.

I also found this

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to the far left on the goldish plate is a hard stop that rests on first/low in the 3 speed. Because I think it needs to go a bit further, the stop can't be there but the other half of me thinks that the long distance associated to first in the 3 speed should be enough for both first and second in the 4 speed. If the stop ends up not being an issue, my only other concern is that the various gears, when engaged in the correct location on the transmission, end up being between the gates on the shifter causing it to be difficult to feel them go in and thus making it difficult to actually find the gear by the shifter wanting to stop in between.

Inside the shift cup there's also this "gated" setup but it's not related to the gears, it's related to which position the ignition cylinder is allowed to lock the steering wheel.

You must be registered for see images attach

After typing this all out I'm thinking maybe I'm worrying too soon and that I should probably get the tilt column in the truck, get the linkage hooked up, and see how the shift points actually are. The fact that I can't find any information about it on the 'net leads me to believe that maybe it's a non-issue.