Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

O.K. To all the experts who know more than me, question? What year was the Tilt Steering Wheel option first offered? I thought of one year for sure, but just changed my mind. What do you guys say?
Lets see how many answers I get!!:lol:

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

Option info on the GM Heritage Center website says 1971. However, it could have been late in the 1970 model year.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

1970

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

The tilt steering COLUMN was invented in the early 1900's :lol:

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I would agree with 70.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I looked at a highly optioned '66 SS Chevelle that came with the original build sheet. It had tilt wheel, cruise control, A/C, P/S, P/B as well as the 396 and 4 speed, but only an AM radio.

As for trucks I have only seen original tilt wheel on 71 and later trucks.

so no, I can't answer your question.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

As far as tilts in passenger cars, I believe Chevrolet first offered tilt in '63. Might have been available in other G.M. divisions before that, not 100% sure.
I just bought a ad I found on E-bay, dated 1970 Chevy Camper Truck ad, main subject: tilt wheel being a option.
I always thought '71 was the first year, I was wrong!!!
I'm going to frame the ad, just more Chevy Truck travia!!

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

Google is our friend. Here's a summary of what I found....
The tilt wheel columns were made by Saginaw gear which later became part of Delphi then, in 2010, became Nexteer Automotive. According to the Nexteer website: "1967 – Introduced Tilt-Wheel steering column to the market which offers greater driver comfort and better vehicle control".

That seems to shed some light as to when GM first offered tilts, but not necessarily when in trucks.

Edit: HOWEVER, GM Heritage Center says the 63 Cadillac was available with "New six-position adjustable steering wheel"

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I have a tilt telescopic column from a 66 impala. 65 caddy was first for gm telescopic, maby 65 vette to. Tilt for gm could have been earlier

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

At the risk of beating this topic to death, I offer the following tidbits.

More than you ever wanted to know here:
http://automotivemileposts.com/autob...tiltwheel.html

From Wikipedia:
"Tilt wheel[19]The original tilt wheel was developed by Edward James Lobdell in the early 1900s. A 7-position tilt wheel was introduced by the Saginaw Division of General Motors in 1963 for all passenger car divisions except Chevrolet which received the tilt wheel in 1964.[20] This tilt wheel was also supplied to the other US automakers (except Ford).[21] Originally a luxury option on cars, the tilt function helps to adjust the steering wheel by moving the wheel through an arc in an up and down motion. Tilt Steering Wheels rely upon a ratchet joint located in the steering column just below the steering wheel. By disengaging the ratchet lock, the wheel can be adjusted upward or downward while the steering column remains stationary below the joint. Some designs place the pivot slightly forward along the column, allowing for a fair amount of vertical movement of the steering wheel with little actual tilt, while other designs place the pivot almost inside the steering wheel, allowing adjustment of the angle of the steering wheel with almost no change it its height."

"Telescope wheel[19]Many pre-war British cars offered telescoping steering wheels that required loosening a locknut prior to adjustment, many using the Douglas ASW (Adjustable Steering Wheel).[22] In 1949, the Jaguar XK120 introduced a new steering wheel supplied by Bluemel that was driver-adjustable by simply loosening a sleeve around the column by hand.[23] The 1955-1957 Ford Thunderbird had a similar design with 3 inches of total travel.[24][25] In 1956, the travel was restricted to 2 inches. A patent was filed regarding a telescoping steering wheel in July of 1942 by Bernard Maurer of the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors (now Nexteer Automotive), but GM would not offer a telescoping wheel of their own until the debut of the tilt/telescope wheel offered as an option on 1965 Cadillacs. The GM column was released by twisting a locking ring surrounding the center hub, and offered a 3 inch range of adjustment."

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

Yep, my '63 Riviera had a tilt column. 1970 was the first year in GM light trucks. There are instructions for use in the 1970 owner's manual.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

1963 Chevrolet passenger cars had tilt as a option. Good friend of mine has one in his '63 Impala convertible. Also checked one out in a junked '63 hardtop a few years ago.
I was just interested when the option was first available in our era trucks, 67-72 only.
The energy absorbing column was first developed by G.M. in '67, federally mandated safety item.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I had a 63 Olds Starfire that had tilt from the factory.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I've got a tilt column out of a 66 over the bathroom storage space at my shop. I bought it just because it was an early tilt I figured it would be worth something someday. I also have a tilt in my 68 Lemans convert.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

I had a 1970 longhorn with tilt. I have a pic of the SPID somewhere. One thing that was different was the flasher knob was chrome. It was a low mileage truck and everything else seemed original and unmolested, so I think the very early tilts may of had a different knob. If it had been replaced the column showed no signs of being taken apart.

Re: Tilt Steering Wheel First Year Offered
 

My 67 GMC has tilt. I never thought that it wasn't original, never crossed my mind. Guess I know now. Not surprised with all the other goofy stuff that they did to this truck....