steering colum
 

hi was wondering if anyone has bought or used some of the cheap colums and what do you think about them? are they worth considering? or are they just junk thanks Denis

Re: steering colum
 

There are pages on here and every other hot rod, truck and custom car forum on the net about the foibles of running a cheap aftermarket steering column. If the budget doesn't allow for an Ididit or Flaming River run an OEM GM column and be done with it.
It's just not worth the headaches and expense to have to deal with and then replace one of the cheap ones.

Re: steering colum
 

going cheap on steering or brakes is a stupid way to die.

Re: steering colum
 

What are we talking here - just a straight simple column, or something more elaborate with tilt, lock, air bag, etc? Columns are really simple and foolproof until you start adding complicated components which multiply the chance of malfunction.

How about showing us the specific unit you're considering?

Re: steering colum
 

I just bought a ididit tilt.
I did a search and found that the U joint parts (In the tilt ) were plastic in some of the cheep one's and were breaking. I never could find out if that was fixed.

Re: steering colum
 

Plastic steering? Ha ha, well I guess they make plastic leaf springs, so why not? ;)

Re: steering colum
 

I was choking on the price of the ididit's and flaming rivers. After reading stories of the china builts i decided to look for a oem column, found a decent looking mid 70's floor shift tilt chevy pickup column for $50 on craigs list. Took it all apart and shaved the ignition switch and lock because i wanted to leave the key on the dash. Its a little longer than i thought i wanted but in the end it worked out perfect. New bearings and lock tight some screws in the tilt, and some paint to match and it ended up costing less than a china column

Re: steering colum
 

ok thanks guys and yes it will be a tilt.

Re: steering colum
 

I have several vehicles with tilt columns, but once set, I don't seem to change the position much.

Just my taste, but I also think a tilt column with an ignition switch looks a little odd in an old truck.

I used a straight column out of a fifties Cadillac and worked to get the ergonomics right so I wouldn't miss the tilt. I shaved the gear selector off the pot metal and put a 'column saver' bearing in to get the tube to the right length. I cut a double D in the shaft to take a common steering u joint.

I suppose if I counted the time I spent making it work at $10 an hour, and the parts and machining I could have bought an Ididit

Repurposed GM or one of the US made hot rod columns would be ok, but I'm not trusting my life to a Chinese column