van tilt ?

[wibilly]

i see guys selling and looking for van tilts for swaps in 67-72 trucks. is this because the truck collums sit so close to driver [ my only dislike of these trucks] just wondering what year van colums are used and if anyone has a link or info on this swap i have a 82 van tilt with cruse in the field of broken dreams also a 87 burb and 86 blazer which is best i would like to get the wheel closer to the dash ,thanks

[HeavyD]

People look for van tilts because they look very similar to truck tilts yet cost half the price. If you want to make the column sit closer to the dash, simply collapse the intermediate shaft that connects the tilt to the steering box a bit. Now the column will sit a little more "forward" of the driver. If this is not enough, collapse the shaft a bit more, etc.. IIRC any van tilt will work in a 67-72 as long as it does not have an ignition key on the column. There is no shortage of van tilts out there, and it is just not worth it to convert a "key on the column" model to work with our trucks.

[Longhorn Man]

72 - 81 and an ocasional 82 van will have the keyless column

[dennislbrooks]

Here is a 78 van tilt--used to be an auto --that I have ready to put in
my 67. Like they said above, I will find my confort zone before I nail it down.

[Longhorn Man]

you know ont he 69 you'll have to add a collapsable int shaft off a 69 and up, right? 67 and 68 had a one piece shaft.

[dennislbrooks]

Well you could be right, but my oem 67 appears to have the collapsable shaft -- I think 67 may have been the first year. It has the solid shaft that slides into the other with the 2 plastic pins. I have been wrong before.

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

Well you could be right, but my oem 67 appears to have the collapsable shaft -- I think 67 may have been the first year. It has the solid shaft that slides into the other with the 2 plastic pins. I have been wrong before.

all 67s have a collapsable shaft but it does not come apart from the rest of the column in other words the same shaft goes from the steering wheel to the steering rag joint at the steering box
i can get pics if needed of a 67 collapsable shaft and a 68up type


heres a bunch of info on the subject of van/truck columns

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=133937

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ad.php?t=63328



heres a pic of the 68 up collapsable shaft on a 67 this peice is part of the whole column and does not come off like the one in the pic

[1971custom]

can you use an auto colum out of an 1993 chevy pickup or is it not possible

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by 1971custom

can you use an auto colum out of an 1993 chevy pickup or is it not possible

anything is possible but there will be lots of stuff to change and i do mean lots

[Bob Moore]

Dennis - Unfortunatly you will need an intermediate steering shaft. It needs to be from a pre 73 truck as in 73 GM went to larger diameter on the PU column but stayed with the smaller diameter shaft on the vans - who knows why. The vans don't use an intermediate shaft.

Some good news - boardmember Jose had 2 for sale at the last swap meet at a fair price.

This is not a big deal - don't let it upset you. Your column looks very good converted to manual - Bob

[Longhorn Man]

Very interesting...
That was not required on trucks untill model year 69, and every 67 I've looked at (not many) had a one piece deal, and all but one of the 68's I've looked at were also one piece.
At least they are consistant with there inconsistancys huh?

[dennislbrooks]

I suppose in the almost 40 years since it was built it could have been replaced and most likely they just stocked like the 72 model for all replacements.

[Longhorn Man]

That could be true, but it may well be stock. We all know that anything could happen back then on the assembly lines.

[dennislbrooks]

Ok-so what you are both saying is that this is not a connection between the column and the collapsable shaft? I need to go after more parts ---or fabricate? If so need part.....

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

Ok-so what you are both saying is that this is not a connection between the column and the collapsable shaft? I need to go after more parts ---or fabricate? If so need part.....

you will need the part i posted a pic of in the above post
the pic you posted in this post looks like it comes apart there but it does not that spring is there to keep the shaft and steering wheel tight agains the column

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by tnblazerk5

you will need the part i posted a pic of in the above post
the pic you posted in this post looks like it comes apart there but it does not that spring is there to keep the shaft and steering wheel tight agains the column

if you use a van tilt you will also need a adtapter to hook to the factor truck harness to the van tilt

longhornman had pics of those in a differant thread and i cant find them

[Longhorn Man]

ossible...but it'd be more work than it is worth IMO.
you'd need to rewire the ignition switch, the wipers, the dimmer switch, then figure what to do with the spots on the dash that used to house some of these switches, then you'd have to hack the dash and inst panel to make the larger diameter column fit in it....and we still don't know about the length of the column you have....
Ven columns are cheap and fairly plentifull. I refuse to pay more than 35 bucks for them at a self serve junk yard myself.

[Longhorn Man]

On that adapter, the older van columns don't need it. They'll have the horseshoe connector on there already, but if it has the flat plug, you can go to the dealer and tell them you need P/N 1894851, and it should be less than 10 bucks.

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

On that adapter, the older van columns don't need it. They'll have the horseshoe connector on there already, but if it has the flat plug, you can go to the dealer and tell them you need P/N 1894851, and it should be less than 10 bucks.

opps i forgot about those sorry, my bad

[dennislbrooks]

wibilly, your thread is getting good use. Bob Moore, I pm'd Jose---hope he is the right one. Also pm'd matt67350 to see if he has one. thanks also Longhorn Man -- Now I also know it will all come out in one piece.

[chuck1960]

Hey everyone, since van tilts are being discussed will truck tilt components work on the van tilts, such as indicator, lense & shift handle.

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by chuck1960

Hey everyone, since van tilts are being discussed will truck tilt components work on the van tilts, such as indicator, lense & shift handle.

yup the van and truck tilts are the same well kinda the differances are the ns switch and the part the intermeant<sp? shaft hooks to is longer on a van tilt

if ya go to the links i posted above all the info ya need is in one of the 2 links

[chuck1960]

Thanks tnblazerk5, I overlooked the links you posted earlier.

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by chuck1960

Thanks tnblazerk5, I overlooked the links you posted earlier.

you welcome have a nice day