Steering Column Help

[smoothone]

I bought a non tilt steering column with the intermediate shaft and power steering box off of a 1977 C30. I mounted up all the parts in my 1966 Chevy truck and when I went to connect the intermediate shaft to the steering column I noticed that the steering shaft is not protruding very far from the column so I cannot slide the bolt through the clamp on the shaft since the grooved part of the shaft is up near the bottom of the column. I hope the pictures help to explain this. Why is my steering shaft not protruding from the column enough? Did it move up inside the column? I have never seen this before. I hope someone can help. Thanks in advance. I know this is the newer truck section but I posted here since my column is out of a 77 truck.

[tommy217xxx]

I don't think the bolt goes through the shaft. It's just a clamp to hold the column and intermediate shaft together. I could be wrong and I'm sure some one with more knowledge will chime in.

[smoothone]

That's what I thought also at first but I cannot get the bolt through since it hits the threads on the shaft. I read somewhere online that it is supposed to go through the notch on the shaft as an extra safety feature to keep the shaft on there. So even if the bolt was loose the intermediate shaft could not come off.

[tommy217xxx]

I don't think there's enough play in the shafts to come out. At least there wasn't on mine. We had to pull the column back to get the intermediate shaft out. Can u rotate the collar around to find the notch. I'm doin a non tilt to tilt column swap and I also had to replace the intermediate shafts b/c they were different.

[smoothone]

My intermediate shaft is collapsed. I drilled out the two plastic or nylon pins in the shaft and collapsed it to fit the new setup. I just read in a Jeep forum about this guy having the same issue and he had to get a steering lock plate tool and then reset his upper bearing that came out of the recess. I might try this also.

[Tilt]

I had this happen to my 86 column. I just had to tap the shaft back down from inside the cab so more of it stuck out of the bottom of the column.

[smoothone]

Well I finally fixed it. First let me first thank Tommy and Tilt for their help. If anyone has an issue like this what I did was to rent a steering wheel lock plate removal tool from Autozone. I compressed the column and removed the clip on the shaft to released the pressure from the spring. I was able to push the shaft down a bit and then I connected the intermediate shaft to the steering column shaft in the engine bay. I put the bolt through the notch on the steering shaft as it fit perfectly. I did make the mistake of tightening the bolt at this time.

When I when to compress the spring on the column inside the cab with the tool the spring would compress all the way and bottom out and I could not get the clip on because the notch for the clip was still a bit lower. I then loosened the bolt where the intermediate shaft connected to the steering shaft outside in the engine bay but I did not remove the bolt. I just loosened it enough so that the steering shaft gave a bit and I was able to move the steering shaft up the column just enough to where I could go inside and compress the spring and get the circlip on the column. I then went outside and tightened the bolt on the intermediate shaft.

I could not find any help anywhere on the net. I saw a couple of guys with the same problem in the Jeep forum since those columns are the same as ours no one posted a solution. I hope this helps someone in the future.

[1774btcrew]

I will also add that the reason it didn't protrude far enough is that the pins in it were collapse. this will happen if the column is ever dropped on end. Without physically disassembling the column you can remove the lower bearing, clamp below the splines and pry it out. These inner steering column shafts can also be repaired if you desire.