steering wheel options

[clean cut creations]

My customer has had me add buddy buckets and a grant aftermarket wood steering wheel and a tilt column to his '68 GMC. We tried the driver placement with the new parts and he is a bit too big around of a guy and had problems getting in and out. Is there any way to remedy this or do I have to put my customer on a diet? Is there a steering wheel that has less of a dish than the one we have?

[67chevemall]

slash the seat brackets down 1" or 2" get em right on the floor

[glock35ipsc]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=317314

[Longhorn Man]

remove the intermidiate shaft on the steering collumn, the one between the column its self and the steering gear box. collapse it by breaking the two nylon rivits and making the shaf a bit shorter... you'll want it to slide free, one inside the other.
reinstall shaft.
Loosen all the mounting points of the column and push it forward towards the dash.
Tighten column back up when desired belly room has been achieved.
Done

[clean cut creations]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

remove the intermidiate shaft on the steering collumn, the one between the column its self and the steering gear box. collapse it by breaking the two nylon rivits and making the shaf a bit shorter... you'll want it to slide free, one inside the other.
reinstall shaft.
Loosen all the mounting points of the column and push it forward towards the dash.
Tighten column back up when desired belly room has been achieved.
Done

Thanks....Looks like I know what I'm doing tomorrow!

[DrtyJack75]

AWESOME! Thanks....I thought that was it....

We drill those nylon rivets out on our demolition derby cars so as the front ends come up, the steering still works for a bit longer..

I just wasnt sure what else was done.....

[mr48chev]

If it is a column shift rig you will have to shorten the shift tube along with the steering shaft and column. Not a big deal but plan on it taking a bit of work. What ever you do don't weld any of it up solid as you still want the column to be able to collapse in case of an accident.

[Longhorn Man]

I never shortened any shift tubes in any of my trucks that I did this on.

[northerngmc]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

I never shortened any shift tubes in any of my trucks that I did this on.

Andy

Have you ever done this on a 3 speed manual column shift?

[Longhorn Man]

ahhhhhh... and looking up at the reply I was responding to... he specifily said that too.
My fault!
Thanks for pointing that out Blaine.

[northerngmc]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

ahhhhhh... and looking up at the reply I was responding to... he specifily said that too.
My fault!
Thanks for pointing that out Blaine.

Andy

I wasn't trying to point out an error but hoping you would have the magical solution to the steering wheel rubbing my belly. I already now the nonmagical solution, lol.

[lolife99]

This is a good article in the FAQ section. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=191143&page=2.

[clean cut creations]

Here are the pics of the mods we did to move an auto shift tilt column closer to the dash.


Starting point


Before mods





-Factory neutral saftey switch hole is 8" from the end of the bottom of the shaft. New hole was cut 2" higher on the tube.


-Mark inside new hole to reference shift tube tab location.



-New tab was built and located on reference marks.

[clean cut creations]

-Weld on new tab.


-Drill holes to mount switch in new location.


-Paint column.

-Install switch on column and install column back into the truck loosely.The column is now adjustible anywhere from stock location (with collar approx. 4" from cluster) to having the collar all the way up against the cluster. All tilt functions and shift functions work as stock.
-Tighten column at desired distance from dash.
-Drill out nylon locking tabs on intermediate shaft and collapse to necessary length.
-Install intermediate shaft.Tighten all fasteners and plug in saftey switch and turn signal switch wiring.
-On trucks with power brakes, the transmission shift rod MAY hit the booster in PARK with the column adjusted all the way into the dash. Removing the shift rod and cutting about 1 1/4" from the top should get the clearanced needed.





Reinstall shift rod and check that everything is working and you should be finished.

[clean cut creations]

Thanks for the input guys! I chose to relocate the switch to keep it out of the weather and under the dash where it won't have a chance to get wet, corrode and go bad over time.