The Tale of Two Tilts or WTF do I have?

[Brewski*]

I bought both of these tilts from board members who claim they are both out of 67-72 trucks. Can someone give me some info on if they are correct, are they both truck tilts? Could one be a 68 as described and one a 72 as described? Or did I take it in the shorts and need to send one or both back?

[WIDESIDE72]

It looks like the top one is a truck tilt that the turn signal switch was replaced on. There is an adapter that usually comes with the new switch to adapt to the horse shoe truck connector. On the bottom column, I don't see the neutral switch cut out, but it might ust be the way it is turned.

I have used van tilts in trucks. The column its self is not collapsed to fit a truck. The intermediate shaft is collapsed.

What is the overall length of the columns? This will answer whether it is a truck or van tilt. I don't know the measurement off the top of my head, but a van tilt is longer. A true truck tilt is the same overall length as a non tilt.

[ls1nova71]

The column shaft on a van tilt does not collapse, only the intermediate one does. The older van tilts also never had the neutral safety switch in the truck location, they were always up higher, however the older ones in vans maybe for the first couple of years didn't have a neutral safety switch on them at all, this is probably what the second column is. The shaft has probably been cut and welded. If whoever you bought them from shortened them and didn't tell you about it, that says alot about the seller. I would return them, but like was said before, you would have to take them apart to find out.

Edit: I just realized these are both 4 speed tilts, and YES before anyone asks, they DO still have the neutral safety cut out in them. So the first one looks like a truck with a newer turn signal switch, but the wire cover (the metal piece under the column at the top) on a truck tilt is only about 6" long, vans are closer to 10' or so, they both have van wire covers.

[Brewski*]

They are both floor shift. The flat finished one was supposed to have been out of a 71 truck and gone through and completely rebuilt (it has lots of new parts) with a NOS spline. They were both supposed to be rebuilt but the shiney one with the flat connector does not appear to be gone through at all just really nice used and a crappy rattle can paint job on part of it. The flat finished one does not have a cut out. The flat finished wire cover is right at 6" long one is closer to 8" not 10" I am going to unpack it again and check. Nothing appears to have been shortened on either one.

The column shaft on a van tilt does not collapse, only the intermediate one does.

What does this refer to? I think only the middle part on both of these moves.

The shiny one has the flat wire connectors. What would that indicate. The wire cover is around 8" but it slides in another 2" and does not have any of the hold down teeth on it that is supposed to hold it to the column. So something is not right there at all.

[VA72C10]

the intermediate shaft is the shaft that bolts from the bottom of the column to the rag joint on the steering box.

[Brewski*]

How and where would it collapse??

[WIDESIDE72]

There is a thread in the FAQ section on collapsing the truck intermediate shaft in order to use the longer van column. You are getting the cart before the horse. If you verify the measuremnt of these tilt columns and they are the same as a not tilt column, the intermediate shaft from an existing non tilt truck will work as is with the tilt.

[special-K]

An original floor shift column housing will have no neutral safety switch provision. They both appear to be truck columns with one being a converted column shift. Since floor shifts are so uncommon,it's common to see conversions. What's really "common" is for someone to sell one for the original floor shift price and not disclose it's a conversion.

[hugger6933]

possibly a motor home tilt ,I didn't spend much time looking as I am on my way out the door for work. People say the van tilts will work and will it has been proven thousands of times. The motor home tilts are the same length as the truck tilt shaft is the same length as the truck the diff is is N/S location or lack there of, I have 2 of the mh tilts and they look closer to the truck tilts by a bunch than the vans. Another diff is the shifter arm the truck is bent a little bit while the mh is not. Jim

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by special-K

An original floor shift column housing will have no neutral safety switch provision.

Every real floor shift tilt i've ever seen had the cut out for the nss but of coures didn't have the switch.
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[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

possibly a motor home tilt ,I didn't spend much time looking as I am on my way out the door for work. People say the van tilts will work and will it has been proven thousands of times. The motor home tilts are the same length as the truck tilt shaft is the same length as the truck the diff is is N/S location or lack there of, I have 2 of the mh tilts and they look closer to the truck tilts by a bunch than the vans. Another diff is the shifter arm the truck is bent a little bit while the mh is not. Jim

Motorhome tilts have the van style neutral safety switch in the van position.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Brewski*]

Originally Posted by special-K
An original floor shift column housing will have no neutral safety switch provision.

Every real floor shift tilt i've ever seen had the cut out for the nss but of coures didn't have the switch.

I bought the one with out the NSS in 2003. The seller says it came out of a 71GMC Seirra
Were people doing conversions back then?

[ls1nova71]

My best guess is that the one without the NSS is a converted van tilt, stands to reason why it would have had an NOS shaft put in it, to convert it to the truck's shorter shaft. Does the shift bowl turn on either of them? The shiny column to me looks like a real truck tilt, although it is hard to tell from a few pictures. The flat connector turn signal switch is a service replacement, GM discontinued the curved plug a long time ago, and started using the flat connector with a small jumper harness that goes from flat to curved. Look at that column real close and see if there's ever been any self tapping screws put in the two tiny holes where the NSS would have attached, there should be no sign of it.
As for buying it in '03, I've been rebuilding and converting van columns to fit trucks since the mid 90's, so yes, people were converting them back then, floor shift tilts have always been scarce.

[ls1nova71]

Also I was a little off on my wire cover measurments, I just measured some I have, trucks are 4' and vans are 7'.

[Brewski*]

Thread marks on the one with the NSS so it is an automatic converted. The one w/o the NSS has a van nut and threads where to bolt the steering wheel on but they are new parts that could have been a bad replacement..but not likely. So basically both tilts are imposters. The seller of one has already returned my money.

[KevsClassics]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

Every real floor shift tilt i've ever seen had the cut out for the nss but of coures didn't have the switch.
Posted via Mobile Device

X2

[kaynnon]

Am I the only one who had to do a double take at the title

[Brewski*]

Am I the only one who had to do a double take at the title

Good one hey kaynnon

[Brewski*]

OK the auto conversion to floor is on its way back to the previous owner. Next question: Anyone one want to by a remanufactured converted floor shift van tilt? It has all new parts and a NOS spline.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Brewski*

OK the auto conversion to floor is on its way back to the previous owner. Next question: Anyone one want to by a remanufactured converted floor shift van tilt? It has all new parts and a NOS spline.

Put it up on the classifieds, well talk

[Brewski*]

Decided to keep the van conversion. It is done right and really nice. The scratches are minor from me banging NOS parts into it.LOL. Might even chrome it so it is the nicest Van conversion floor shift tilt of all time. Whoot..