How to? tighten tilt steering

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pceh
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How to? tighten tilt steering

Post by pceh »

Hi, when I am out driving on the backroads, there is a rattle coming from where the tilt steering is located. It has a bit of play in it. Any idea how to tighten this? there are a couple of videos on youtube, but they are from older s10's. OR, is this a job best left to my mechanic? I am fairly handy, however, don't have lots of time to fool around with it. Thanks.
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killian96ss
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Re: How to? tighten tilt steering

Post by killian96ss »

I've fixed a few GM steering columns and can tell you it's very time consuming to tear them apart even to tighten some of the internal bolts which do loosen up over time. If you do have to tear down the column make sure you pay a lot of attention to how everything fits together and before you tighten any of the bolts that loosened up put some blue or green threadlocker on them so it never happens again!

GM also makes a lower steering column roller bearing upgrade for various cars and trucks that use a plastic/nylon type bushing. I've done the conversion on my Impala and it really helped tightnen up the column while also making it spin smoother. I haven't tried it yet on an S-series, but they do appear to have the same lower bushing. Maybe some day when I get bored!

Steve
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huminajumina
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Re: How to? tighten tilt steering

Post by huminajumina »

I haven't taken my CrewCab column apart any further than the clock spring, but my old extended cab 91 used to do that all the time, to the point where you could wiggle the wheel up and down, I would assume with the newer one it would be the same 3 torx screws but your probably going to have to get past the airbag and clock spring, which isn't a big deal but be careful and take your time. with the old truck, you could reach 2 of the 3 with out taking any of your turnsignal switches and stuff out, which was good enough for me....
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AVTekk
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Re: How to? tighten tilt steering

Post by AVTekk »

The tilt is a nightmare to take apart, very time consuming indeed. I've never done a newer one either but quite a few older ones that are know to get super loose with age.