Steering wheel loose! (UPDATE)

[Disturban]

My steering wheel is loose in my Suburban and I can wiggle it side to side and up and down. It is loose at the joint where it tilts. What causes this? Is it a worn out part or do I need to get in there and tighten something up? Is it dangerous...will my wheel come off driving down the road someday? I think my wife did it by pulling herself up into my truck holding onto the steering wheel every time she drives it? It use to have just a little bit of play but nothing like it is now...it has a good 4 inches of slop!

[Eroq]

sounds like mine

[Disturban]

sounds like mine

My wife or steering wheel?

[Eroq]

sounds like mine

My wife or steering wheel?

both!

[TBigLug]

Get a hold of toughbowtietruck. He gave a rundown in another post somewhere about how to fix that.

[Disturban]

Get a hold of toughbowtietruck. He gave a rundown in another post somewhere about how to fix that.

Alright...thanks.

[Disturban]

Thanks for the info...do I need the steering wheel retaining ring tool to disassemble it enough to get to those three bolts?

[catfish]

dont no about the older burbs but i got my k1500 stering weel of a cuple times  with out the retaing tool just need to be deturmund

[91 k1500]

there are 4 bolts and it is best to get them out and lock tight them or it will come lose again! had to do this on my 91 1500.

there is a steering wheel removale kit that has all the pullers/holders it takes to tear the columb down enough to get to all the screws. I will try and take a pic of the kit when I get home.

[mudbrat71]

Thanks for the info...do I need the steering wheel retaining ring tool to disassemble it enough to get to those three bolts?

autozone loan a tool but u will need a e8 1/4 drive  socket and  6in extention for bolts brite light bracket can be pain to get lined up on reassemble  i get $60 to do them take about 1hr

[tbsdontstop]

Heres a write up that I have saved for my s10
You Will Need


Special Tools Required



Steering Wheel Puller



$10.00, but a harmonic balancer puller will also work

Don't attempt to pound the wheel off, you could damage the steering column.


Locking Plate Remover



$15.00, available from autoparts store.


Pivot Pin Removal Tool



GM part J21854-01 (not sure about availability from autoparts store)



Procedure

1.

Remove steering wheel, this would be a good time to disconnect the battery as well.

2.

Pry off plastic cover

3.

Remove lock plate. With the tool this is easy. The tool compresses the lock plate against it's spring so that you can get the retaining ring off. It is possible to take this off with C-Clamps, Large Channel locks, etc. Can be very difficult to put back together with these tools. (I did it both without and with the tool, trust me it is $15 well spent)

4.

Remove philips screw that holds small piece of metal that connects to turn signal stalk.

5.

Remove 3 screws that hold turn signal switch assembly in place.

6.

Unhook wiring harness to turn signals. This is located under the dash attached to the base of the steering column.

7.

Next you will need to loosen the mounting bracket that holds the steering column to the dash and then remove at least two of the bolts that hold the bracket to the column so that you can thread the wiring harness up to allow the housing to be removed latter.

8.

You will see a switch with two long copper pieces coming over the top of the ignition lock. Put the key in and turn to the on position. Pull the switch out with a pair of pliers. A small clip should also come out. Note the way all of this is oriented so that you can put it back later.

9.

Remove small torx screw to release lock cylinder, pull the lock out.

10.

Remove three large torx bolts (#30 I believe)

11.

At this point you are ready to pull the housing off. As you pull it out a small plastic piece will fall out on the left (driver's) side. This is for the dimmer switch.

12.

Also some of the parts for the upper bearing will come out. Note the orientation for later assembly.

13.

Below the shaft you will see a retainer for a large spring that is inside the tilt assembly. (About 1/2" in diameter with a large square hole) Use a large screwdriver to depress this enough to turn 1/4 turn counter clockwise. Remove spring assembly.

14.

Now you are ready to pull the pivot pins out. There are two of them going in the sides at about the 3:00 and 9:00 positions. They are about 3/8" in diameter and have a small hole threaded in the middle (#10-32 I believe) I managed to break off a bolt in one of these which required that I pull the entire steering column out to get the bolt drilled out so be careful. The GM tool looks like this:

| | | |<-----------threaded rod | | |="===|" <------- nut ____________ | | | |<------ semi circle housing | || | | || | || ||<--------threads into pivot pin To use this you thread it into the pivot pin. Make sure that the housing is solidly against the column, not interfering with the pivot pin. Tighten the nut down while holding the threaded rod still to pull the pivot pin out.

The tool that I first tried to make was similar to the above using a bolt and a socket. I do not know what went wrong exactly but I broke the bolt off inside the pivot pin.

The guy that drilled out the bolt said that you can pull the pins by threading a bolt in and prying up with a pair of pliers.

For what it is worth the guy I borrowed the GM tool from said that sometimes that tool breaks as well.

15.

Pull the tilt adjust arm back and tilt the column up as far as it will go.

16.

Examine the mechanism that is used to activate the ignition switch. Study all of the carefully because if the next step doesn't go just right you will need to reassemble this.

17.

Tilt column housing up and then to the right. What you are trying to do by rotating to the right is to get the rod that come up from the ignition switch (located on the side of the column) to the actuator rack that move back and forth when the key is turned.

18.

Pull the housing off. If you were successful in getting the switch to release from the rod above great! If not you will need to reassemble the switch mechanism - No big deal There is a metal spring clip about 3/4" long that applies pressure to the piece that slides back and forth. It goes in with the flatter part at the top. Turn the gear as far clockwise as possible. Thread the actuator rack in from the bottom until it engages the gear.

19.

Now you can see the four bolts that you are after! They look like torx bits. I was able to get on them using a 6 point 1/4" socket. Someone else had said that they used a 5/16" 12 point although I believe that they must have meant 3/16".

20.

Reassembly is pretty much the reverse of the disassembly process. A few tips:

To get tilt hosing back on pull back on tilt lever to release the locking shoes. Place over the shaft and tilt to the left to try to engage the rod to the ignition switch. Then pivot downward until holes line up for the pivot pins. Verify that the switch is working. Don't forget that the transmission has to be in park to have the full range of motion.

Drive the pivot pins in with a hammer.

The plastic piece for the headlight dimmer pushes down on a rod. Only one way it will fit.

[mudbrat71]

YA THAT 1/4 IN SOCKET IS A E8 STANDS FOR ENVERTED TORQ 8MM  CAN BE DONE WITH OUT SPEACAL GM TOOL

[tbsdontstop]

YA THAT 1/4 IN SOCKET IS A E8 STANDS FOR ENVERTED TORQ 8MM  CAN BE DONE WITH OUT SPEACAL GM TOOL

I did not know that Its a write up that I saved so that if I need to do it I will have something to refer to if I cant figure it out.

[Disturban]

I need a new blinker/windshield wiper switch anyway...I might just buy a whole new steering wheel column on ebay! It looks alot easier to change the whole thing!

[mudbrat71]

what year i have a few

[Disturban]

It is an old style 88 suburban, I think I would need an 87 column? Also needs tilt, cruise and delay wipers. 

[Disturban]

Alright I tore it all down today only to find out the bolts are tight 

So I guess it is the bearing? How hard is it to change that? How much would I expect to pay a dealer or shop to do it because looking at a mechanical drawing of all the parts involved I dont feel real comfortable tearing it all apart and not getting it put back together right!

[tbsdontstop]

I would just get a column from the junkyard. My mom had the column rebuilt in her 87 a few years ago and it cost about 100.00 so its cheaper to go to the junkyard.

[Disturban]

I would just get a column from the junkyard. My mom had the column rebuilt in her 87 a few years ago and it cost about 100.00 so its cheaper to go to the junkyard.

I was told yesterday $100 for a column from a local junk yard...might be buying the same problem. Found a friend of a friend who is a GM tech and he looked at it and said it was a bearing and will fix it and lock tight those bolts for $100.

[TBigLug]

At least that way, you'll still have your old column that you know the other internals are good. Nothing worse than spending $100 on a new column and then having to spend another $100 because that one has the same problems!