Damn you GM tilt column!

[peglegfury]

So I finally bought a new to me trail rig project on Wednesday, an '85 GMC suburban that had been lurking on CL for months.
Anyway I start digging into the column today to fix the notorious floppiness of them and address the lack of spring tnesion in the shifter. Searched all over for a Pivot Pin Remover to no avail this morning so I went home and just started ripping it apart til I can order it. Got to the pivot pins and decided to call around for the tool. O'riellys in south Loveland had one so I immediately went out and got it. Came back and it worked like a charm. First pin came out nicely. I go to take the second one out and "Pop!" The remover broke off in side. Tried drilling it out and nothing. Tried to tap the little space there was open and the tap broke. WTF!!!!!!! I didnt know I was so strong and now im really bloody perturbed.
Never get the Pivot Pin Remover from O'rielly's!

Well I'm going to call my uncle tomorrow and see if he has a 120v welder that he can bring down to tack a bolt to the pin and pull it out that way. But until then I have a tray full of column components taking up space. On to addressing some other to-do's in the meantime.

[Jim]

Bummer.

How difficult is it to remove the whole column to work on it out of vehicle?

The YJ's column comes out in under 20 minutes. Wire connectors. Three firewall bolts. One connection bolt in engine bay. Two large dash bolts. Slip out. My prior tilt column was floppy - the column housing was broken so I replaced the whole thing. Could yours be broken (thus you'd likely be removing it anyway)?



0.02

Good luck with it.

[Swank1975]

That sucks. Good luck with this.

[peglegfury]

Im hoping the whole things not broken.....Typically its just 4 bolts that work their way loose. Some Locktite did the trick on my old Jimmy. I could go with a salvaged column but chances are it'll have the same problem anyway because it is just that common of an issue and I'm really trying to keep costs low I'd rather the $$$ go to the lift and tires.