Loose steering column help

[AJ88]

How do I fix this? It's loose up and down. Can I tighten it up? It moves a lot vertically bot not side to side. It does have tilt if that helps and it just started happening recently. Thanks.

 

[V8 Rumble]

This is common on the tilt wheels. This should help http://www.buickperformance.com/tiltste ... wobble.htm

 

[AJ88]

Wow. Thanks. Looks like a huge pain in the *ss job. Is it dangerous at all to just leave it and drive it loose?

 

[85GPLef41]

Wow. Thanks. Looks like a huge pain in the *ss job. Is it dangerous at all to just leave it and drive it loose?

it took a twelve pack and some improvised tools to rebuild my GP's steering column.When i rebuilt mine i made sure to use some red loctite to prevent them from loosening up again. I would hate to have a accident and have them pin it all on my loose steering column....... :? Ship it to me and i can rebuild it for you for a reasonable price... 😀

 

[beermonkey9417]

mine was loose when i bought it and it turned out to be 2 nuts under the dash that held the column up.

 

[azmalibuwagon]

Wow. Thanks. Looks like a huge pain in the *ss job. Is it dangerous at all to just leave it and drive it loose?

I did mine without taking the column out of the car and without any special tools, and it WAS a PITA, but worth it. Like 85GP said, use loctite, because you don't want to have to do it again.

It's potentially dangerous - one of the screws could back out enough to lock the steering wheel, which would no doubt happen on a curvy mountain road.

 

[rustyroger]

The tilt column on my '79 Century worked loose, I removed the steering wheel and tightened the screws with a ball ended allen key. I didnt use thread locker, just tightened them up and they never came loose again. Took me an hour from start to finish.

Roger.

 

[Dave V]

The tilt column on my '79 Century worked loose, I removed the steering wheel and tightened the screws with a ball ended allen key. I didnt use thread locker, just tightened them up and they never came loose again. Took me an hour from start to finish.

Roger.

where are these allen keys if all that is involved is taking the wheel off that sounds simple....

 

[67rstbkt]

The tilt column on my '79 Century worked loose, I removed the steering wheel and tightened the screws with a ball ended allen key. I didnt use thread locker, just tightened them up and they never came loose again. Took me an hour from start to finish.

Roger.

where are these allen keys if all that is involved is taking the wheel off that sounds simple....

It's more than just the steering wheel. You need to remove the steering wheel, turn signal switch, and ignition switch (I think). A steering wheel puller and a tool to compress the retainer plate (a tool is available just for this job, I forgot what it's called).

 

[Longroof79]

Here's a very informative how-to article. http://www.fieros.de/en/articles/steering.html
I know it's for a Pontiac Fiero, but the procedure and parts are the same.
It's helped me rejuvenate mine.

* Where in Bklyn are you?