Steering column problem

[mikeb75]

Sooooo apparently I shortened the steering column by about 1" too much (after drilling lower mount holes on the frame). I shortened it by hitting the end with a mallet (as others have done) and was a touch too aggressive.

Anyone have any ideas on how to re-lengthen (un-shorten) the column?

thanks!

[wallace18]

I would put the coupler on the rack end of the column and tie down the steering wheel and use a come along to pull it out what you need. Not on the car of course. Mark it first so you can measure it correctly. JMO.

[Frank818]

I am in that situation as well, rori's column spacer does not take into account the entire length the column can be collapsed and mine is about 2/4-3/8" too much. I have not yet checked how to unshorten it, as we are working on fitting the VW engine in, but if I get before you, I'll let you know what we did.

[longislandwrx]

I had mentioned this in my brief how to, it's easy to go too far.

"put your block over the shaft and tap the inner sleeve into the outer sleeve. I stopped at 1.5" but you can go another half.
Tap the inner shaft down to the correct length, for me it was 30" Remember, its a lot easier to shorten it then pull it back out"

You should be able to pull it out with a 10lb slide hammer, if you cant get your hands on one I would bolt on the coupler, clamp that in a vice. drill a hole in a piece of steel and use the steering wheel nut to hold it in place and carefully tap the steel near the shaft to lengthen.

[STiPWRD]

I had mentioned this in my brief how to, it's easy to go too far.

"put your block over the shaft and tap the inner sleeve into the outer sleeve. I stopped at 1.5" but you can go another half.
Tap the inner shaft down to the correct length, for me it was 30" Remember, its a lot easier to shorten it then pull it back out"

You should be able to pull it out with a 10lb slide hammer, if you cant get your hands on one I would bolt on the coupler, clamp that in a vice. drill a hole in a piece of steel and use the steering wheel nut to hold it in place and carefully tap the steel near the shaft to lengthen.

That post was very helpful for me

[mikeb75]

Thanks to the suggestions above (especially wallace18) and the local pepboys I found 2 things to expand the column:

1) put a few hose clamps on the sleeve and work it with a mini-sledge. Doing that I was able to get the lower sleeve back down easily, but the inner shaft didn't move as far


2) set up some really kinky isht... -er, no. I used a couple of ratchet straps around the wheel (actually the boss) and the coupler and I was able to pull the inner shaft out easily (after) the outer shaft was back down.


thanks all for the suggestions!