97 Jimmy Hazard - Stop lights switch intermittant

Well, the saga continues...........

My stop lights quit working last summer (which is obviously a bit of an issue), so I spent a frantic evening futzing with stuff trying to get it to work. I found that it is related to the hazard switch on top of the steering column. If I press on the side of the hazard switch the lights all work, if I leave it they are intermittant. I took it to the dealership and they said for $600 they'd replace some type of module, so I have a 1 cent piece of cardboard wedged in the side of the switch housing and it's been working fine for the last 8mo.
I did try some contact cleaner spray and engaging/disengaging the switch a lot, but that didn't seem to do much (I thought maybe there was a continuity issue).
I thought I'd pop off the column housing to see if I could eyeball it, but the housing doesn't want to come off without some serious work and tools it would seem.
Any ideas on taking the column cover off?? Could I access whatever switch is in there even then to clean any contacts?
I kinda like to have things working properly, the cardboard is lame but does the trick, I don't want to spend $600 either.

Thanks for all your suggestions!