Steering Column Woes...

[Wolfsnap]

HELP!

I have a 1982 Chevy Blazer K5, 6.2L. My steering column (tilt wheel, BTW) was getting loose (very), so I removed the wheel to get to the bolts to tighten them. I got to the bearing inside the column, and evidently the retaining ring had disintegrated - resulting in a driveway full of ball bearings that I'm sure are weighing down some birds now.

OK - get a new part....Nooooo - the dealership stated that that part was no longer available and to try the junk yards. I did, to no avail (not to mention that I'm not real sure I want to put in another 22 year-old part to watch IT disintegrate within the month!)

Does anyone have any suggestions or possible part resources (maybe the same part from a GM truck...?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Wolf

[Macgyver007]

HI Wolf
I had a similar problem on my Full Size Jimmy, THe upper steering colume, above the knuckle not only moved up and down but also Left and right. Yes it was a little scary to drive :-) I found a tilt colume from a 78 Chev in the boneyard. the GM parts and most others will tell you it does not fit because of the High beam dimmer is located on the floor but yours should be located in the colume. ( pull of the turn signal)
Well the long and the short of it,..... the plug in for the High beams have been wired the same for Years on the GM. when they moved the switch to the colume they just took the wiring and coiled it and attached it to the colume. THe nice part is the if you carefully remove the wire wraps you will find the extra coil of wire and it will extend nicely to the floor where you can buy a $5.00 floor mounted switch and attach with 2 screws. Its a long process but with mine I actually left the origional Jimmy Lower end in the vehicle and just used the top end from the boneyard truck. Took the best part of an afternoon but I used the top end off the boneyard truck and left the lower in place, they mated without a problem.
Hope this helps