steering column ????

[rbkt65]

my 71 dart came with 2 steering columns. both are column shift auto. 1 is shorter than the other and i suspect that it may have been dropped or whatever. i think that the shaft in the shaft may have been shoved in and it broke those 2 plastic pins. question i have is, will it hurt anything? can you pin it with roll pins or just let it go? tia. rick w.

 

[cudascott]

Maybe one column is for a manual steer and the other is power steer.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

align the hole in the two shafts and remove the plastic pin debris . put tape over one side then fill the hole with JB weld.

 

[rbkt65]

cudascott. they are both p/s. thanks steve. that sounds like a winner to me.

 

[CFD244]

align the hole in the two shafts and remove the plastic pin debris . put tape over one side then fill the hole with JB weld.

I'd be worried that the JB would be too strong to sheer in a collision the way the original plastic pin was designed to do. @dadsbee injects liquid plastic....To me that seems safer. Just my opinion.

 

['Cuda_ragtop]

If you put it back in your car, why would you need to pin it?
Both of the other ends are attached to fixed points, where is it going to go? "¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

 

[CFD244]

If you put it back in your car, why would you need to pin it?
Both of the other ends are attached to fixed points, where is it going to go? "¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

There is a fsm measurement as to how far the shaft goes down into the coupler. It is adjusted by the fore and aft slots in the column bracket. If they are left loose, the box end portion of the shaft could bottom out in the coupler.

 

[dadsbee]

Yep, bottom out OR it can work it's way too short again and the shaft pulls the rubber seal off the coupling.

As for the "JB" the Plastic Mender would be just fine, or Permatex Plastic Bonder.

 

[mopowers]

I ended up just pinning mine with some nylon screws from the hardware store. Probably not necessary, but it would've bugged me if I left it unpinned.