Steering column interchangeability

[MoparDan]

The Cherry Bomb's steering column is loose...what year Ms will interchange? The plugs and such

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Link: Steering Coloumn interchange

If you want a plug and play option, where you don't have to swap over all your wiring, you'll probably need one from your year.

And how is the column loose?

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Not 100% sure on this, but I thought the F/M/J-body stuff was pretty much a like-for-like bolt-in, meaning: if you have a tilt column, you can pretty much replace with a tilt column from any other rides, same for straight stuff.

Electricals on the other hand are a tad different...things such as: does it have cornering lights?..come into play, etc...but that becomes a wiring/harness thing to sort through. Worst case, you strip the working electricals from what you have and toss that into the replacement/new column.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Not 100% sure on this, but I thought the F/M/J-body stuff was pretty much a like-for-like bolt-in, meaning: if you have a tilt column, you can pretty much replace with a tilt column from any other rides, same for straight stuff.

Electricals on the other hand are a tad different...things such as: does it have cornering lights?..come into play, etc...but that becomes a wiring/harness thing to sort through. Worst case, you strip the working electricals from what you have and toss that into the replacement/new column.

Some of the following is reconstructed from police and insurance reports: My car is a previously stolen car. The thieves badly broke the column, drove around the corner and ditched the car when they couldn't steer it anymore. Apparently, it would only make left turns. A previous owner had the column replaced by a shop. They charged him over $900 to install what I think is a Volare non tilt column.

The car had cruise control from the factory. I have no cruise control stalk now. Also, my wipers work, but my windshield washer sprayer doesn't. I have the wrong wiring and the wrong column. I think someone tried to swap some of the wiring over but didn't understand that the switches are different.

However, mechanically the column is fine and is a joy to drive with manual steering. I've long suspected that you can make almost any column work if you know how to weld. You just need the right overall length and a steering coupler.

 

[Camtron]

I haven’t done much digging for part numbers yet, but there should be some crossover between GM and Mopar columns to some degree. It’s all Saginaw steering parts, differences being things like, GM using u-joints and Chrysler using rag joints, ect…with some research and measuring, shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something to replace or repair.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

...The car had cruise control from the factory. I have no cruise control stalk now. Also, my wipers work, but my windshield washer sprayer doesn't. I have the wrong wiring and the wrong column. I think someone tried to swap some of the wiring over but didn't understand that the switches are different...

So do you need the wiring schematics to trace through it all and sort it out?

I have my 1980 stuff here that I'll happily scan for you...if that helps???

 

[MoparDan]

Not 100% sure on this, but I thought the F/M/J-body stuff was pretty much a like-for-like bolt-in, meaning: if you have a tilt column, you can pretty much replace with a tilt column from any other rides, same for straight stuff.

Electricals on the other hand are a tad different...things such as: does it have cornering lights?..come into play, etc...but that becomes a wiring/harness thing to sort through. Worst case, you strip the working electricals from what you have and toss that into the replacement/new column.

I meant to also say tilt steering column, with intermediate wipers, but no factory cruise control, a "Sears Autocruise" cruise control was added early on and the wires are spliced in different spots, not something I'm looking forward to going through

 

[MoparDan]

However, mechanically the column is fine and is a joy to drive with manual steering. I've long suspected that you can make almost any column work if you know how to weld. You just need the right overall length and a steering coupler.

I haven't had power steering in a few years, not fun in parking lots...I can't wait to get a new steering box....

 

[AMC Diplomat]

So do you need the wiring schematics to trace through it all and sort it out?

I have my 1980 stuff here that I'll happily scan for you...if that helps???

I need an 87 column. I'm not motivated to rewire the existing one.