Steering column swap and mod

[Frank S]

The knuckle of the tilt steering column on my 91 F250 decided it didn't want to stay where it belonged I never change the tilt on it but just normal driving had worn the pins holding it together and it had been getting to the point where the steering wheel moved from side to side enough that it made it hard to turn the key to start it even. The movement also effected the turn signal switch sometimes it the lights would just start blinging for no reason, in other words unsafe at any speed. I checked into buying a replacement but the ones I could find were in the 400.00 to500.00 price range for junkyard pull outs no guarantee any of them would be much better than the one In my truck. SO, I decided to look in my own junkyard to see if something I had could be installed. I have a 93 Ford ranger I have been parting out. The column measured near enough to the same length the steering shaft matched the under dash mounting matched even the steering wheel looked to be the same as the one in the F250 some difference in the plastic cover Big deal. I pulled both of them out then I found the differences Both used the same ign switch set up and the plug on the wiring harness matched so that was a big plus. One difference was the ranger column was 1/2" shorter overall, that's no problem but the leaver for the automatic transmission gear selector was clocked on the opposite side and had a ball instead of a hole This had to be changed so here is what I did
First, I cut the main tube right where it swelled from one dimeter to the next slid it down out of my way then cut off the gear shift tube on both of them I did this instead of completely disassembling both columns since they are collapsible in the event of an accident to disassemble the outer tubes they have to be pulled apart and pressed back together which will damage them, by cutting them and welding one back together since I was not monkeying around with the steering shaft itself there was no steering safety risk involved