Steering wheel flexes
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,069
Likes: 74
From: Casselberry FL
Steering wheel flexes I'm familiar with the steering column wear which causes play in the column. I've tried using various methods to reduce that play. However, something else I noticed in the last few days is that a portion of the steering wheel seems ... flexible. With the steering wheel straight, if I exert pressure at approximately the 1-2'o'clock position, the steering wheel moves away from me without the column moving. There seems to be a lot of play where that portion of the 'ring' connects at the 4-5'o'clock part of the steering wheel. It's almost like something is broken inside the ring, but it does spring back when I stop exerting force. I notice that portion of the wheel behaves this way regardless of the steering wheel orientation.
Anyone seen this before?
Anyone seen this before?
The 2 normal places for the steering slop from the 4 bolts holding the lower housing on and the pivot pins wearing out. If its the 4 bolts are coming loose then it can have play in essentially any direction though there would not necessary be "spring back" force as the spring is only exerting force from the upper housing to the lower housing. If its the pins getting worn out I have only seen the steering wheel show slop if you were to pull back on the 1-2 o'clock position it would pull the steering wheel towards you while the 7-8 o'clock position pushes toward the front of the car.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ring"? Also can you clarify "without the column moving"? I've never seen play or flex between the upper housing and the steering wheel itself, has the upper column been taken apart before? maybe the lock rings on the shaft are not seated to the upper housing correctly.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ring"? Also can you clarify "without the column moving"? I've never seen play or flex between the upper housing and the steering wheel itself, has the upper column been taken apart before? maybe the lock rings on the shaft are not seated to the upper housing correctly.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,069
Likes: 74
From: Casselberry FL
Sorry for the poor description. By 'ring' I was referring to the unsupported section of the steering wheel between 8 and 5 o'clock. I took a video of it last night, maybe this will help. The upper column has been apart a few times trying to eliminate the slop, and also installed the oversized tilt steering pins part way down the page here, http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/. When the top of the steering wheel 'flexes' towards the dash, I cannot detect any motion in the column.
http://vid808.photobucket.com/albums...302_181719.mp4
http://vid808.photobucket.com/albums...302_181719.mp4
Video helped a lot! the pressing on the 7-8 o'clock position is definitely play in the tilt pins. I installed the over sized pins on both sides and replaced the upper housing, it helped but never fixed the problem. It sounds like you're in the same boat as I am with that part but wow the flex in your steering wheel is crazy! I can only assume the play is caused by broken steering wheel internal structure. Looks like to me the right side broke and is still being held together from the left side.
Last edited by Cpt.Derrek; Mar 3, 2016 at 01:08 PM.
My bad, I replaced the lower housing.... PN for the lower housing GM26016589 The lower housing is the part that wears out and gets and egg shaped hole. PITA to swap out though.
HAHA we were talking about this before https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...lumn-help.html
HAHA we were talking about this before https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...lumn-help.html
Last edited by Cpt.Derrek; Mar 3, 2016 at 04:46 PM.
My Firebird's 12 and 1 o'clock is solid on the wheel. There is no give at all. Was the car ever in a wreck? Has the wheel ever had a kinetic impact with a face, airbag, etc.?
A Firebird may also not be a good comparison because it has reinforcements/spokes much higher up on the wheel than the Camaro's.
A Firebird may also not be a good comparison because it has reinforcements/spokes much higher up on the wheel than the Camaro's.
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,069
Likes: 74
From: Casselberry FL
It's the car's second steering wheel. I had the original replaced back before the original factory warranty expired. Airbag has never deployed. Been in a couple minor rear-end accidents and one where I was sandwiched in a multi-car rear-end, but still mostly surface body damage.
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Verdad Gallardo Yea. Being in the City, I have lots of people who like to play bumper cars with me. If you have a car here, you are on a first name basis with your insurance agent and body guy...
Do you think the dealer could have given you a used wheel?
Do you think the dealer could have given you a used wheel?
Was the first one falling apart? I would think the core of the wheel would be a steel hoop, but haven't seen the insides of one. It would be real surprising if the thing broke...
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,069
Likes: 74
From: Casselberry FL
The first one seemed like the covering on the steering wheel (the locations where you grip the wheel) was getting tacky, melting, etc. I don't recall the steering wheel flexing like this immediately after putting in the pins a few months ago, and there hasn't been any accidents since then. A couple of tech's have needed to drive it for alignment/tire maintenance, but nothing else in that interim.
There's a shop nearby which specializes in salvage F-body parts, but in the past it was rare to see any steering wheels without the radio controls. I recall seeing the post about putting in a C5(C6?) steering wheel, but IIRC that was a little involved.
There's a shop nearby which specializes in salvage F-body parts, but in the past it was rare to see any steering wheels without the radio controls. I recall seeing the post about putting in a C5(C6?) steering wheel, but IIRC that was a little involved.
12 Second Club
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Bucks County, Pa.
^^^ Just install a great aftermarket racing wheel/hub (Momo, Sparco, OMP, Personal, etc.), and ALWAYS wear the factory 3 point seat belt on the street (if you're worried about not having an exploding whoopee cushion to save you). 
There are salvage operations like Cleveland Power & Performance that should be able to get a good one for you. You can always get a cheap temporary one off of eBay (they tend to look pretty bad) and have yours sent away for repair. (I would expect you could have it welded, recovered, etc.)
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,069
Likes: 74
From: Casselberry FL
The local shop only has button versions in stock. I don't really care if the buttons work, but will that model otherwise mount fine to my column without any modifications? I was looking at some non-stock photos, and something that bothers me is that there are typically spokes at the 9 & 3 positions, which is my preferred hand position.
My preference would be similar to my stock wheel where there aren't any spokes at 9&3, functional horn, both airbags work, and all factory steering column features still work. I'd like the wheel thickness to be about 1.5" for hand fitment
My preference would be similar to my stock wheel where there aren't any spokes at 9&3, functional horn, both airbags work, and all factory steering column features still work. I'd like the wheel thickness to be about 1.5" for hand fitment
It should fit just fine. We had another thread, recently, discussing how the GM column is pretty much common to all cars for the past decades and decades. I would expect you'd just have that annoyance factor.
If you are going to have the car for a long time and want the wheel perfect, you can find tons of specialty steering wheel restorers out there. It's a pricey investment, though - the kind of thing that you'd do only if you are going to keep the car. You might also be able to do it economically if you had a local upholstery company do your leather cover and then send the core to a restorer to get just the structure repaired.
If you are going to have the car for a long time and want the wheel perfect, you can find tons of specialty steering wheel restorers out there. It's a pricey investment, though - the kind of thing that you'd do only if you are going to keep the car. You might also be able to do it economically if you had a local upholstery company do your leather cover and then send the core to a restorer to get just the structure repaired.
If you still want to keep the stock wheel, I recall the restorers will weld that hoop back together.
