There seems to be a common problem with tilt steering wheels in F-Body cars, and it was VERY noticeable in my 2001 Firebird convertible. Any time I pulled downward on the steering wheel, it moved down and to the left about an inch or more. Very distracting while driving.

Upon removal of the airbag, steering wheel, airbag coil, lockplate, turn signal switch and upper housing, I could see the left tilt pivot-pin was VERY loose and wobbling around when I pulled the wheel downward (see included video). The pivot pin was partially coming out of the bore in the outer housing and I was able to remove it by hand while moving the wheel. I found the bore in the outer housing was badly-worn by the shoulder on the pivot pin on the forward and backward sides... the top and bottom seemed original.

I didn't want to remove the steering column to re-drill the outer housing bore and have a custom oversize pivot pin made by a machine shop, so I came up with an alternate plan. I know Haibeck makes an oversize pin but it is only about .003" oversize on the larger diameter part and I didn't know if it would work in my case since my bore was so worn. The smaller diameter part of the Haibeck pin is about .005" oversize so it might be good for a case where the problem is slop in the inner-housing bore.

I drilled a 7/64" hole right by the pivot pin bore and bought a 6-32 x 1/4" self-tapping machine screw at the hardware store. I used a Ryobi 11" flexible drill extension so I could drill the hole at 90 degrees to the housing (the proximity of the dashboard prevented use of the drill motor directly). I chose a screw with 1/4" hex-head and built-in washer or flange. The hex head allowed me to use a 1/4" socket to drive the screw which was better than a screwdriver due to the proximity and curve of the dashboard. The hole for the screw must be close enough to the pivot pin bore so that the flange of the 6-32 screw overlaps the pivot pin head.... this will ensure that the pivot pin cannot back out of the bore again.

I put some Lubriplate grease into the smaller bore in the inner housing to lubricate the smaller part of the pivot pin, being careful to not get it on the bore of the outer housing, then carefully cleaned the bore in the outer housing with solvent. I carefully put a small amount of 4400 Lb tensile-strength epoxy into the bore of the outer housing (to try and fill the worn-out areas in the bore) and put a thin layer of epoxy on the larger-diameter part of the pivot pin. I then drove the pivot pin into the bore using a brass drift until the shoulder was fully-seated. Then I screwed the 6-32 retaining screw in so that the flange of the screw was tight against the outer housing. Just in case the flange of the screw was not totally tight against the head of the pivot pin, I put a dab of epoxy around the flange of the screw so it would fill any possible gap.

The steering wheel is now totally tight.... no wobble at all. The only drawback to this method is that the pivot pin will be extremely hard to remove in the future, should that be necessary. If you don't want to make it so permanent, I suspect that just driving the pivot pin in tightly and installing the retaining screw might just work fine, with just the dab of epoxy over the flange of the screw on the head of the pivot pin. I just wanted to be sure I didn't have to mess with the problem again. If I DO have to remove the pin later, I will probably have to remove the column and drill it out then install an oversize pin.

I have added photos to clarify this procedure. In the last (closeup) photo of the finished repair you can see that the factory attempted to keep the pivot pins in place by "staking" the housing in a couple of places...... a VERY poor way to do it, and probably the cause of a lot of our problems with these tilt-columns!

I hope someone finds this of help! Nick

I am moving the steering wheel down and up while taking this video. If your left pivot pin moves around like this when you move your wheel, this fix may be for you.

 

AWESOME WRITE UP.

I have this same issue. one day when i'm all growed up, i'll get around to fixing it.

thanks again

 

I like this idea, I may try it in the future. But I don't think it will fix everyone's problem as my issue along with many others is that the inner housing hole gets worn and the hole becomes "egg" shaped and it looks like this fix only keeps the pin from coming out.

 

True enough..... there ARE other causes and fixes for tilt-steering wheel "wobble" To check for this particular problem, get to where you can see the head of the left pivot pin and move the wheel down and up while watching it. If the head of the pin is not flush with the outer housing surface, and the pin wiggles around while you move the wheel then this fix just may work for you. I have a video of me doing this but didn't know how (or if) I can attach it to this post.
Nick

 

You can upload it on youtube then add the link to your post.

 

Thanks! I'll go find out how to upload it on Youtube.........

Nick

 

For those of you with third gen cars there is a very nice write-up over on TGO detailing this on those cars as well.

 

bringing back old thread. but mine does this so bad, i will fix. is the steering column easy to get off? will i explode the air bag in my face?

 

Rebuilding the column isn't something you do unless you're good with your hands and can follow directions well. You need special tools and there's alot that can go wrong.

 

im not going to rebuild the column, just fix the issue with the pin the same way as this fellow did

 

And it's obvious that this job is over your skill set. Let someone else do it for you so you don't get seriously injured by the tilt spring.

 

I bought the oversized pin from Unbalanced Engineering. Do you need to remove the wheel to get to the pivot pin?

 

I just did the swap, and only removed the gauge bezel, and the tilt lever, which then allowed me to pry off the plastic piece under the tilt. I screwed in a M4 bolt, grabbed it with pliers, and pulled while wiggling the wheel and it came right now.

Put the new pin in place, and started tapping on it with a small mallet until I was able to drive it all the way in. What a dramatic difference. I can't wait to drive the car now to see if the wheel is as tight as I think it will be.

I've chased this for a few years now. The roads here in PA are bad, and with every bump, the wheel would shake. Fall of 2018, I rebuilt the entire front end with MOOG bushings and swapped out my STRANO springs for my factory in hopes of a tighter, smoother ride. I've gotten spoiled with the smoothness of my Mercedes coupe, so was after something similar. I also replaced the steering column bearing that's in the engine bay, since I could shake the column and see it move.

All along it was that stupid pin. $19 and ten minutes later, and it's tighter than factory.

 

I'm glad it worked out to be an "easy" fix. Just ordered one pin from Unbalanced. Would it have been nicer to have ordered both pins or is one plenty?

 

Link to part:

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/


seems the drive side is the one that gets worn from driver getting in and out of car using the steering wheel as a spot to put your weight on to stand up.

I ordered 1 pin hoping to fix / find it an easy repair.

 

I just completed the pin replaced and rag joint eliminator the pin replacement is a real pain in the as*.. but man is it work it!! The Z28 steers like a sports car should nice and tight.

 

Thanx for this part locator.

 

I have seen other posts stating it can't be done without removing the steering wheel. Do you think it's pretty doable the way you did it by just removing the gauge bezel and tilt lever? Is that plastic piece covering the tilt pin movable without breaking anything?

I'd really like to attempt this but don't want to have to remove the steering wheel.

 

I just the job. 2 philips screws at the top of the knee panel need to be removed for extra space. Took gauge bezel off. Had to unscrew the metal clip on the back left side of the of bezel for clearance. Then take pry tool the the bottom side of the tilt lever cover. Rotate the tilt lever cover will give you room to get to pin. I used a metal split pry driver to get behind the pin and pull out since it was lose already. Tap the new one in and be done.

 

I worry I'll develop this problem in my 2000.

My 1991 had the same issue, but there was some egg shapes going on and the entire tilt collar had to be swapped out to fix it.

It was a bitch!

Biebs -- I think you're right. I try to NEVER use the wheel to get out. At 250, the wheel does not need me leaning on it!