'74 Steering Wheel Won't Lock
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 16
Likes: 7
'74 Steering Wheel Won't Lock
The pin that slides into the slotted wheel isn't long enough so the steering wheel won't lock. Tried to pull the pin out but it only moves about 1/16 inch.....What's a guy to do?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 2,327
Likes: 721
From: Marietta GA
You don’t indicate if your steering column is tilt/tel? I have a 73 with tilt/tel and the locking pin stop working. I had previously installed a new directional signal board and the steering wheel lock worked for a year or so, then just quit! I didn’t have to think very long about diving back into the steering column to fix the problem. Six months ago the
“Knuckle” for the tilt went south, (the whole column was flopping like a broken arm). I am old and wise enough to know this repair was beyond my expertise. I could visualize having my car towed somewhere, because the steering column was not operational. I took the car to a guy that only repairs steering columns, it took him about 30 minutes, I believe a set of bearings in the column had worn out (there were a few tiny ***** on my carpet) when I returned home. He did not mention the locking mechanism needing repair, but it works every time, my uneducated guess is the locking mechanism became inoperative, because of the “Knuckle” problem. If you have good technical skills, read Jim Shea’s papers on repairs to Saginaw (GM) Steering Columns, he worked for them and his papers are the Holy Grail of Steering Columns made by Saginaw. I hope this helps.
“Knuckle” for the tilt went south, (the whole column was flopping like a broken arm). I am old and wise enough to know this repair was beyond my expertise. I could visualize having my car towed somewhere, because the steering column was not operational. I took the car to a guy that only repairs steering columns, it took him about 30 minutes, I believe a set of bearings in the column had worn out (there were a few tiny ***** on my carpet) when I returned home. He did not mention the locking mechanism needing repair, but it works every time, my uneducated guess is the locking mechanism became inoperative, because of the “Knuckle” problem. If you have good technical skills, read Jim Shea’s papers on repairs to Saginaw (GM) Steering Columns, he worked for them and his papers are the Holy Grail of Steering Columns made by Saginaw. I hope this helps.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,815
Likes: 470
From: Wichita Kansas
At some point my tilt/tele wheel would not lock either, can't remember if it was after I had to do something to it or not. Anyway, I could not get it to work either, so with my temperature rising, I decided to make a new piece, the one that pokes up thru the lock wheel, with a longer nose on it. That solved my problem.
Cruising
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 12
Likes: 2
From: Catoosa,Ok
Tilt/tel steering
I grabbed the repair manual and YouTube and jumped in head first. After 2 days of sweating and cussing I found that somebody must had been in before me. The lock pin wouldn’t hit the locking ring because the lock ring wasn’t pushed back far enough to engage the pin. Also the horn is messed up because the plastic nut cover has turned to dust so gotta replace that. Thanks for the info…luckily I haven’t run into bearing problems but I’m sure it’s due…
