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Have column out but no way to clamp it in vise. I do have a press but, using just the lower mount as the support to push or hammer against doesn't seem like a good idea. Would standing the column up on a piece of carpet end up damaging the steering wheel? Searching didn't turn up answers related to this. Any ideas?
This is what I did the second time to collapse my column. The first time (in the car), I managed to damage the splines. I fixed those in the vise, too, using the Dremel.
Originally Posted by Bikespace
The first image shows how much steering column protrudes into the engine compartment. Try as I might, I could not get it to compress cleanly. There are a pair of plastic bits that need to be broken, then the column can be tapped in. Without pulling the engine (all of the videos I saw for this started with at least a pulled engine, sometimes just a bare frame!) I could not hit the end of the column hard enough to break the plastic bits. That didn't stop me from damaging the splines, though!
The second image shows what I ended up doing to compress the shaft. With the steering column in a vise (the weight is held by the 2x4s under the welded flange, not by crushing the column), I was able to wail on the shaft with a plastic hammer until it started compressing.
The third image shows some of the repairs to the rounded over/mushroomed part of the splines, fixed with a Dremel tool.
EDIT: Images don't attach for some reason. Check post 23 in this thread.
I found that post. I have a big vise the jaws don't hang over the end of work bench. I made a collar to support it on my press table.
End of day brain fart I guess.
Borgeson install.
