Hi All,

I dont know if this info is available anywhere here so here goes...

I tore down my steering column and found the lower knuckle broken into 3 pieces. So Armed with a picture of one I found on Ebay, I went to the local pull-a-part. I learned two things:

1) The lower knuckle is for the 1984-1989 is basically the same as the 1997 Bonneville lower knuckle and the bonneville knuckle usually isnt too worn so its a good option. This is compared to the photo I had.
2) Someone changed the column in my 84 to the later column.

Sooooo- back to the yard.

I hunted around and found the 1995 camaro knuckle is nearly the same as the 90-96 corvette knuckle. There are 2 small differences which dont seem to hurt anything. (see the picture)

1) the camaro knuckle has an extra pin in the upper portion for holding the tilt position- MAYBE this canbe left as is, but I simply drove out the extra one.

2) on the corvette knuckle, there is a bumper that is flat.. on the camaro knuckle, it has about a 45 degree angle to it. I didnt do anything to change this and notice no difference in the operation.

I used the camaro lower knuckle and pins- The upper portion looks very similar with a slight difference at the very top (Were the spring sits). It looks like it could be easily modified to work. I chose to use my current upper knuckle so I didnt have to pull the wiring out of the column.

So for $19.00 I was able to repair my tilt column and couldnt be happier. I hope this info helps someone.

 

Thanks for the post.

 

Great info and thanks for posting. One of these days I'll do this fix.

 

Outstanding As our C4s age we'll be doing a lot more of these types of interchange.

 

I used tilt parts form a Caddy column. Even the early 90's fits my 86. Plenty of good used ones at pick-n-pull.

 

Good Info

 

The two (2) plastic bumpers (at the top, rear of your picture) seem to be higher (bigger) on the Camaro knuckle.

Did you notice any difference there?

Did you have difficulty removing the pieces in the yard? I am pretty spoiled with working inside my garage.

This information is PRICELESS!

Thanks!

 

I didnt notice any difference, but then again, my original knuckle was broken into 3 pieces to start with. If you are worried about it, you could use a file or dremel to shave it down.

I actually lucked out in the yard- the Camaro coulmn was already half disassembled from someone else. so I just finished the job. cost me $19.00 to buy just the knuckle

When I took the bonneville column originally, the car was without engine so the steering shaft was already removed- I just removed the column from under the dash and bought the whole thing to disassemble at home. The entire column was only $33.00

 

Can I ask what, and how bad the symptoms were with the column BEFORE you tore it down?

Was it the "down and to the left" issue? or something worse?

Thanks for the post!

 

Honestly I didnt know about the down and to the left issue before I took it apart so dont know, but I can tell you the column was really loose feeling. I took it apart expecting to tighten some bolts....