There's an old saying car painters like to use that says: "If nothing else, get the driver's door and the hood painted right." Obviously the reason to make these areas look nice is because they are always under the driver's nose. Move inside to the vehicle's interior and there's an area that's right in the driver's face: the dashboard. When it came time to upgrade the appearance of the Americruise truck's interior our motivation went a little beyond just cosmetic concerns. We needed to make the truck more functional, and comfortable as well. This is where the folks at ididit came in with their new bolt-in tilt-wheel steering column kit that includes an ignition switch built into the column, same as original steering columns that came in '73-87 Chevy and GMC trucks. Ditching the ugly GM stocker and popping in the ididit unit meant we could take care of a horn that didn't work, an ignition switch that was worn out, and be able to tilt the steering wheel to where we could view all of our Dakota Digital gauges without having to duck around the steering wheel rim. If one has never swapped out a steering column before it can be a little time-consuming, but that's what we are here for. Follow along as we swap out the steering column, change the steering wheel, plus install a new dashpad from Brothers all in a mere matter of hours. Note that ididit specifies their column fits '73-78 C10s, but our C10 is a '79 and it went right in. We advise researching fitment to later years, but feel confident there's a good chance the kit will fit some newer models as well.
The very first step, as with...
The very first step, as with any installation procedure that involves 12-volt current, was to disconnect the battery.
Things can't look much uglier...
Things can't look much uglier than this-not to mention nothing works. We removed the stock steering column with the stock steering wheel attached. This method saves time.
The stock column-shift linkage...
The stock column-shift linkage was disconnected by extracting this spring clip with needle-nose pliers and then dropping the shift linkage rod out of the way. It was left attached at the transmission end.
Next in line was to disconnect...
Next in line was to disconnect the wiring that connects the column to the main wiring harness by undoing this plug, located on the stock steering column.
We removed the stock steering...
We removed the stock steering shaft by disconnecting the rag joint, located (down in front) on the power steering box, and loosening the pinch-bolt on the clamp that attaches it to the stock steering column (up on top at the firewall) and then compressing the shaft (shorter) to remove it.
Next, this steering column...
Next, this steering column pinch clamp on the firewall had to be removed by using a 15mm socket on the two silver cad-plated Metric nuts. We reversed this step to install the ididit column.
At the base of the stock steering...
At the base of the stock steering column on the inside of the firewall there's a black sheetmetal access plate that must be removed (10mm socket) in order to remove the column.
The last step to removing...
The last step to removing the column was to remove the two nuts that retain this clamp located directly under the gauge cluster with a 15mm socket. This bracket must be reattached to the ididit column.
To install the Borgeson rag...
To install the Borgeson rag joint eliminator kit properly it was necessary to cut this extended tip, located on the steering box input shaft with a die grinder and then dress it with a file.
With the extended tip cut...
With the extended tip cut down, the Borgeson rag joint eliminator will slide completely into its correct position and the relieved area for the set screw will appear on the shaft as shown.
Do not reuse the four gold...
Do not reuse the four gold cad-plated Metric bolts from the stock GM column on the ididit steering column to reattach the stock bracket (shown in photo 8). ididit includes four new silver cad-plated SAE bolts that will screw right in.
To prevent scratching the...
To prevent scratching the ididit's beautiful chrome finish before positioning the ididit column into place we used a protective rag at the firewall opening.
A brass hammer worked well...
A brass hammer worked well to tap the stock bracket into position onto the ididit column. The four mounting bolts were easily run down by hand before using a wrench to tighten.
The ididit steering column...
The ididit steering column has an exact replacement plug to reconnect the truck's main wiring harness plug shown in photo number 4.
After test-fitting to make...
After test-fitting to make sure the 18-inch Borgeson double-D steering shaft included in ididit's kit was the right length (it was) we drilled a 5/16-inch hole in the end of the Borgeson double-D shaft to allow the set screw to run through the shaft. Note that only one hole should be drilled-not two-all the way through.
Loctite 242 was applied to...
Loctite 242 was applied to every set screw and lock nut.
Here's how the Borgeson double-D...
Here's how the Borgeson double-D steering shaft appeared after installation was completed. Note the expandable shaft has room to collapse if a front end impact occurs (God forbid).
To install the ididit tilt...
To install the ididit tilt steering column we reversed all of the steps necessary to remove the stock column. There's a trick to installing the ididit T-sig arm, we did it like this.
Installing the knobs and shift...
Installing the knobs and shift quadrant indicator, along with the horn wire was pretty straightforward and shouldn't present a problem for anyone with rudimentary DIY skills.
We used a leather-wrapped...
We used a leather-wrapped billet steering wheel from Zoops. It bolted right on and matched perfectly with the diameter of the ididit steering column.
Ididit includes all of the...
Ididit includes all of the wiring necessary to install their steering column into a '73-78 C10. A tiny Fillister blade screwdriver works great to release the wires from a GM plug.
Here's how ididit's wiring...
Here's how ididit's wiring adapter kit appeared after installation. Notice on our '79 the purple wire for the starter switch becomes yellow.
Ididit's wiring adapter kit...
Ididit's wiring adapter kit includes three relays so there aren't 70 amps of voltage running through the steering column ... sounds like a good idea.
The finishing touch to hide...
The finishing touch to hide all of the cracks in the Americruise truck's dashboard was a dashpad cover from Brothers, which took all of 20 seconds to install. Ever notice how sometimes it's the simple things that really make a big difference?