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Cutting A Column

Discussion in 'Early CJ5 and CJ6 Tech' started by colojeepguy, May 3, 2020.

  1. colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    When I did the Saginaw swap on my CJ, I used a postal column and attached it to the floor like this.

    20200506_114648.jpg

    Thats just a piece of sheet metal with a chunk of 1 1/2 ID exhaust pipe welded to it.
     
  2. colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    That's what Warloch was referring to in his post above .
     
  3. Steve's 70-5

    Steve's 70-5 Active Member

    I am glad I put a aftermarket tilt column in, with power steering, went to a smaller steering wheel. The tilt has been nice, have not driven it yet but it does make it easier to climb in and out of. Turn signals and E flasher in the column too. Do not have to worry about turn signal cancellation when driving.
     
    bigbendhiker and colojeepguy like this.
  4. 71CJ54WD

    71CJ54WD Sponsor

    So the spline count on the speedway column and the stock steering wheel are not a match - but a hub that mates the wheel to the quick release does the trick?
     
  5. BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    I used the stock column and the Advanced Adapters kit. I drilled into the shaft for one of the two set screws and dimpled the shaft for the second. It works fine. I ended up not using the floor mount plate from the kit and used a clamp on bracket from Borgeson instead. This is the bracket that Herm includes in his conversion kits.



    I can't remember if it was the 2" clamp or a smaller one. They have multiple size options.

    https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/brg-909004

    Mike
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2020
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  6. colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    How did you retain the bushing in the column tube, and what keeps the steering shaft from moving up and down inside the tube?
     
  7. BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    The bushing is a press fit into the tube and very snug. You could drill and pin it with a small screw if you wanted, but I didn't bother. The steering shaft is held in place by the rest of the linkage to the gear box. Once you get everything bolted up, the shaft can't come out. I have 1/16 to 1/8 of play in mine if I pull up on it, but I also have a two traditional u-joints, and a double u-joint in my linkage to go around the motor mount and the headers. I had to use two carrier bearings for the intermediate steering shafts. You need a carrier bearing for every u-joint beyond the first two. If you can go direct from the steering column to the gear box with a single intermediate shaft, then you won't need any carrier bearings.

    This picture shows the column from the inside with the Borgeson clamp at the floor.


    Mike
     
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  8. BadGoat

    BadGoat How High Can You Climb?

    Also, in this picture you can see that I had to grind a very little bit off the column shaft to allow the bushing to slide over it. Once I got past the end, it fit just fine. It's tight, but the press fit into the column tube is much tighter. Once I had everything cut, drilled, and the bushing tapped into place, I could remove all the old paint and repaint the column.


    Mike
     
  9. Warloch

    Warloch Did you say Flattie??? Staff Member

    Doug - the post with the pic is the steering wheel end - on the setup I did the swap where we ground to the Double D, the bottom was much solid. I didn't look at it on the 3B as we were going to the Speedway Column.

    I would be willing to help you make an adapter if you want for the steering wheel to the speedway column. It might even work for an aftermarket column, but I would need to do some figuring on it.
     
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  10. 71CJ54WD

    71CJ54WD Sponsor

    If its something that doesn't get in the way for you too much - I would happily pay to have an adapter made to fit my stock wheel to a speedway column...im dreading the condition of all the little bits in my stock column...
     
  11. colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    I'll probably take you up on that :)
    I'll have to do some measuring to see how long a column i need, is the Speedway unit a cut to length part or do they come in different lengths?
     
  12. cayenne

    cayenne Member

    My first attempt at my Saginaw was to use the original column with the bushing from the AA kit. I had a heck of a time trying to figure out exactly where to cut the column. Then the bushing proceeded to crack in half when I tried to force it on the shaft after I thought I had ground it enough. I then decided to throw money and the problem and got a new column from flaming river....so much easier.
    I know this doesn’t help much other than to give you a warning that the bushing can and will crack.
     
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  13. Warloch

    Warloch Did you say Flattie??? Staff Member

    Take a look at the thread where I built the one. I don't have a mill that would make it real nice.

    I would need the top section off the old column shaft and the hub to mate it to.

    Oh - and the wheel so I could fit it so that it allows you to get to the bolts to remove it if needed.
     
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  14. Warloch

    Warloch Did you say Flattie??? Staff Member

    They come finished to length - you just need to figure what length you need for it.
     
    colojeepguy likes this.