GM Steering Column Repair - Clunk No More

1. Inside the steering column are wires that run to the airbag in the steering wheel. If you allow the steering wheel to turn too far, these wires can be damaged. Prior to starting the installation, either engage the steering-column lock (if so equipped) or use some means to prevent the steering wheel from moving much once the shaft is removed. We grabbed a motorcycle tie-down to strap the wheel to the brake pedals.

2. Under the hood, you'll find the lower end of the intermediate shaft and the one bolt (15mm head) that needs to be removed.

3. Under the dash is a second similar bolt that secures the top of the shaft. Remove it as well and pull the small U-joint yoke free of the upper steering shaft.

4. Pull the intermediate shaft assembly through the firewall, removing it from the truck.

5. The stock shaft uses a spline set to allow for length change. Ours had a little wobble play in the splines, which is probably what translated to the vibration we felt at the steering wheel.

6. Here is our Borgeson shaft ready for installation. We gave it a quick coat of paint to keep the bare metal surfaces from rusting. The stock hardware is reused to install the new shaft.

7. Slip the Borgeson shaft through the firewall boot from inside the cab. Then slide the U-joint yoke into the upper steering shaft. The union was snug, so we used a mallet to tap the other end of the shaft to get the joint to mate, and then reinstalled the factory bolt.

8. We mated the joint in the engine compartment and found it snug, too. We used a hammer and brass drift to tap the lower end of the sliding shaft from inside the cab to get the two shaft pieces fully seated.

9. With the lower bolt reinstalled, we finished up by torquing both bolts to 60 lb-ft per Borgeson's recommendation. You may need to turn the steering wheel at this point to have ready access to the underdash bolt. Job done!