Steering columns
 

I have a 91 suburban tilt column in my 83 rcsb C10. Well at the Pomona swap meet I got a 79 regular column to put in to get rid of the stalk with controls that are on my dash.

Well the keyed slider moves the opposite way on the early model vs the late one. The early one pulls the slider up, and the later pushes it down.

Did I do something wrong or is this how they operate?

Re: Steering columns
 

IIRC 1983 is an oddball orphan as far as the column goes. The dimmer is on the column in 1983 and not a floor button anymore. The wipers are on the dash in 1983.

If you intend to run a 1979-82 column in your truck then you'll need to wire in a dimmer button on the floor.

As long as the 1979 ignition switch down on the column tube plugs into the 1983 cab harness you should be good to go on the ignition.

Re: Steering columns
 

My 83 has the dimmer on the floor. So maybe it is a early build

Re: Steering columns
 

They did some odd stuff in 1983. Not impossible that it's an early vs late build thing.

Re: Steering columns
 

That's normal and the difference is due to the regular vs. tilt column (not the year).

It results in a different ignition switch being used for the regular vs. tilt column as well. They usually take the same connectors though, but you have to twist the wiring around a bit since the orientation of the connectors is flipped around.