Has anybody torn apart a Flaming River steering column?

[Joyridin]

I have a Flaming River column in my 68 C10. The thing rattles from what I am guessing is the shifter sleeve. If you hold the shifter a certain way, it almost stops rattling. It is driving me nuts.

I have seem videos on how to disassemble the tilt mechanism, but I was looking at the bottom section. It has a bushing from what I am being told and the steering shaft flops around at least .05". I want to try and put a bearing int here instead of their cheap bushing to tighten up the steering and hopefully stop it from rattling.

[RustyPile]

Originally Posted by Joyridin

I have a Flaming River column in my 68 C10. The thing rattles from what I am guessing is the shifter sleeve. If you hold the shifter a certain way, it almost stops rattling. It is driving me nuts.

I have seem videos on how to disassemble the tilt mechanism, but I was looking at the bottom section. It has a bushing from what I am being told and the steering shaft flops around at least .05". I want to try and put a bearing int here instead of their cheap bushing to tighten up the steering and hopefully stop it from rattling.

I've had mine apart. It uses standard GM tilt mechanism pieces. The lower bushing, like yours, is a plastic piece. I replaced the plastic bushing with a machined brass sleeve.. It has a shoulder on the OD that keeps the bushing from going too deep into the column. I drilled and tapped 3 evenly spaced holes in the OD of the bushing.. I drilled matching holes in the column. Used 8-32 stainless pan head allen bolts to hold the bushing in place.. I use Lubri-Plate white grease for lubrication.. No rattling or sloppiness now...

[EDIT] My column is a floor shift model.. Yours may be different..

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by RustyPile

I've had mine apart. It uses standard GM tilt mechanism pieces. The lower bushing, like yours, is a plastic piece. I replaced the plastic bushing with a machined brass sleeve.. It has a shoulder on the OD that keeps the bushing from going too deep into the column. I drilled and tapped 3 evenly spaced holes in the OD of the bushing.. I drilled matching holes in the column. Used 8-32 stainless pan head allen bolts to hold the bushing in place.. I use Lubri-Plate white grease for lubrication.. No rattling or sloppiness now...

[EDIT] My column is a floor shift model.. Yours may be different..

Thanks! I assume since you went with a bushing there was not enough room for a bearing?

[Grounded63]

The thing with a bearing is. The OD of the shaft and ID of the column probably doesn't match a off the shelf bearing. So you'd probably need to machine a custom end plate for the housing. To accept a bearing. With such a low speed application as a steering shaft. A properly fit bronze bushing is a lot simpler and would probably last almost indefinitely.

[RustyPile]

/\ /\ /\ /\ What he said....

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by Grounded63

The thing with a bearing is. The OD of the shaft and ID of the column probably doesn't match a off the shelf bearing. So you'd probably need to machine a custom end plate for the housing. To accept a bearing. With such a low speed application as a steering shaft. A properly fit bronze bushing is a lot simpler and would probably last almost indefinitely.

Good point. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry if it got a little wet for some reason.

[Sheepdip]

My Flaming River Experience:

When I built my 49 Chevy pickup I opted for the Flaming River tilt column and it worked fine for about 5 years before it started rattling and getting looser and looser at the tilt section, really no miles on it as the truck today at 20 plus years later still only has about 18k miles on it.

I contacted Flaming River and spoke to a rep who asked me to ship it to them for repair, which I did. They contacted me telling me it needed a total rebuild and wasn't under warranty and would be $170 to repair it.

I got the column back and installed it and the problem was still there!! I called the rep and his answer was "Ship it back to us" I already had $70 to ship it, $170 to supposedly fix it and they banged me for $90 shipping back to me! I could have almost bought a new column... which I did. After a few choice words over the phone to a guy who could care less, and you bet your paycheck it was not a Flaming River.

Replaced it with one of Summits and it has been trouble free for many moons now.

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

My Flaming River Experience:

When I built my 49 Chevy pickup I opted for the Flaming River tilt column and it worked fine for about 5 years before it started rattling and getting looser and looser at the tilt section, really no miles on it as the truck today at 20 plus years later still only has about 18k miles on it.

I contacted Flaming River and spoke to a rep who asked me to ship it to them for repair, which I did. They contacted me telling me it needed a total rebuild and wasn't under warranty and would be $170 to repair it.

I got the column back and installed it and the problem was still there!! I called the rep and his answer was "Ship it back to us" I already had $70 to ship it, $170 to supposedly fix it and they banged me for $90 shipping back to me! I could have almost bought a new column... which I did. After a few choice words over the phone to a guy who could care less, and you bet your paycheck it was not a Flaming River.

Replaced it with one of Summits and it has been trouble free for many moons now.

I live about 5 miles away from their facility, and they are a customer of mine, although they do not know it. I have been in their facility many times. I picked my column up from their front office. I installed it and it smoked the main feed wire. When the turn signal switch was installed, they ran a screw through one of the wires. When you used the turn signals, it was a direct feed to ground. I called and they argued that I hooked up the wires wrong. I guess I didn't understand how to plug the wiring plug into my factory wiring. They wanted to charge me $51 for the harness, and $100 to replace it. I hadn't even driven the truck yet. I wired it myself.

[RustyPile]

After reading the additional posts following my initial post, I feel the need to make another post. I am in no way defending Flaming River. On the contrary, I'm just giving testimony to the (lack of) quality of their product..

I bought my '71 in 2017 in non-running condition.. It took me about 2 years to get it road worthy. The Flaming River column was installed by some previous owner. The plug on the adaptor harness didn't quite match the harness in the column, so I installed a replacement T/S switch. I didn't like the way the FR lower steering shaft connected to the factory upper shaft coupler.. I eliminated that coupler, installed the afore mentioned bushing, and joined the 2 shafts with a Bergeson U-Joint coupler.

Most of the aftermarket tilt columns start with a GM column and then "Mickey Mouse" it into a universal - fit-all - configuration. Looking back, If I were looking to install a tilt column, I think I would "raid" an original GM column from the local Pick A Part yard.. Recondition it myself and fabricate the necessary bracketry to mount it.