Steering Column Part 2

All of the parts arrived in the mail and they look good.  After removing the old steering column, I set it next to the new parts and they look pretty similar in form and function.  One concern I had immediately was that the steering u-joints looked larger than anticipated and that the overall length of the assembly looked long.  More on that later...

This is the upper dash mount.  Hats off to Ididit, Inc. for the polishing job on this thing.  I had to scratch it with my fingernail a few times and rub my greasy hands all over it to find the seam where it comes apart.  Made in USA baby!

 The holes in the new upper dash mount did not fit through the existing wiring bracket/sheet metal stiffener, so I had to bore out those holes slightly with a drill bit.

 

 

 The column fit into the cab neatly and exited the floor pan as planned, but the steering u-joints had a combined overall length that was too long to fit.  I searched the internet and found a CV style double u-joint assembly that had the correct end fittings and was approximately 2" shorter than these parts, so I ordered it.  The big u-joints are going back to Amazon in the morning...   

 

 Luckily, there are lots of other things to do while we wait for parts.