Steering wheel extension

[Golgo13]

Ehhh, you would be amazed at the force your body exerts on the steering wheel/column in a crash. I dont like the idea of adding a spacer behind the steering wheel, but it might be better than making another column fit.

There are a lot of constraints surrounding this, so I'm hesitant to go any further with it.

 

[BILT4ME]

Ehhh, you would be amazed at the force your body exerts on the steering wheel/column in a crash. I dont like the idea of adding a spacer behind the steering wheel, but it might be better than making another column fit.

There are a lot of constraints surrounding this, so I'm hesitant to go any further with it.

Yeah, I get why you have to stop there........

Based on the stuff I've seen "cobbled together" on the old cars/trucks, it makes this look like child's play. It becomes the responsibility of the person making the changes and accepting the fact that it may be out of warranty and not its "intended use".......

So.....How's that play out with an LS1 installed?

 

[Tapage]

I would like to extend my steering column ... old Lexus GS430 have that feature and I love it ..

 

[890man]

Thanks for the pics Malleus. Do you have one of the column itself?

A lot of good points from all of you. I do agree that having the turn signal further away is a bad idea.

I too wonder if the stock column could be repositioned with a proper bracket. I wonder how fugly it would look too. It's tough for me to mock up on a daily driver. I'll have to carve out some time.

 

[Golgo13]

Lets say you make a plate with the mounting hole pattern in it and a set of weld-studs spaced the appropriate distance forward to get the wheel where you want it. then the column sits forward where you need it and retains its tilt capability.
But then you have to make sure the intermediate shaft lines up. Now that the column is forward, that angle changes, and its likely the hole in the firewall doesn't work for the I-shaft routing. also, in the engine compartment, the I-shaft has moved a little and could clash with something. It is unlikely that it would change things much, but a lot of times a little change can make a big difference to the overall system.

For adapting a newer column, there are two studs near the wheel and 1 bolt near the fire wall(running in the cross-car direction). The bolts at the front hold the column/frame assy to the the Instrument Panel Reinforcement and the bolt near the firewall is the tilt point. The mounting points are also setup with a slight angle sideways for crash performance. then, because of the tilt function and tilting axis location, you need a completely different type of boot around the I-shaft to make up for how much the i-shaft changes position through the tilt stroke... etc. it would be possible to mod, but again, it wouldn't be easy and definitely wouldn't perform the same as before. This is the kind of thing that would be easier to do with the engine pulled and even then it would be a PITA.

 

[BILT4ME]

Lets say you make a plate with the mounting hole pattern in it and a set of weld-studs spaced the appropriate distance forward to get the wheel where you want it. then the column sits forward where you need it and retains its tilt capability.
But then you have to make sure the intermediate shaft lines up. Now that the column is forward, that angle changes, and its likely the hole in the firewall doesn't work for the I-shaft routing. also, in the engine compartment, the I-shaft has moved a little and could clash with something. It is unlikely that it would change things much, but a lot of times a little change can make a big difference to the overall system.

For adapting a newer column, there are two studs near the wheel and 1 bolt near the fire wall(running in the cross-car direction). The bolts at the front hold the column/frame assy to the the Instrument Panel Reinforcement and the bolt near the firewall is the tilt point. The mounting points are also setup with a slight angle sideways for crash performance. then, because of the tilt function and tilting axis location, you need a completely different type of boot around the I-shaft to make up for how much the i-shaft changes position through the tilt stroke... etc. it would be possible to mod, but again, it wouldn't be easy and definitely wouldn't perform the same as before. This is the kind of thing that would be easier to do with the engine pulled and even then it would be a PITA.

What make/model/year columns did you look at that were sort of close, but didn't bolt up properly? This may give a guideline for someone to obtain, then mock up and write-up.

 

[Golgo13]

I looked at Camry/Avalon, Tundra/Sequoia, Tacoma, RAV4 and Sienna going back to ~2000. Truck and Sedan/small SUV platforms are on very different schedules. Also, the sedan/small SUVs switched to Electronic Power Steering around 2008. So it wasn't a huge window, but it was really all that applied since I was looking for Tilt and Telescope capability as the primary constraint.
Trucks have not switched to EPS so the columns are simple. If I had to start with something, I'd start with a Tacoma column

 

[Malleus]

Thanks for the pics Malleus. Do you have one of the column itself?

A lot of good points from all of you. I do agree that having the turn signal further away is a bad idea.

I too wonder if the stock column could be repositioned with a proper bracket. I wonder how fugly it would look too. It's tough for me to mock up on a daily driver. I'll have to carve out some time.

Unfortunately no. Don't know how I missed that, but I did.

 

[jaymar]

Lets say you make a plate with the mounting hole pattern in it and a set of weld-studs spaced the appropriate distance forward to get the wheel where you want it. then the column sits forward where you need it and retains its tilt capability.
But then you have to make sure the intermediate shaft lines up. Now that the column is forward, that angle changes, and its likely the hole in the firewall doesn't work for the I-shaft routing. also, in the engine compartment, the I-shaft has moved a little and could clash with something. It is unlikely that it would change things much, but a lot of times a little change can make a big difference to the overall system.

For adapting a newer column, there are two studs near the wheel and 1 bolt near the fire wall(running in the cross-car direction). The bolts at the front hold the column/frame assy to the the Instrument Panel Reinforcement and the bolt near the firewall is the tilt point. The mounting points are also setup with a slight angle sideways for crash performance. then, because of the tilt function and tilting axis location, you need a completely different type of boot around the I-shaft to make up for how much the i-shaft changes position through the tilt stroke... etc. it would be possible to mod, but again, it wouldn't be easy and definitely wouldn't perform the same as before. This is the kind of thing that would be easier to do with the engine pulled and even then it would be a PITA.

When I build my spacecraft, I want you as technical consultant…