I posted the question in my purchase thread but disassembled this morning to find the cause.
The tilt release lever moves 2 small arms with multiple small teeth (like a portion of a gear) away from the main column which also has multiple small teeth for the arm to engage upon.
The issue I found was that there is some wear on both sets of teeth but more importantly the arms that move during unlock would not return fully caused by some binding in linkage but more that spring tension that returns them would not pull them tight into each other.
Since I'm the only one driving my 80 I decided to lock in the tilt steering temporarily until I can source a stronger set of return springs
Pictured below is my temporary fix (small sheet metal screw that fit snuggly in the gap between linkage and geared arm forcing the gears to stay 100% engaged thus removing any possibility of movement) this was installed on both sides of steering column in the same place.
Column is as tight as the day it left the factory and easily removed for a more permanent fix in the future.
Apologize if this issue has already been addressed somewhere but I looked all over for just a picture or theory of operation and came up with nothing
To clarify also this fix would be permanent for anyone who no longer wishes to have a tilt column. (trail rig operated by same person all the time)
The tilt release lever moves 2 small arms with multiple small teeth (like a portion of a gear) away from the main column which also has multiple small teeth for the arm to engage upon.
The issue I found was that there is some wear on both sets of teeth but more importantly the arms that move during unlock would not return fully caused by some binding in linkage but more that spring tension that returns them would not pull them tight into each other.
Since I'm the only one driving my 80 I decided to lock in the tilt steering temporarily until I can source a stronger set of return springs
Pictured below is my temporary fix (small sheet metal screw that fit snuggly in the gap between linkage and geared arm forcing the gears to stay 100% engaged thus removing any possibility of movement) this was installed on both sides of steering column in the same place.
Column is as tight as the day it left the factory and easily removed for a more permanent fix in the future.
Apologize if this issue has already been addressed somewhere but I looked all over for just a picture or theory of operation and came up with nothing
To clarify also this fix would be permanent for anyone who no longer wishes to have a tilt column. (trail rig operated by same person all the time)