Steering column shifter slop question (up and down, gear to gear)

[Brian79z]

I have been searching for an answer for a week.

1986 GMC K1500
700R4 (fresh rebuild of original trans)
Tilt column - original
Nothing has been changed from the original configuration.

Before I start - the problem is *not* a loose tilt column or a gear select lever broken spring or loose linkages along the firewall down to the transmission.
The tilt screws are tight.
The gear select lever has great spring return
The linkages outside of the cab have new bushings are are tight.

All of the Internet help seems to address the above issues.

Here is what I notice.
I can put the trans in park, but I cannot bring it down to low1.
From P to R to N to OD to D, there is excessive travel - trans detent feel is there..
Looking at the linkage attachment point at the firewall, while someone is shifting gears, the gear select lever moves about 3-4 inches up or down, before the end of the steering column at the linkage connection moves.

So- the slop is inside the column, somewhere between the selector lever, down the tube to the eyelet at the firewall.

Break it to me straight. The easy way is to find another column and swap.
Or are there some parts I can replace inside the column to tighten it up.

I've done the basic column tightening before - I am not a stranger to it. However, I do not know everything about them.

 

[MikeB]

If the handle moves 3-4 inches before the lever at the bottom of the column moves, you definitely have an internal problem There's a tube that surrounds the shaft that's connected to the shift handle at the top, and to the lever at the bottom. It rotates when the handle is moved up or down, transferring the handle motion to the lever.

Could be the connection at the top is sloppy, because I think the lever on the bottom is a part of the tube. The tube is supported by plastic "bearings" which may be worn as well. There's also some rotating metal-on-metal contact.

Might want to find an exploded view or watch a repair video on youtube, but you'll probably have jump in deep, or send it to a guy like Wayne at GM Tilt. He's a super good guy! http://www.gmtiltsteeringcolumn.com/

I just found this picture of two "bowls" that are used on a 3-speed manual column, but the concept is the same for an auto column, You can see where I had to shim the ID of the bowls where they rode on the shift tube. No way where they ever designed to last more than 100K miles. The one on the right supports the rotating shift tube. The one on the left slides fore and aft on the tube as the shift handle goes through the center part of the "H" shift pattern.

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