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Might be a long winded post..stay with me til the end
I parked my truck on the side of the road in a place where plenty of people do it so I can go float down the river. We get done floating drive back to the beginning to get my truck. Low and behold I have two flat tires on the side away from the road. FU** me. I assume I just ran something over and pull the truck further off the road and go back home to drop everyone off. I go back to my truck with tools and pull my wheels and replace with bad ones I don't care about.(already flat crappy tires) get done around 0100.( we floated until well past dark) In the AM I take my tires that I now notice are missing the valve stems to get repaired. They put new valve stems in and all is well. This is where I start realizing foul play. I have a daunting feeling in my stomach as I am driving back to where I left my truck. I get there to realize the back window is busted and my steering column is fuuuuuuuuuuuuc*ed. Let the kicking and screaming commence. I file a police claim and start working on fixing the truck once it's towed back home.
They also made away with about $1500 worth of craftsman and Milwaukee tools.
the problem is that they were trying to hard to break the ignition switch that they broke off the little nipple that goes into the steering column.(see pics) I cannot for the life of me get ahold of it enough to turn it the 40* it needs to pull out of the column. Also the steering column is locked putting even more tension on it. Any ideas for getting it out ?
That sucks man, i hate thieves, they stole a car from me, my first car that i payed with my hard earned money, I feel your pain. As to your problem i wouldnt know maybe try prying it out with some picks?
I can try that! However my problem is getting the little piece to turn so it fits out of the slot that it is stuck in. It's like a key that is turned in the position where it is affixed in the lock.
That steering column may have been used in several cars and trucks of that era, Crown Vic, Bronco, etc. A junkyard parts interchange would tell you how to match it up. Swapping the parts or the whole column might be the next move. Lots of information on various car and truck forums that used that column.
You can pull the steering shaft coupler loose down by the firewall to take some tension off of it and try the picks and various implements of destruction. Realignment of the coupler could be an issue. Take some pictures before you pull it loose.
The ignition is now fixed! I had to swallow my pride and call a locksmith...took him 10 minutes, I got charged $60. After spending 4+ hours without any fix in sight it's most certainly worth it.
What he did was take the ignition apart further than I knew it could. The red arrow is the first piece he removed. Then the yellow arrow is a metal retainer you have to turn counter clockwise and it slides out. Followed by the broke end of the ignition cylinder.
Now on to replacing all the broken trim and the broken hazard/turn signal.
The pieces I couldn't find in decent shape at my local junkyard was the top/bottom cover for the steering column, and the little cluster on the gauge bezel that shows wts/water in fuel/etc. I may just leave that panel off and replace it with a fuel pres gauge.
Man thieves suck. Hopefully you can get everything back together fairly cheaply and quickly. Apparently my parents neighborhood had people digging through parked vehicles outside and stealing what they could. They live in a ranch about 15 miles outside of town so almost nobody goes out there, but it might be due to a bunch of construction workers coming in to work on a new property being built. When I lived there, I used to keep my pistol in my truck because it felt so safe out there... good thing that wasn't the case anymore. I'm a lot more cautious of where I keep my firearms now.
If someone tried breaking into one of my vehicles, I'd be furious.
Dude, that SUCKS....I get pretty furious just reading this. I am glad it's getting back together for you. And yeah, Jarrett has the spare parts LOL!! Did you happen to have insurance on the tools? I hope so. That's a lot of coin to lose.
06-04-2018, 09:11 PM
