94-96 silverado steering column

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Damnit_Domo

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I rolled my 1996 silverado extended cab. Even so, the interior, wiring, engine and transmission were still fine. Cab was just crushed and frame a little twisted. I found a 1994 Gmc Cheyenne roller, and swapped over everything except the steering column support brackets which were welded to the fire wall of the 96 and I'm kind stumped because this is all I have left to do aside from bolting on the exhaust and putting the interior back in. Any recommendations? Thank yall in advance for anyone with the knowledge and patience to help.
 

someotherguy

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Simple - drill the spot welds out of each steering column support, swap the one you need over. If you don't have access to a welder (recommended), you could bolt the support in, just use high quality hardware and locking nuts. (Mind you this was about 14 years ago and I've forgotten quite a bit, but I'm pretty sure the booster needs to be pulled to do this as the 4 bolts capture the column bracket. No biggie.)

Pic is showing the new support mocked up and old one on the floor; not secured yet. I did this exact swap years ago when I built my '94 3500HD.

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After a lot of other work, cab floor surface rust addressed with POR-15 and the cab itself painted black, pic shows installed column support and 95-up column

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BTW since you're a '94 cab with '95-up interior, same thing goes for the passenger A-pillar grab handle. It's difficult to reach some of the spot welds on the bracket to drill them out because the windshield is in the way, but since your newer model cab is crushed, just sawzall the section of the pillar out and throw it on the drill press. Before chopping it out, make a simple template using the trim clip holes on the pillar to locate it properly on the '94 cab before welding it in.

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Richard
 

Damnit_Domo

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Simple - drill the spot welds out of each steering column support, swap the one you need over. If you don't have access to a welder (recommended), you could bolt the support in, just use high quality hardware and locking nuts. (Mind you this was about 14 years ago and I've forgotten quite a bit, but I'm pretty sure the booster needs to be pulled to do this as the 4 bolts capture the column bracket. No biggie.)

Pic is showing the new support mocked up and old one on the floor; not secured yet. I did this exact swap years ago when I built my '94 3500HD.

You must be registered for see images attach


After a lot of other work, cab floor surface rust addressed with POR-15 and the cab itself painted black, pic shows installed column support and 95-up column

You must be registered for see images attach


BTW since you're a '94 cab with '95-up interior, same thing goes for the passenger A-pillar grab handle. It's difficult to reach some of the spot welds on the bracket to drill them out because the windshield is in the way, but since your newer model cab is crushed, just sawzall the section of the pillar out and throw it on the drill press. Before chopping it out, make a simple template using the trim clip holes on the pillar to locate it properly on the '94 cab before welding it in.

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Richard
Awe man you're such a freaking life saver. I'll be visiting the salvage yard as soon as the sun is up. I started this build back in March and it's definitely been a trying task for one person. With your help I can possibly have it road ready by Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for all your help, Richard. You're definitely Awesome!
 

someotherguy

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From your reply I'm gonna guess your old cab is already gone? If so, that's a bummer. It had goodies you could use.

Either way it's not a big deal. You've made it this far - don't let that steering column support get you down. :)

Oh and another tip on interior installation, the 95-up interior has two little trim plastics on either side of the dashboard; they take the place of the longer bottom ends on the 94-older A-pillar plastics. Be sure you look at the kick panel metal where these go as there's a little slot they pop into that retains them. You might need to drill a hole on the '94 cab for them, but you'll want to take the trouble to measure/make a template to get them right. That full interior swap just wouldn't look right with those pieces missing and they'll stand out, causing you to kick yourself later, because you'll have to pull the dash to deal with them once you get sick of looking at the gap where they should be.

Speaking from experience! I had overlooked them during initial assembly and had to pull the dash to correct my mistake.

A-pillar trim not installed yet in this pic, but the little piece I'm talking about you can clearly see on the side of the dash, covers the gap between weatherstrip and dash on both sides:

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Richard
 

someotherguy

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Oh yeah, you're gonna have to do some minor chopping on the driver side firewall to open up the hole for the wiring pass-through. Seriously no big deal; they just made the existing hole a little larger.

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You'll have to make a hole in your floor for the shift cable to pass through if your truck is an automatic. Way easier than the battle I had making the '96 clutch master cylinder fit in the '94 cab, totally different mounting. :( Lots of grinding, test-fitting, grinding, rigging, and cussing.

Richard
 

someotherguy

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Ohh yeah one more thing I remembered. Your hood release cable goes through the firewall in a different spot with the 95-up interior. You'll need to drill a hole and route the cable, and trust me, it's WAY easier with the fender out of the way. IIRC I managed with it in place but it was a pain.

Richard
 
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