Jessica95Sierra
Newbie
Hey there family, if your reading this chances are you've had to replace this or your looking to replace it. I bought one from ACdelco about three months ago and it just snapped on me again. I'm someone who gets on their hands and knees with this and like to diagnose everything in life. I will tell you that first off, the two competitors with this part in todays market are unfortunately still made in china. With Chinese labor comes Chinese parts. Both counter parts are made of a cast iron aluminum plate that supposed to be rated for torque and leverage when shifting. Both snapped on me in the same fashion and I dont believe in coincidences so I had to investigate. After countless days of no sleep and no showers, I found out that THE TILT COLUMN ADJUSTMENT has everything to do with the amount of torque and leverage given to that plate. The plate I'm referring to has the 3 holes for the torque screws. In this picture here: 11454141-p
Since I've had the truck, I rode with the steering adjusted high enough for me to see the clusters properly without the steering wheel in the way. I'm 6'1 with a 5" neck, trust me when I say, I saw all the gauges.
But ultimately this caused STRETCHING and unnecessary wear on my shift cable, which lasted me 25 years. I drove it daily and it put mass amounts of pressure on that plate and cable. The old cable from GM still had the blue marks on em. I believe that when GM adjusted the entire system [shift lever > mechanism> shift cable > tranny shift lever] for the cable, they did this with tilt column adjusted for a child. They did so in slight consideration for slack and play as well. This is why those shift cables come adjustable out the box. If your like me and cant wait to go outside an ride, you'll find out that patience is a virtue. I was able to adjusted the steering wheel naturally, while adjusting my seat so I can see everything. Basically reclined to the back.
For those wondering how I figured all this out, Once my cable snapped before I was able to take everything out and replace it. I also decided to check the steering column to see if one of my shift actuators had been disconnected. To do this, one of the first steps in removing the dash is to tilt your steering column down. I was in between sleep and frustration once I lost a nut, and my lever was in the way so not even thinking (hey your lever is broken numb nuts DONT SHIFT IT) I shifted it, and it was the sweetest butter I had ever felt. It shifted between all the gears from P-2 with no added pressure. At first I thought I was having a stroke, so I turned the key to on to see the light move back an forth as I was shifting. I immediately thought to my self, CHINA... Mind you I adjusted the steering wheel low enough for me to remove the dash, so with dash basically hanging off, I got her to shift and see how the tilt column was affecting my leverage. I really hope this helps someone.
Since I've had the truck, I rode with the steering adjusted high enough for me to see the clusters properly without the steering wheel in the way. I'm 6'1 with a 5" neck, trust me when I say, I saw all the gauges.
But ultimately this caused STRETCHING and unnecessary wear on my shift cable, which lasted me 25 years. I drove it daily and it put mass amounts of pressure on that plate and cable. The old cable from GM still had the blue marks on em. I believe that when GM adjusted the entire system [shift lever > mechanism> shift cable > tranny shift lever] for the cable, they did this with tilt column adjusted for a child. They did so in slight consideration for slack and play as well. This is why those shift cables come adjustable out the box. If your like me and cant wait to go outside an ride, you'll find out that patience is a virtue. I was able to adjusted the steering wheel naturally, while adjusting my seat so I can see everything. Basically reclined to the back.For those wondering how I figured all this out, Once my cable snapped before I was able to take everything out and replace it. I also decided to check the steering column to see if one of my shift actuators had been disconnected. To do this, one of the first steps in removing the dash is to tilt your steering column down. I was in between sleep and frustration once I lost a nut, and my lever was in the way so not even thinking (hey your lever is broken numb nuts DONT SHIFT IT) I shifted it, and it was the sweetest butter I had ever felt. It shifted between all the gears from P-2 with no added pressure. At first I thought I was having a stroke, so I turned the key to on to see the light move back an forth as I was shifting. I immediately thought to my self, CHINA... Mind you I adjusted the steering wheel low enough for me to remove the dash, so with dash basically hanging off, I got her to shift and see how the tilt column was affecting my leverage. I really hope this helps someone.
