Since trucks are primarily designed and manufactured as beasts of burden rather than luxury rides, any upgrade that improves the driving comfort of a classic pickup is a welcome one. One quick and easy way to accomplish such an improvement is with the addition of a tilt steering column.
ididit classic pickup steel tilt column kits are available for classic Chevy pickups from ’47 to ’78 and come complete with your choice of paintable plain steel, black powdercoating, or chrome plated columns plus a floor mount, an under dash column mount, a dress-up kit (levers and knobs), full installation instructions, and a Delrin cover sleeve for use with the original GM steering box.
One of the highest quality and well-known manufacturers of replacement steering columns and steering related accessories is ididit. Here, we’ll follow the quick and easy installation of their direct replacement tilt column for Chevrolet’s ’55 to ’59 pickups. Like I said, it’s easy to add the convenience and reliability of a new column built specific for your GM truck, and they’re not universal columns that require modification of your original pickup to install, either. Simply remove your old column, and using the installation components (which are included in the column kits) install your new steering column in place of the old. You can even add an aftermarket wheel and the gripping surface of the new wheel will be in the same location as your original. Included in the stock steering configuration for ’55 to’59 Chevy Trucks is a Delrin cover sleeve for the original gearbox, as well as under dash and floor mounts to replace the originals. Another bonus is the fact that ididit replacement GM truck tilt columns come in several styles and finishes: paintable steel, black powdercoated, or chrome plated. And they’re also available in floor or column shift automatic designs, too.
For our floor-shift ’57 Chevy, we chose the paintable steel tilt column kit and an aftermarket steering wheel since the truck in question came our way without a column or wheel at all. Plus, our pickup has been outfitted with an aftermarket rack-and-pinion steering setup rather than the stock GM steering box. But even though our victim has been modified, the installation is nearly identical. So, follow along as we show you how we added a modern tilt wheel to our Chevy pickup. CT
