Family Affair Ek Ute

[Sneezy1211]

Started to mock up fitting the Billet works column late Sunday arvo. Need to get its positioning sorted so I can cut the shaft to length from the steering box. Has anyone in the forum fitted one of these to there build at all ? I did have a search but couldn't see anything ..

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[Blacky]

Briby has one in his car - link to build thread here -

https://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewto ... by#p216664

[Blacky]

Check this one out too mate - same car but different owner

https://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7163

[Brett027]

Is it a collapsible column? If so, the steering wheel end must be mounted using breakaway slip plates bolted to the dash frame to pass engineering and also to be effective. The original mount can still be there but more as a decoration. Sorry if this has been raised previously.
I have a similar tilt and collapsible column to go into my ute soon and I will be welding the same mounting breakaway brackets to it as are currently on my ute's LJ Torrie column to deal with this issue.

[Sneezy1211]

Check this one out too mate - same car but different owner

https://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7163

Cheers Blacky , ended up going through that whole build haha .

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[Sneezy1211]

Is it a collapsible column? If so, the steering wheel end must be mounted using breakaway slip plates bolted to the dash frame to pass engineering and also to be effective. The original mount can still be there but more as a decoration. Sorry if this has been raised previously.
I have a similar tilt and collapsible column to go into my ute soon and I will be welding the same mounting breakaway brackets to it as are currently on my ute's LJ Torrie column to deal with this issue.

Hi Brett
I had heard of this but to be honest didn't pay to much attention. Ill have to get onto now so it doesn't need to be done twice. Would love some more information on this breakaway set up you mentioned if possible?

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[Brett027]

You can buy a 2 bolt breakaway from one or more of the hot rod places that can bolt onto the dash and clamps on to the column. The way I did mine was to use the holden 70's steering mount which has 3 bolts and works nicely under the dash. To do that you have to weld a bracket onto the new column to take the breakaway plate mounts. You can see the small bolt heads and the side of the column.

[Harv]

The break-away mounting makes good design sense. I had to have one in the wagon, at the engineers request.

Having said that, they are not mandatory. Some engineers ask for them, others do not. Some engineers for example are comfortable that two unis are sufficient.

If you want a break-away mounting for peace of mind, then all good. You also have the option of asking your engineer what they will accept, and work to that.

Cheers,
Harv

[Brett027]

Nonsense talk Harv. If you have a collapsible straight cloumn facing the driver, it won't collapse in away from the driver unless there is a breakaway. Even modern ultra short EPS steering gear with multiple unis within the dash space still use breakaways.
If I found an engineer giving that advice I would keep walking to find another. Hot rods with vertical columns are the exception.

[Brett027]

Pic of modern Yaris steering coloumn with breakaways. Also pic of my tilt column and the mounting bits so it will bolt straight in to replace current Torrie set up.