The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Steering wheel causing shifting problem

Guys, hope someone can help me out. I've got a 250 with 3 on the tree. So during my rewire I removed the steering wheel to change the turn signal switch (and to make things easier all the way around). Anyway, now that I've put it back on I can no longer hit 1st gear, the shift won't go all the way into first, you can hear it grinding, the same with 3rd, it will go into 3rd, but it doesn't really feel like it goes down far enough to fully engage. All I can figure is that I've put the steering column back together incorrectly.

Something changed when you pulled the wheel. I’m not familiar with your setup, but I have a few questions.

1) Did accidentally drop anything into the column
2) How far did you disassemble the column
3) Did you take any pictures when it was apart

The smoking gun here is....... it was shifting before you took it apart and it’s not shifting after you put it back together. There is no easy fix. You are going to have to pull it back apart at least as far as your original disassembly. Get a copy of the FAM for your particular truck and reassemble very carefully. Good luck.

I didn't drop anything into it that I'm aware of. I only took the wheel off to the point where I could change out the turn signal switch. I didn't really take any pics of it being disassembled.

You are definitely correct. Something doesn't seem to have went back together correctly, I've had the thing off now a half a dozen times and still haven't been able to figure it out. I have an assembly manual (not the easiest thing to figure out which application goes with which), but I will try again....what choice have I got?

One thing you can try, is to disconnect the linkage one at a time, at the firewall and see if the travel of the shifter arm moves further than before. Try it on both the 1st-R and 2nd-3rd linkage. If it does move further, readjust the linkage per the shop manual.

Is it just me or is the FAM just flat out hard to find what you are looking for and then for figuring out drawing?

Something like wiring blocking travel of shifter?

I have the same manual and it seems a bit out of order at times.

did you go down as far as to see the shifting mech when you disassembled?

if not the whole housing may have spun a little while you pulled or or put back on the steering wheel, changing the adjustment of the cables.

I would open it back up and see whats goin on in there if it were me.

I wrote up a DIY about these 63-66 C10 steering columns. It has 4 parts. Depending on your situation, you may need to disassemble and inspect the whole column! Do not be intimidated. It is not difficult to do and once it’s back together you will have full confidence that it’s gonna be ready for service.
DIY Steering Column LINK

I wonder? Did you try to man-handle the steering wheel off of the column in lieu of using a correct steering wheel puller?
I have had a lot of experience with the C10 63-66 three on the tree trucks. At the very best, a new '63 C10 in '63 that I drove for over six years. The 3 spd column mounted gears shifts are problematic at their very best. From the time my '63 was new if you made a turn and hit a bump during the turn the gear shift rods would lock up rendering them useless. I had to stop the truck, open the hood and fiddle with the shift lever arms.
When the 63-66 C series trucks were common many of them were converted to floor shift using an after-market conversion. Wm