I have a 52 Dodge PU with a an Ididit steering column. I recently purchased a 49 Dodge steering wheel. Problem to over come is ID on the splines are larger that that of the OD on the column. Anyone running an old steering wheel on a newer column?
The degree of difficulty will vary with which column you have. The majority of aftermarket columns are designed for GM type steering wheels and/or use GM adaptors. A bare-bones 'old school' style will be the easiest, with the addition of each feature (turn signals, horn activation, locking/ignition switch, tilt, column shift) adding complication. A bare-bones column gives you two choices; drill out the Dodge hub in the wheel and weld in a partial GM hub from a sacrificial wheel, or splice a short piece of Dodge shaft onto the existing one. This may require changing the top bearing/bushing in the column. Some machine work will be needed in either case. If you have a column with additional features, it then becomes easier to fabricate an adaptor and fit that to the Dodge wheel. The aftermarket adaptors are aluminum and rather thick and will probably space the wheel up too much but are readily available. Again, I'd look at cutting the entire steel hub out of a sacrificial GM wheel and machining it into an adaptor that can be either welded or bolted to the Dodge wheel. This will solve any issues with interfacing with the turn signal switch/horn wiring and allow you to retain all column features. Still not an easy mod. By far the easiest way is to just swap to a '49 Dodge column, but that will no doubt require additional mods. I looked into this heavily, it's not easy to do, particularly cross-brands. That's why those various aftermarket wheels with GM hubs exist. I wanted a '50s style wheel for a future project, I picked up a '58 Edsel TeleTouch wheel because those don't have a hub... just a big open hole. I intend to scratch-build the column.
Well, if I were building the truck from scratch I’d probably use the stock column. However, most of the conversion was on a Dakota clip using the rack and pinion. So, if I can get away with it I’ll leave most to the existing engineering in place
You could bore out the hub of the Dodge wheel and make a press-fit adaptor from a junk GM wheel. Make the fit a light press-fit and then add three or four set screws at the parting/mating line to lock it in place, rather than welding. Good luck!
I think it's doable, just not easy. If you have access to a lathe or know someone with one that will be a big help.
Here two thoughts 1 you need the old column shaft and the new one. You need to figure out what distance is need and you have to cut and weld on the end. im sure there are shops that can do this. or have a copy of the old style end machines and welded on. 2 check to see if any grant adapters were made and you have to search vintage dodge to GM
I bought the truck already modified Chinesium column. It’s was a tilt column but the plastic knuckle broke. I went ahead and bought a Ididit column choosing not to go with the tilt. Right now I have an old Superior spoke wheel with a grant adapter
So what you need to do is duplicate the switch side of that adaptor into the '49 wheel. That will keep your turn signals self-cancelling working right. The adaptor also appears to have the ability to have a functioning horn but it doesn't appear that it's hooked up. The upside is the '49 wheel has a large hub that should give you room to work something out. The main reason I give for using a sacrificial OEM wheel to construct a new hub is I suspect by the time that aluminum adaptor is cut down enough to work there won't be enough left for adequate strength to bolt it onto the Dodge wheel. A steel 'adaptor' can be much more compact and can be carefully welded on.
OK, you have added another option: 1) You can get a new hub for the Ididit column and run your old Superior spoke wheel. 2) You can run nearly any GM wheel on your Ididit column. 3) You can modify the hub on your original Dodge wheel to fit either he Ididit column, or to match a replacement hub for the Superior wheel. 4) Or you can modify the Ididit column to match the Dodge wheel. Personally, number 4 would be a last resort. Also, know that modifying the Dodge wheel (#3) may possibility cause a problem with the turn signal cancel feature of the Ididit column, if it currently still works.
We were just talking about that. I have the original wheel up in Washington state. Didn’t use it because it was toast. I’ll see if I can get my buddy to send it down
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