Steering Column: Description and Operation

The steering column has three important features in addition to the steering function:
1. The column is energy absorbing, designed to compress in a front-end collision to minimize the possibility of injury to the driver of the vehicle.
2. The ignition switch and lock are mounted conveniently on the column.
3. With the column mounted lock, the ignition and steering operation can be locked to prevent theft of the vehicle.

The column may be disassembled and reassembled. To insure the energy absorbing action, it is important that the specified screws, bolts and nuts be used only as designated and that they are tightened to the specified torque.

When the column is removed from the vehicle, a sharp blow on the end of steering shaft or shift lever, leaning on the column assembly, or dropping the assembly could shear or loosen the fasteners that maintain column rigidity.