A *really* strange Steering Column problem - Steering Wheel pulls shaft out!?

[Corellian Corvette]

Ok I'm about 80% done putting my car back together. Last night I discovered a really strange problem with my steering column and I'm hoping for some advice so I don't have to take it all out again. 

I completely dissassembled and cleaned/painted my column (Non-tilt, floor shift from a 68 Charger).

Last night I was getting out of the car and pulled on the steering wheel, and the wheel moved forward about 3 inches, and made the turn signal/casing part spin feely. The entire column is still secured - i'm not pulling the coupler off the steering box shaft - i'm pulling the INNER metal shaft out of the coupler slightly. I suspect that if the inner shaft wasn't secure inside the coulper, I could pull the whole thing straight out!

Of course, I can push back down on the wheel and it resets everything and it's tight and perfect.

Now, I have to yank on the wheel pretty hard to pull out, and I never loose steering, but It doesn't seem like this is safe.

What's causing this? Did I miss something somewhere? Why can I use the wheel to pull the whole inner shaft out?

[maxwellwedge]

I would pull it all out and fix that. The steering column is 2 shafts so it retracts in case of an accident. There is a type of shear piece that sort of holds them together. That sounds like it's toast.

[John_Kunkel]

There are plastic rivets that hold the inner and outer shaft together, once the rivets shear they must be replaced. Some have used plastic screws from the hardware store.

[Corellian Corvette]

Is there a picture anywhere of what/where those pieces go? I don't recall seeing anything like that.

As the inner colum is very thin, and the outer shaft is a larger tube, I'm not sure how they would be connected...

[Rolling_Thunder]

68 steering columns have weird ass retainers that hold the two upper column pieces together...    they are 3 black bolts with square heads that fit miraculously into slots in the lower column half portion...   my guess is these did not engage properly - not the two halfs are not tied together...     this would allow the center shaft (anchored to the top of the two pieces closest to the steering wheel) to be pulled up and towards the driver...     the fix is to remove the steering wheel and turn signal stuff...    then play with the three bolts...    all you will see is black threads with golden colored nuts on them...     they look like mini-castle nuts...   

[Back N Black]

Here is some good info.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,37420.0.html

[Corellian Corvette]

FYI - those little square bolts were the problem. I must not have tightened them down enough - they worked themselves loose hence the column coming apart.

Took about 20 min to disassemble and get everything back to perfect! Thanks!