Yet another horn rod question
 

*EDIT*
I got it. The steering column was in back of pickup so I dropped the steering wheel into the end gate valley and pulled the horn rod out.
**


I have the steering column out of my 37 and I am taking it apart. The horn rod will move about 2 feet and then hangs up. I had to do some gentle twists to get it that far. Is there a trick to removing these? It seems in most threads I found that once the bottom clip is removed it should just pull out.

Thanks,
Don

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

well, phooey....takes all the fun out of it...lol....glad you got it figured out....Mike

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

I was being a little too gentle with it.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

Someone in the past may have taken it out while in the car and bent it to get it out. This is not good. A bent horn rod will turn with the wheel and turn the lights on or off! This may be the reason it was hard to remove.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

It looks really straight and nice. Not sure what it was snagging on.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

maybe grease has hardened where it goes through the brass tube. I had one that the grease had dried and stuck the brass tube in the steering shaft and had broken it off of the end plate.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the feedback.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

When you get around to putting the steering column/steering wheel/horn rod assembly back into the pickup, it may be a good idea to put the horn rod in before you put the steering column back in. Unless the rear window is not in, the horn rod is too long to clear the back of the cab. I am not as flexible as I used to be, so I installed the gauges and speedometer before putting the column back in.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

We swapped out the '36 Column for a '37.

Fitting the horn rod took about two hours! It had a slight bend, and some crud and hardened grease. We cleaned everything up really well. We also took fine emery paper and smoothed the outer surface of the rod. We very carefully worked on the rod till it was straight. Probably had it in and out of the car 40 times. Little by little it got better; we wanted it absoutely free to revolve in the column so the light switch would not be moved by any movement of the steering wheel. We also polished the brass bushing.

Reason I'm going on like this is: it took a lot longer than we figured, and a lot more fussing, but unless you get this part right you could have interference and the lights will come on when you turn the wheel.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

I replace the headlight switch and wiring harness on my '36 fordoor. What's the trick/secret to holding in the spring at the base of the column to get the clip in at the bottom of the horn rod? I got it in in one try a few weeks ago but realized the fork was 180 degrees off.

Re: Yet another horn rod question
 

Dunno if it qualifies as a trick, but we used two needlenose pliers.

After placing the larger u-shaped clip over the spring, we put the needle nose on either side of the bottom of the clip and pressed upward. This exposed the groove where the small clip goes. Grabbing it by the closed end with another pair of needlenose, we slipped it in the groove.