the tabs on the steering column were broken when i got the car, so i found some decent junk yard ones to hold me over until i could get some nice new ones. the other day, i was trolling the junkyard and found a 1970 dodge dart. i was giving it a once over and saw that the plastic break away tabs on the column bracket were not plastic but metal!?


as i understand, the plastic ones are suppose to break away during an accident so you don't get steering wheel in the chest? are these factory or did someone figure this one out?

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

My understanding is that the column is supposed to collapse rather than break away. If you look at the way the column and it's supports are assembled the column is allowed to move down and toward the steering box in an accident which is why those metal or plastic pieces slide into place. Plastic is cheaper so I'm thinking the later cars used plastic. It could also be that different assembly plants used different pieces.

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Joshua

Not a resto expert, but I think the aluminum pieces were 1967 only, someone might have changed them in the past, I've changed them on all my cars.

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V8?? We don't need no stink'n V8!!

72 darts are plastic

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

It's both. The columns, starting in '68, are both collapsible and breakway-mounted to permit the collapse action when the specified force along the axis of the steering shaft is exceeded.

I don't know for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me too much to find that the breakaway tabs were made of some kind of soft alloy (probably lead/bismuth or similar) in '68-'70 or '71; starting in 1972 a fair number of parts that had been metal were redesigned and made in plastic.

New plastic ones are still available from this vendor or ex-dealer, part number 4147 217 if you can find any in stock.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.