Vannin' Home Forums Dodge How To (Dodge) Fixed steering column

Dinking with some wires in my 74 tradesman steering column, I'd like to be able to remove the column harness, but can't get past the upper bearing....

In my 80 RV, the ignition switch is in the column, so it's just some screws after pulling the steering wheel to get to the harness... The the shift lever part becomes accessible.
Examples here--https://www.allpar.com/trucks/dodge/steering-column-fix.html

In the tradesman, the ignition switch is in the dash, not the column, so instead of screws beneath the turn signal and hazard wiring, I *thought* it was nuts on studs instead of screws, so I removed the nuts. Turns out they were on bolts, which fell into the shifter space.
The top segment where the signal Cam and hazard switch sit are slightly loosened, but not apparently removable due to a pressed bearing in the way.

At this point, I MUST proceed to restore those bolts into position, but can't.

Welcome to the site Miyagi ...

Are you changing the turn signal switch? Once the wheel is off, you need to un-screw the t/s lever, than there are three(3) retaining screws, and plate, that hold the switch in place.
All of the wires, except shift indicator light, are attached to the switch, These run through the shift collar into a screw on cover on top of the column which in turn goes THRU the support bracket for the column itself where there is a connector, which is fairly easy to get your hands on. The problem is the connector will NOT go thru the bracket. You MUST remove the terminals from the connector to pull the whole switch/wire assembly up thru the shift collar. MAKE A DIAGRAM IF YOU DO THIS. ALSO NOTE THE DIRECTION OF THE TERMINALS IN THE CONNECTOR ITSELF. These terminals are TRICKY to get out of the connector. I used dental picks, because had no terminal tool. I changed the whole switch on 72 B200, so I cut off the old connector(see above note), pulled wires thru shift collar, along with switch, Install new switch(wires fed thru easily), down column and THRU the support bracket , Make sure the wires are Thru the bracket before you insert the new wires in the old connector, or it looks kinda bad !! Hope this helps

Sorry after I re-read this, my 2 cents aren't worth too much at this point. Can you get to the snap ring under the switch? May be able to pull up the housing from tube? Service manual shows that the bolts fit into square hole on the back of the bearing housing. Don't know if you have room or not, haven't had one apart that far.
It may be time to pull the column out of the van to fix. Done this one also, not too bad of a job, mine had 3 large phillips screws holding the plate down to the floor along with 2 bolts on upper plate, column support bracket, the roll pin and shift linkage rod. Get yourself the BEST #4 PHILLIPS you can, they are a bear.
If you need , I could take pictures of the manual and post them here, just let me know!! Good Luck