Tilt Steering Column, Airbag Wheel, Ignition Lock & Shaft

Inside the cab, this group comprises the padded 2-spoke steering wheel, the driver Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) airbag module (newly added for the 1994 F-150 model year), the coiled ribbon-cable clockspring, the tilt column housing, the key-cylinder ignition lock and multi-function turn/wiper stalk, and the telescoping intermediate shaft with its rubber-fabric rag-joint coupling.

Maintaining Electrical Continuity Across a Spinning Wheel (The Clockspring): How do you wire an electronic airbag igniter and horn switches into a steering wheel that can turn 3.5 revolutions lock-to-lock without twisting the wires in half? Inside the cylindrical clockspring cassette behind the wheel is a long flat Mylar ribbon cable wound like a tape measure that coils tighter in one direction and uncoils in the other.

Road-Shock Isolation (The Rag-Joint): At the base of the telescoping shaft just above the steering gearbox sits a multi-ply corded rubber-and-fabric disc ("rag-joint") that transmits steering torque with zero lash while blocking high-frequency frame vibration from buzzing the steering wheel.