USA TOLERANCE RINGS and Ididit, a manufacturer of custom steering columns for hot rod, race, show and specialty vehicles based in Tecumseh, MI, collaborated to develop a collapse ring for steering columns. The ring, designed to keep a driver safe in a front-end collision, is available chrome-plated or powder-coated and keeps the existing low-cost 16-gauge DOM tubing. A flanged tolerance ring with an advance wave configuration is fitted between the tubes and retained by the outer tube while the inner tube slips axially inside the ring. The target axial collapse force of 550 lb plus or minus 100 lb is achieved while maintaining ease of assembly within components having a stack up tolerance of .020 inch.

USA Tolerance Ring