zarg

I'll call the dealership today. Another friend of mine (not the hammer guy) suggested getting a refurbished steering column from a scrapyard BUT I'm not sure I wanna keep screwing around with this. Y'know, everybody says this guy's a great mechanic but he's never actually fixed anything he's worked on for me.

2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 4.8 Truck was stolen over a year ago but I got it back. The thief damaged the lock cylinder so I had a buddy replace it, who had to use a hammer and a flathead to get it out. The new cylinder worked for a while but quickly started to crap out, even though it was brand new. I could slide the key out any time I wanted. Eventually it stopped going to the 'lock position', which left the battery turned 'on' all the time. Being the lazy slob I am I took to just unhooking the battery rather than fixing it. Fast forward ten months. Now turning the ignition to 'crank' the truck doesn't start. The dashlights blink, but nothing happens and it doesn't try to crank. BUT I can still start it if I jump the starter fuse off the battery. Steps taken: I replaced both the ignition switch and the lock cylinder. Still exactly the same! Brand new components still won't go to 'lock', truck still won't try to crank, with the added bonus of now I can't pull the new key out of the ignition without removing the cylinder first. (Actually not completely true, I wiggled it and yanked on it and managed to pull it free, but it felt like I was doing the wrong thing, and the fine metal dust left on the key told me the pins didn't like it) I'm stumped. Any ideas?