Steering wheel removal

[barrymknight]

Hi there,

I need to remove my steering wheel to fix the horn wiring but I can't get it to budge!

Any tips??

Thanks,

Barry

[Richard B]

Tap gently upwards with a copper hide hammer.

or get a hub puller  :-/

[Clive]

I find it requires 3 hands. Two toe pull the wheel towards you (sitting in the drivers seat) and a third to give the steering column a whack with a big hammer, ideally copper, though I have been known to just use a lump hammer. leaving the nut on the column is a good idea too. If you damage the threads slightly, taking the nut off will clean them up. More importantly, stops you getting hit in the face by the wheel when it releases.

[Nick Jones]

cliftyhanger wrote:

More importantly, stops you getting hit in the face by the wheel when it releases.

That is the important bit - Clive's already tried this so you don't have to  :P.  So have I unfortunately.......

Nick

[drofgum]

Barry,
If you find that you must hit the steering shaft with a hammer to shift the wheel; be very careful not to ruin the thread on the shaft as it is a very fine thread and easy to damage beyond straightening by removing the nut. I have scrapped an upper column section by this technique. Luckily I had a spare.
                                                              Best of luck,
                                                              Paul

[herald948]

I'm with hitting on the column -- with the nut in place -- but I've usually done it with a large drift centered on the shaft inside the nut. Haven't lost a column (or a jaw) yet!  ;D

[nang]

Try loosening the nut,  while pulling wheel towards you, rock ithe wheel from side to side. Works for me. Try to keep hammers away or it will end up in tears!  :'(
Cheers Tony.

[drofgum]

Tony,
It worked for me too the most recent time I did this job, but there was that earlier time ... Hence the warning in my earlier post.
                                                                              Cheers,
                                                                              Paul

[Jason]

Nick_Jones wrote:

That is the important bit - Clive's already tried this so you don't have to  :P.  So have I unfortunately.......

Nick

Hurts don't it! I nearly knocked myself out doing this once, did I feel very silly? Oh yeah!

[Clive]

So it isn't just me ;D ;D

[Freebird]

Waggle and pull like crazy at the same time - never failed for me.

[willcolumbine]

It's one of those jobs where nothing seems to be happening for ages until, suddenly, you get the tiniest bit of play and then, less than a millisecond later, it flys off!  :)

[Brendan The Spit]

Nice, quick, sharp tap on the spindle with a hamster does the trick.

[npanne]

2875 wrote:

Nice, quick, sharp tap on the spindle with a hamster does the trick.

A hamster? The RSPCA will be on to you!

[Brendan The Spit]

I did it on porpoise! :)