hi all,

I treated my car to a new steering wheel. it's the same as stock. i know, no good for any performance but I like the looks ...
anyway, will I need to fabricate a puller to pull the old one or will the hammer do the job.
In modern cars you can tap them out but I have a feeling that this might be more of a jobbie ?!

 

I just replaced mine and with a little pulling (using my knees to move side to side and up and down) it came off. Also a little tapping on it helped also.

 

cool. will try without puller

 

I picked up a puller at the local auto parts.

I recently rewired my column and had a heck of a time getting the steering wheel off...my guess is that it hadn't been removed in 40 some odd years.

To get the center nut off I finally had to get a breaker bar and hit it pretty hard about 10 to 15 times with a rubber mallet to get the darn nut to break loose. I had soaked it down with WD40 and then went inside to watch TV for an hour or so first.

 

phewwww. nah. no way. that nut wasn't opened for 45 years. got the nut out, but there's no give in the wheel without either breaking the wheel or the steering column :-(

 

Yeah, beating it off might do harm to the rest of the column/bearings, etc..., especially if it's been on there a while.

Any chance a local parts store or friend has a loaner tool? I got a loaner from AutoZone when we did ours. Popped right off with no damage at all.

Its a pretty simple tool to make, and might save a bunch of $ in the long run.

 

A wheel could come off in minutes without a puller, or it could take literally hours--without a puller.

A steering wheel puller costs about $7, and your wheel will come off in about 12 seconds. Get the right tool and save frustration.

$7.

CP

 

ya. since i can't get it off withoiut major brute force I'll check for a puller. if I can't find one I'll fabricate one. there's a good description in the shop manual of how it works

 

Pretty easy to fabricate - piece of steel with a hole in center with a nut welded. To thread bolt thru to pushout on to steering wheel bolt. 2 oblong holes on each side to put bolts thru in bolt holes on wheel. Although I went to autozone and borrowed one.

 

Puller!