bronto

I have a nicely covered original 3 spoke steering wheel that I want to swap with the raggedy one in my '79. How hard is it really?

I have an aftermarket manual that suggests I'll need a wheel puller to get it off, but other things I've read here indicates that it's not really necessary. Sunday will be my only opportunity to do this before the Santa Barbara Concourse. Does anybody have a write up?

Thanks.

Art_Z

all I had was the 928 manuals and it was easy as cake.

Richard S

Yank off horn pad. (Yep, give it a quick yank, this will detach the pad. Trying to easily pull it off won't work). Be somewhat carefull, there is a horn wire attached to the rear of the pad, so don't pull it so far off that it breaks the wire. Be sure to have the wheel centered. Use a 27mm socket to loosen the nut holding the wheel to the column. I sit in the seat and use my legs to hold the wheel from moving when I loosen the bolt. Remove bolt and washer, then wiggle the wheel off the column. Put on new wheel, be sure to get it straight. Tighten nut, I think it's in the 35 ft lb range but check the manual to be sure. Again, support the wheel with your legs as you tighten it. Attach wire to horn pad, snap pad into place, now you're done. Pretty simple.

Rich

touque

bronto - whatever you do, be careful when pulling on your old wheel. The first time I did it I nailed myself in the nose/forehead because it comes off suddenly, and I was yanking quite hard. I've heard of people breaking their noses by doing this in fact!

Rich said to wiggle - that's a very good tip!

leperboy

If you end up needing a steering wheel puller: Auto Zone and probably other part stores loan them for free. They are easy to use.

Matt

Bill Ball

I pull the horn fuse first. Here's a pic with the horn pad pulled.

Mike Frye

Bronto,

Be careful of the little plastic tab that's in there to turn off the blinker when you return the wheel to straight. Mine stopped working several weeks after I did the odo gear (which required steering wheel removal) I don't know if there's anything I did wrong, but I don't believe in coincidence, so I figure I f-ed it up.

Now it sticks in left blinker (no reset) and won't stay in right (have to hold it up). I need to replace it but I haven't gotten to the interior yet and I'm using the old manual reset for now.

bronto

Bill, the photo you show is a 4 spoke. Mine's a 3 spoke. Any substantial differences?

Richard S

Nope.

Rich

bronto

Bugger. My new steering wheel is designed to fit onto a smaller shaft. Probably for a 924 or 944?

All those parts are rivited together too, so I don't think I can use this thing.

bronto

Now mine's doing that too. Turning left is OK, but turning right it won't reset on a normal 90 degree corner. If I turn the wheel much further to the right it will reset when I turn it back, but that's not a normal turn. Funny thing is that I don't see how it could go in wrong. Not like there's a lot of slop or different holes to screw it in.

shmark

bronto, is that wheel on backwards? Looks odd. I've swapped a few steering wheels and the trick is to loosen the nut, but do not remove it. Then either wiggle or use a rubber mallet to tap from behind. If it suddenly pops loose, the nut stops it. Then remove the nut and all is well.

IcemanG17

Super easy......I just did mine to the 930S wheel...the hardest part was getting the big old horn pad off...since it flexes in the middle and sets the horn off, which gets just slightly annoying so pull the battery ground...at least thats what I did......its about a 15 minute job...the torque spec is 36ftlbs....which is kinda hard to get while holding the wheel with 1 hand and both knees with the torque wrench in the other hand....also you will need an extension for the 27mm socket.....its in there pretty deep.....4-6" should be enough

bronto

I don't see how it would be possible to get the wheel on backwards. There's really only one way, apart from not getting it centered.

But I think the problem is that I put the part that resets the blinker stalk from the 944 wheel on instead of the 928 part. I remember there were blue marks on the 944 wheel when I bought it, and they aren't there now. So it must be mounted in the 928.

And yes, replacing the wheel was super easy. The hardest part was breaking the nut loose, which I accomplished by tapping my ratchet with a hammer.

Charley B

I did that on a brake job last week and ended up at Sears exchanging for a new ratchet. Love that lifetime warrenty.