Removing Steering Wheel 1975 MGB

[merry]

Evening all,

Been trying to remove the steering wheel and boss from my B to fit a newer (smaller) one. Of course the bloody thing is stuck. I've drenched it in penetrative fluid,tried the hammer approach, modifying a bearing puller, swearing and am now out of ideas.

Is there a specific tool I should find? Google seems remarkably unhelpful and I feel if I don't win this battle soon I may start smashing things...

[bortaf]

The way i allways do it is undo nut but leave it on, hit the rim of the wheel with the palm of my hand or side of fist (away from me) at 3 and 9 clock, continue around the wheel hitting and keeping my hands opposite each other as i work around the wheel rim, only ever failed once (on a VW camper) so i used a hair dryer to expand the boss and it popped off, you can use a hot air gun or paint stripping gun but they get too hot and can damage plastic/bakerlite wheels, boiling water can work as well but i found you need a puller on there under tension then heat the boss to pop it off.

[doobie]

I find a krooklock surprisingly useful for taking off pesky steering wheels gives you the extra leverage you need..

[adam73bgt]

The way I got mine off was to loosen the nut (but leave it on unless you want a wheel in the face!) Then I wedged my thighs up behind the wheel to push it towards me, then I did a lot of puling at the wheel with my hands to eventually work it loose.. It took quite a bit of doing but came loose eventually

Some recommend using a mallet on the centre nut while applying pressure on the wheel from behind with the legs in order to 'shock' the wheel off the splines, but be careful of damaging the collapsible steering column using this methods as it is apparently possible to collapse the column

There is no specific tool for doing it that I know of but some pullers might be able to do it

Keep at it! It will loosen eventually

[composimmonite]

I actually ended up taking the smaller wheel, a previous owner had fitted to my '74 BGT, and fitted an original due to the amount of effort required to turn it at low speeds / parking.
With that in mind don't throw the original wheel away as you might find the same and need to refit at a later date. Also if you come to sell the car in the future then a good original wheel being fitted is a bonus over an aftermarket item.

[ChasR]

I don't think it is as simple as that.

Whilst I agree that a larger steering wheel will help matters, having a good steering system also will as well. My Escort RST despite having the smallest steering wheel out of all of my MkIII and MkIV Escorts has been the lightest car to steer out of the lot. I suspect the fact that it is a on a recon rack probably helps matters.

My MG Midget was the same. Initially the steering was horribly heavy on it (it somehow had managed to strip the splines on a cheapo steering wheel it came with. It would take a new steering rack and column to sort it. Even with the tiny Mountney it became so light it was almost a joke how light it had become.

With my MGB I noted a similar difference (albeit not as much; the steering rack had tons play in it) but I did keep that on a similarly sized wheel. Greasing the kingpins on that however made life alot easier!

[datsundrew]

And how many on here have removed the wheel, but not left the nut on loosely? I remember having a fat lip after fitting a 'sporty' wheel to my imp, and it was so close that it would trap my fingers at the top on the dash!

[AtomicRooster]

I see you've used a puller. I got mine off with a proper hub puller, worked a treat.

[bortaf]

Oct 28, 2014 21:35:36 GMT datsundrew said:

And how many on here have removed the wheel, but not left the nut on loosely? I remember having a fat lip after fitting a 'sporty' wheel to my imp, and it was so close that it would trap my fingers at the top on the dash!

Me

[jimmyj]

Loosen nut hands at a quarter to three. Rock each side, always worked for me.

[merry]

Cheers guys, I'll give all that a go.