Re: Steering wheel removal.

[Hirsch <Catenary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil Williams wrote:

> I too have found that the steering wheel pullers that rely
> on the threaded holes in the steering wheel to handle the
> forces aren't always up to the job. I've pulled several
> stubborn wheels with a common 3 armed gear puller with better
> success. I just pulled a spider wheel last week with the gear
> puller that has 6 inch arms (there are many sizes). It fit the
> wheel just fine and didn't damage it at all. The are quite
> cheap also...

> The thing I've found generally with pulling any type of gears,
> pulleys or wheels is that perseverance and patience is the
> key. You don't want to damage the parts your removing. When I
> pull stubborn steering wheels I apply pressure with the
> puller and then tap firmly on the bolt of the puller with
> a heavy mallet.

Be careful with this approach. I had a bad experience pulling
the steering wheel off a '69 Spider with a cheap gear puller.
The puller's tip was a tapered cone and when the puller bolt
was whacked, instead of loosening the wheel hub, it spread the
top threaded portion of the steering shaft. :-( By the time
I realized what was happening, the shaft was quite distorted
and barely allowed the steering wheel to come off. After this
I had to spend two hours with a thread file repairing the shaft
to get the nut back on.

This could have been prevented had I:
1) Used a good quality good puller,
2) Left the nut on the shaft when pulling the wheel, and
3) Made sure the puller was on straight and paid close attention
to what was happening when I whacked the puller bolt.

Good luck,

Rich

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