Steering wheel removal

[Bill S]

Well for two weeks I have been trying to remove the steering wheel from my 1950 Ford. I have put WD40, Blaster and 50% acetone 50% ATF mixture for two weeks every day. I am using a gear puller. I have even been hitting the back side of the wheel with a rubber malled when the wheel is under pressure from the gear puller. So far the stering wheel has not moved there is not any rust on the column. Any ideas?
Tks Bill S

 

[Lawson Cox]

If you have a gear puller on it, while it is under pressure, hit the gear puller, not the back side of the wheel. Sometimes those things can be a real pain in the rear end. Yours, not the car's.

 

[Gumpy]

I would say borrow the correct puller..someone nearby where you live should have one...line up the screw shaft correctly on your steering shaft in the middle of the column....protect the steering wheel any way you can to keep it from chipping.....what has worked for me in the past is pulling on the wheel edges with my hands...sometimes a rubber mallet on the center of the wheel on the side...don't worry it'll come loose..just keep workin it!

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Cold shrink it. You can get the tolerances to open between the 2 metal objects by shrinking the metal with cold. There are a few ways to get this type of cold. You could rent a piping line freezing unit from your local sewer / plumbing contractor supply. You could go to the dry ice guy and get a container of it. You could get some liquid nitrogen. Or you could get a large plastic bag put it in a burlap bag put 5 lbs of ice in it and about 3 lbs of regular rock salt in it, shake it up good pack it on the parts, wrap a lot of blankets towels or what ever on there and tape it all up so the cold stays in. This should get you down respectfully to minus 40 f, I have hit 45 below, takes about 30 minutes to get there. Move fast and wear gloves cause you will stick to the metal. This costs about 5 bucks if you buy the ice, I do this to freeze water lines and swap service valves. Have fun.

 

[ford1]

get a steering wheel puller, one that has provisions to use bolts that screw into the steering wheel hub, and then the center bolt is tightened down on the cented of the steering wheel shaft, tighten it real tight, then hit the center bolt and tighten some more, smack the center bolt and tighten again, keep doing this till the wheel pops loose, the puller im talking about has4 legs made to look like a 4 armed Y, its also used to pull crank pullies

 

[PeteVS]

Ditto on the puller. There should be a couple of drilled and tapped holes under the horn button. Steering wheel pullers come with an assortment of long bolts that will screw into those holes to pull the wheel off. No damage to the visible parts of the wheel. Try it. You'll like it...

 

[Fibber Mcgee]

I had the same problem with my 49 and the strange thing is mine is missing the two holes,I still havent got it off,I was lucky I had a spare off a 51 it came off with the puller easy I guess its luck of the draw.

 

[41Fordor]

I drilled a couple holes into my hub on my 41 steering wheel and ran a tap into them to use my steering wheel puller. Of course, my 41 doesn't have turn signals so there was no risk of drilling into any electrical components

 

[JM 35 Sedan]

I'm not that familiar with removing steering wheels from the later year fords but I know the early SW's will come off pretty easily with a puller that fits under the hub. I have not found a SW that could not be removed with the puller that I made. See pics attached. To protect the threads on the end of the steering shaft, I back the nut off until it is slightly above the threads and then I place that rectangular piece between the nut and the end of the screw. The leather pieces are just RTV'd to the puller to protect the hub of the SW.

 

[ajohn]

Wow!That is the very best steering wheel remover I have ever seen!You put a lot of thought and skill into that ont.Back in the 50's,I got a 36 Ford coupe in a trade that was left open for years,no windshield or top insert.A guy in my class at high school got in the car and with the nut removed,simply pulled the steering wheel side to side.It came off! James

 

[bluardun]

Easy! Use a (28-48) ford shackel end plate, and 2 5/16 X1 1/4 fine tread bolts. Bolt the shackle plate into the 2 holes in the steering wheel. Snug them down evenly. the steering wheel will pop. Not much money or effort involved. It works.

 

[hotrodfreak]

I install a bolt in center hole and keep hitting it with hammer while pulling and wiggling wheel by hand. Penetrating fluid helps.

 

[Andy]

When you hit the steering shaft with a hammer, you are just beating up the lower bearing in the steering box. It will have absolutely no effect on getting the wheel loose as the wheel is not supported. If the wheel was out and on a vice or something. hitting the shaft would help. The installed wheel if free to float up and down so hitting the shaft has NO effect. You are only hurting the steering box.

 

[PeteVS]

I pulled a '32 wheel by drilling and tapping two 5/16-18 holes in the metal hub and used a standard steering wheel puller.