The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk suicide knob

well ny question is this, what is the ideal location for the knob?,,,was it called anything else, it sure helps turning in tight spots, i have had it at the 7 oclock position but at a lower spot it would get hooked on coats etc.

also called a poor mans power steering, I have one on my 52.. just install it where ever it is comfy for you, mine is about one o'clock....works well for me, dont know if I really need it but my hand feels good on it...........later my friend

A lot of states and provinces have made these neat things illegal to use. Sadly.

I usually have mine at 3;00 .All the forklifts at work do too.
Lothar

it was also called a 'necker knob' in the day

but there's a good reason it's called a suicide knob, and there's plenty of folks around that have had thumbs broke because of them, especially on forklifts

Bill

I had one on my '57 Froid back when I was a kid. I had it at about 2 o'clock. Whatever works for you is good.

thanks guy's.

that helped a bit, it is illegal here too but i will play stupid, my wife says im good at it!!
better to be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt!!

I've got mine at 3 o'clock on my '50.

P.S., I think that a suicide knob caused the loss of Sammy Davis Jr's eye in a car wreck.

Bob

I located mine to the swap meet pile ...

:p

i'm gonna go with like..10:30...ish. that way its in the ideal position for a hard right hand turn, with the right hand on the knob, but also in a semi-comfy position for the left hand to hold it when the left arm is on the window/door sill, while the right hand is on the shifter.

thats about where it is on the tractors, and they do make a helluva difference when raking hay, and you need to double windrow..just crank on that beast, stomp the right brake, kiss the front of the tractor to the back of the rake, then quick dstraighten 'er out again.

don't worry. i plan on having one on my truck. muwahhaa.

"what do you mean officer, illegal?" -flutters eyelashes-

hahaha...

.later days.
.sam.

I only used a broadie knob once. It was on an old Allis Chalmers, and it tore the hell out of one of my fingers (the wooden part was loose and traveled up and down, allowing for pinching).

From then on, I just used the palm of my hand.

[shrug]

Works for me.

Peggy has hers at the 1 O'Clock. Hers is legal in all 50 states

I find that's a comfy spot for me, too -- I don't even remove it anymore more when I drive her car (it has a quick disconnect).

For what it's worth... I think anywhere from 10 O'Clock to 3 O'Clock is good.

John

That's hilarious about Sammy Davis Jr. Nice one Bob. If that thing imbedded in his eye socket, reckon he just like...painted a pupil on it and just left it in there? I also heard that when Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in that Buick, it was coz she was thrown into the steering wheel and the knob broke off and the jagged metal from the clamp cut her head CLEAN off! I swear....I crack myself up sometimes.
Dash Riprocker

admonishment in the making.

I was going to get a suicide knob, and my father said no, they are dangerous.

My 62, 3/4 had a knob when I bought it. I drove it that way until I painted the wheel. I really liked it but was concerned about safety issues too, so I left it off after repainting the wheel. I'm thinking about getting another. What is the recommendation of this scurvy crew?

Suicide knob or no suicide knob?

Decisions...decisions! Knob...or nonob? Wellsir, I think they are great on power steering, but more trouble than they would be worth on a stovebolt. You'd have one arm like Popeye and the other like Olive Oyl.
Dash Riprocker

Thought they outlawed the spinner knobs years ago.I still see a lot of them in big trucks,and farm equip.As I remember they used to come loose and chew up the steering wheel,and rip the he-- out of shirt cuffs.I prefer power steering.

Speaking of Jayne Mansfield - did you know that her daughter plays a role on the TV show "Law and Order - Special Victims Unit?

Her name in the series is Dective Olivia Benson. Her real name is Mariska Hargity. In the series she works with Dective Elliot Stabler whose real name is Christopher Meloni.

She's a babe! Yep!

Joe

Mariska-she's purty,,Brian

I have one on my caprice but I already got warned once so now it's at 6 o'clock,make sure you get a good one,a cheapy can break or slip at a bad time.

Also called a brodie knob. I had one on my 59 for a while.

As long as we're editorializing here... I could be wrong (and if there are any local cops reading this then I'm really in trouble), but, most of the cops around here are so young, I doubt that any even know what a brodie or suicide knob is. And, there's so much about my truck that's dangerous I figure a brodie knob is about the least of those things!!! I mean, where do you start? Metal everywhere in the cab, not a bit of padding to be seen, steering that's as loose as a two dollar street walker, brakes as chancy as a flight on Persian Airlines and aftermarket seat belts that would probably separate your torso like Jane's head. I always wear my seat belt in all my cars, but come on guys. How many years did we drive around in heavy metal without any safety equipment???
When I was a kid some 45 plus years ago, there was a family friend who was a one-armed sign painter. True story. Now he REALLY needed a brodie knob. I remember that old car with it's bright red paint and all that chrome inside and out and I loved that knob. As soon as I got my old truck that was the first thing I bought for it...

Haven't had one of those in a car or truck for years. In the late '60's, you could get one that had a little lever on the side. You pushed this, and the knob would tip down and lay flat till you wanted to use it. These were rather cheaply made and didn't hold up very well.
Most trucks steer easy enough that you don't really need them.
Old tractors are another story. Usually one of the first things I do when I get another tractor is put a knob on it, if it doesn't already have one.

I had one on my 52 1 ton at 6:00, it was great, and very useful.
When I switched to power steering I took it off, all I need now is a single finger on a spoke, or just my palm on the wheel.

Grigg

OK, I'm going to put one on. I doubt that the cops out here give a rats azz. When I'm drivin my old PU, all I get are thumbs up. Any suggestions on which one to get? I'm gunna call the tractor supply and see what they have.

I liked the wooden one I had

Putting your palm on the steering wheel works good with power steering, but they made a steering knob for that, too. They were "palm knobs" and were a flat low profile knob about 2" in diameter and only about 1/4" thick. Kind of cool and very useful and they didn't look so much like a steering knob.

Joe

The one I bought at one of the many chevy parts suppliers promptly fell apart. It looked cool. Had a bowtie emblem but it was elcheapo. Let me know if you find a quality one out there.

Tractor Supply has really heavy duty ones for sale in the primary colors....red, black, yellow, green. I bought one for a buddies 4wd tractor, he loves it.

I got knob once didn't make any differance where is was mounted at the time.

Was the first gimmick I bought for the Chevy. Make sure you get a good one from a farm supply. Tha ones that can be flippt inwards. The cheapos always come loose.

And than there is the Holly Grail:

The Chevy spinner steering wheel with the build in sppinner.

But I saw them never under $1000 on Ebay.

Frank

I have an old one on my 55.1 I'm with Sam on the 10:30 location. Comfy for my left hand cruising down the road with arm out the window and good location for folks to see it (cool factor) when I'm parked. It just looks right with the truck!

Buddy in AK

Mine is at about 3:00 just above the steering wheel spoke. My guess is that it depends on if you're a righty or lefty... I'm a righty. I have no power steering and find that it helps a real lot.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the term 'suicide knob' came about when they were used with power steering... you could flip the steering wheel real fast to make sharp turns or spin outs.. which resulted in lots of accidents.

The knobs are illegal in lots of states but like most things about a bolt I don't think the cops will hassle you.