The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Removing Steering Wheel from 1951 Chevrolet Truck

Fellow Bolters,

Need some help/advice on how to remove steering wheel from my 1951 Chevrolet truck. I have tried a puller but with the odd shape of the steering wheel center, I'm having trouble keeping in on when I begin to tighten the puller. Is there a specific tool/puller that I should use? If so, where can I get one? I've posted a couple of steering wheel photos on in my photobucket:
Photobucket Images
Photobucket Images

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

Lee

Get a brass hammer and a friend.
Have friend pull up on wheel.
You rap the end of the column.
Wheel comes off.
Drink beer.

Lee, I borrowed a puller from Pep Boys. Most of your FLAPS will loan you a puller that will work.

I purchased the Harbor Freight puller set for 6.99 on one of their sales and believe it or not it pulled my steering wheel and my harmonic balancer with no bent or broken bolts. There are two small 1/4 or 5/16 holes in the wheel which I blew out with my air nozzle. Then I used a little oil on the threads (very dry). Make sure if you use the hammer/friend trick you leave the nut on for a few threads so the wheel doesen't knock your teeth out when it springs loose.

You should be able to borrow a steering wheel puller for a local auto supply, but they aren't very expensive to buy, either. If you decide to buy one, get a harmonic balancer puller, then you can pull both if you need to. Kal-van/Kal tools made a good balancer puller in the past that works well on steering wheels. I would advise leaving the nut on the shaft when using the puller- loosen the nut back to flush with the end of the shaft, then pull the wheel until it stops against the nut, take the nut off and the steering wheel comes off. If you haven't noticed alignment marks on the shaft and the steering wheel hub, there should be some,so you put the wheel on in the same position. If not, mark the steering wheel position in the shaft so you put the wheel back in the same location.

Harvester

Just for future bolters who might run into this. I found a great puller from Eastwood Tool Company -- http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=2495&itemType=PRODUCT that worked flawlessly in removing the steering wheel from my 1951 Chevy Truck.

I have had one in my toolbox for many years.It is just a cheapie,but it does the job.

Czechman's advice is spot-on. Loosen the center nut til it's flush with the steering shaft, then whack it once with a brass hammer while applying upward force on the wheel with both knees. The nut will prevent the wheel from bashing you in the face! Wheel should now be loose enough to remove without tools. If not, try again. Works for me every time.

why a brass hammer?

It will give it a shock without marring the surface

7 years on still good advice

Boy, this is an old thread. My link doesn't work any more either.

why does "marring" the surface matter in this case as the surface is not seen once the steering wheel is rplaced and horn button installed?

brass is soft and will not damage the threads of the steering shaft. You could also use a dead blow hammer.

You could also put a little tension on the puller and give the puller a little shock. Just be careful. Luckily my wheel came right off with just the puller

once its damaged, its weaker in that spot, therefore more likely to crack at that spot. Better safe than sorry, right?