Racing Steering Wheel!

[kenalustalon]

I bought one of them nice D shaped Racing Wheels for my 98 Talon NT, I wanna get it installed but the guy at the dealership where I bought it said they won't do it because of the airbag... I want this wheel in badly... is there anyway to have the airbag disabled and put the new wheel in? Because I don't wanna waste $300 on this very nice leather stiched wheel and not be able to get it put in

Any help would be great PM me please.

 

[igs]

Just install it yourself. It's easy.

 

[kenalustalon]

Where can I get a hub? and how do I take out the airbag?

 

[theboogieman]

Originally posted by kenalustalon
Where can I get a hub? and how do I take out the airbag?

It is my understanding that a MOMO or Sparco hub will work.
Leo

 

[chriw21_2000]

To take the airbag out unhook the battery for about ten mins (discharge any capacitors ect.) Then in the back of the middle console is a little silver and yellow box. unhook the wire from that and take the bags out. leave the box out.

Laterz

 

[EuroGSTSpyder]

only problem I had was to get the whell off of the steeringwheel splined pin...it was stuck like nothing else. I need an extractor of some sort to get it off...But I use the MoMo hub made for this car so ....other then the stuck wheel ..no problem. I made a bracket for the cruise control to be fastened behind the spoke of the wheel...

 

[tmoney]

Alright to answer your question about the steering wheel installation. The only thing that you really need to do is:

-Disconnect the negative terminal post off of your battery
-Wait about 5-10 min
-there are 4 bolts located in the rear of the steering wheel, if i am not mistaken they are 12mm bolts
- There is also a plastic piece on the underside of the steering wheel remove that and disconnect the harness.
-remove the bolts and the airbad from the steering wheel comes right off
here is the part where you dont want to be messing around although there is no power running to the airbag itself it still can be discharged by static electricity so be careful where you place the airbag and never place the airbag side down (unless you want to see the bag fly into the air and hit whatever is around it including yourself).
- There is also a plastic piece on the underside of the steering wheel remove that and disconnect the harness.
-There is a center bolt in the center of the steering wheel you will see it once you remove the airbag.
-Be careful when you pull the steering wheel off if you dont have a specialty tool to remove the wheel, you dont want to #### with the clock spring.
-Once you remove that its simple just place in the new hub either MOMO or Sparco and then place the center bolt back into place
-then attach your steering wheel

I hope that this will help you reach your goals of putting in your new steering wheel. This is somewhat out of my Haynes manual cause I replaced my steering wheel about a month ago.

You should invest into a Haynes manual or some kind of shop manual this will help you out in any other future modifications that you may have questions on removing parts and replacing them back in the right place.

Tyson

 

[Tallen]

Ah nothing like taking off your vehicle safety system to make your car look ricey.

 

[EuroGSTSpyder]

Originally posted by Tallen
Ah nothing like taking off your vehicle safety system to make your car look ricey.

Very informative and useful post....

 

[PSIcho]

Originally posted by Tallen
Ah nothing like taking off your vehicle safety system to make your car look ricey.

Am I the only one that has a problem with the steering wheel being too close to my knee, hits it in fact (even with it set at highest, and no I'm not gonna drive with my knee straight neither). And I'm not even tall (at 5'10''). I can't wait for my momo wheel to arrive so I can finally fix that problem or at least alleviate it. Ricey? I don't see why functionality results for a car being ricey. I have a harness ... and don't quite see Indy cars and Nascars having airbags yet. Good post and very informative thanks to all that contributed.

 

[Tallen]

Originally posted by EuroGSTSpyder
Very informative and useful post....

Considering I wouldn't be alive to post if I didnt have airbags, prolly larry too....yes it is very informative!

 

[kenalustalon]

Ok, Thanks tmoney that was the best post I have read in awhile
Thanks again will help me a lot.


Also Tallen WTF? How is a steering wheel ricey? It's a steering wheel that personally I think is more comfortable, and better shapped. I think you just complain a lot... you probably have a RWD spoiler or painted interior, or a pretty colored neon glow shifter knob.... talk about rice. *HUK*

 

[Tallen]

Assuming makes you an ass if u don't be careful. I was just making sure that you would be willing to risk your life for a steering wheel...have a nice day.

 

[tmoney]

I dont want to get in between any of this, but I have to put in my thoughts so here they are...

The airbag itself isnt the only safety feature that a car offers to save someones life, so assuming (like you said) that removing the airbag will kill you if you get into an accident isnt true

Meaning that yes, if you do not wear your seat belt you will certainly be killed. Having either OE seat belts or approved seat belt harness will keep you from coming near the steering wheel (this is why you dont see drag cars or Nascars have airbags in them and there body structure is much weaker since it is only made of fiberglass at best go figure. Although I understand that they have other safety featuers to make up for them, the point is that there are still no airbags present.

In fact in a recent survey airbags do more harm then they save, because the airbag deploys at such high rates or in some cases too slow of a rate. The airbag can either brake your nose on impact or worse fracture your skull, or if it doesnt fire fast enough well then you are screwed anyway. So depending on an airbag can give you a false sense of security, best bet use the seat belt it will save your life much better than an airbag can since an airbag cant stop you from flying out the windshield.

I dont want anyone to take this as me dogging on someone it is just my own opinion on facts that I read on the subject at hand.

Thats all I have to say I am sure that I will dogged on to by someone else that has their own opinion, but that is what makes us more knowledgeable by learning from the next guy, so if anyone has anything to say I wont take it personally I will take it as that much more that I have learned on the subject.

Thanks for listening
tyson

 

[Steel Hawk]

One thing that may change some people's minds about air bags, something I learned from reading Bob Bondurants High Speed Pursuit Driving:

If you wrap your thumb around the steering wheel (i.e. thumbs horizontal around the wheel) theres a good chance when the airbag deploys it will break your thumbs. Thats why you should place your thumbs in a vertical position on the wheel.

After I read that I hated air bags, everytime I noticed my thumbs wraped around the wheel of a car with airbags I invisioned them breaking off.

Eh, I really don't want to live if my car gets hit anyways, it's a 93 and I've put over 15,000$ into it. The simplest solution is just don't have a wreck and you won't need air bags.

 

[PSIcho]

Quick question .... How do you deal with the clockspring then once you remove the center bolt theres a plastic piece that protrudes with the two wires sticking out that is part of the clocksrping. .... Maybe I'll start another thread.

 

[tmoney]

Well there you go steel hawk has proven another point on false sense of security of the airbag anyway I am not going there.

PSIcho: check your PM

tyson

 

[igs]

Originally posted by Tallen
Ah nothing like taking off your vehicle safety system to make your car look ricey.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[Omega]

Not to mention that it is illegal to remove them.

I will gladly take a broken thumb or two over death, but that is just me.

 

[ABK]

yeah it's illegal stupid and retarded, and if you are going to attemp it I hope the air bag hits you,

 

[tmoney]

Originally posted by Omega
Not to mention that it is illegal to remove them.

I will gladly take a broken thumb or two over death, but that is just me.

I would too take a broken thumb or thumbs over death; who wouldnt?!!!
If you gave anyone that choice I am sure that they would take the broken thumb scenerio.

Yes, it is illegal to remove them no one in here said anything about it not being illegal to remove them. If you read my posts then you would understand the conversation taking place in this thread.

Wear your seatbelts and look at my other posts in the same thread.

thanks for your opinion in the matter

Tyson

 

[tmoney]

Originally posted by ABK
yeah it's illegal stupid and retarded, and if you are going to attemp it I hope the air bag hits you,

Well like I said no one in here has mentioned that removing the airbag was legal to do. Talking about illegal what does that really mean?

Illegal

\Il*le"gal\, a. [Pref. il- not + legal: cf. F. ill['e]gal.] Not according to, or authorized by, law; specif., contrary to, or in violation of, human law; unlawful; illicit; hence, immoral; as, an illegal act; illegal trade; illegal love. --Bp. Burnet

So if you take anyone of the above I am sure that everyone in the Import Scene is illegal of doing something to there car to alter a part or modifiy is to make it faster.

I am sure (I am assuming here; just because you are on a forum most likely looking for ways to improv your cars; so if that makes me an ass I am guilty) that one of you if not both of you have modified or has put on parts where it read "For Off Road Use Only" cause I sure have a list of things that I did. If not and you are on these forums just to learn something then be more professional about it, cause really wanting the airbag to hit someone in the face isnt cool at all.

I appreciate the comments that both have you gave, but again this thread is not talking about the issues of the airbag being "illegal" or "legal" to remove this thread just shows that depending on the airbag solely for safety is a false sense of security. If it makes you feel better to keep the airbag in the car then thats your decision no one is makeing you do this, however, for the many others that are doing it I guess we are all stupid in your eyes.

Thanks for the comments
Tyson

 

[kenalustalon]

Who the hell needs an airbag! Personally I don't plan on getting in an accident... I've driven for years and I havn't even come close to an accident. I trust my driving enough. Plus I've had another car with no airbag... and I never cried about it. Personally I think airbags are sorta ### because I don't plan on getting in an accident.

 

[Omega]

It is one thing to add stupid little lights that are illegal, but it is another to remove a safety option that could potentially save your life.

You do realize that if you do get into an accident and the insurance company finds out what you did, you could be screwd. What if you hit your head on the steering wheel? Do you think it is possible that insurance will not cover your head injuries because you had the bright idea of removing the airbag?


Looks like the gene pool needs skimming again

 

[Omega]

Hey, kenalustalon

You had better be kidding.