Freightliner: Steering Wheel Removal
 

Im considering upgrading my steering wheel & I'd like to figure out how to remove the steering wheel first.

I expected to find either a removable pad or a nut under the horn / button under the center/logo cap...all i found was the contact points & springs for the horn button.

I've not yet removed the lower steering wheel shroud, thats my next step...
but i was surprised NOT to find any removable steering wheel padding or screws on the underside of the wheel (that might be holding a cover on).

any idea on the procedure for removing a FL Columbia steering wheel ?

Oh oh, pretty soon you'll have blue neon washer nozles, chrome and blue neon on all your dash switches, and a skull on the shifter and turn signal stalks. Hahahahaahah. I'll ask my truck mechanic buddy if he's ever taken one off a Columbia.

dont have to worry 'bout that w/ me...im not much of a chrome (or carbon fiber) guy...

BUT....

ive just finished updating and adding better lighting to all the basement storage bays and toe kicks...i installed LED light strips (20 inches, 75 LEDs per strip)...ive got more light and less electrical load now. (strips are easily soldered together or cut to length).

Im considering adding some under coach LED's for ambient light...but friends are having an intervention to prevent me from doing that ;)

Post some night pictures of the new lighting!

will do ! photos in the storage bay are difficult - but next time were out ill get some photos.

here are the lights i bought - the seem to be good quality (despite my isolated problem of obtaining them).

12V 75-LED White Light Strip (50cm) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Bushpilot-what model Freightliner do you have. I took my horn button out of the steering wheel the other day (electric horn not working) and the button is a self contained unit. The nut that retains the steering wheel to the steering shaft was visible under it. I have a '07 Century series.

gordy - its an 04 columbia, w/ what i call the m2 dash cluster...that is to say it does not have separate individual gauges rather the gauges are part of a cluster (behind some "glass" w/ the speedo & tach)

when i pulled the horn button/cover all i see are some springs and contacts for the horn, it has occurred to me that the logo/cover maybe the 1st layer and that i may need to pull the next layer made up of the springs & contacts - but i was uncertain.

ill look again and take some pictures.

That would be my guess. Regardless of year or make, somewhere in there there's a big nut on a splined shaft.

You may need a puller to get the wheel off the shaft.

yeah im familiar w/ the process and have several pullers.

im being overly careful (for the moment) but didnt see a seam below the horn contact/guts so im not even sure how or where it would come out.

That's a lot different than mine then. Good luck.

ok, finally figured this out - in the center of the wheel there is a button assembly (under the logo button) that also needs to be popped/pried out.

once you have that horn contact button out - the steering wheel nut is exposed.

the horn wires thread THRU the steering wheel SHAFT - so some xtra care needs to be taken when pulling the wheel w/ a press/puller....i used a socket large enough that would contain the wires (w/out risk of pinching 'em) and then let the puller press against the socket.

I'll get some photos up today - as im installing my new fancy wheel :D

ok heres the pics....

the nut is a 1-1/4".

the first picture shows the "removal" of the logo/horn button (pried out w/ a small screw driver).

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...36082dfc8c.jpg

next shows the actually spring & contact mechanism (under the logo button)....again pried out w/ a small / thin screw driver.

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...9849c0530e.jpg

now we see the horn WIRES which are threaded thru the HOLLOW steering shaft...

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...5a65999ff7.jpg

now you can see the socket - i used a socket smaller than 1-1/4 (having loosened the steering wheel nut) for the puller to press against & so that the wires could be CONTAINED (w/out pinching) in the large socket.

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...4724cf003f.jpg

the wheel is off -

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...55d297c0b6.jpg

and the new wheel is ON...

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...420f3def37.jpg

That wheels is fancy looking. Did the horn button plug right in to the stock wires?

pretty much....

one wire plugs into the the push-on / blade terminal
the other (ground) wire i had to modify slightly by putting it under one of the ground screws...pretty simple stuff.

I'll take a picture so you can see the connections & minor modification needed.

btw the steering wheel is a pretty common unit - 179 bucks (all over the net)...i got it from one of my local shops, its
one of those things that i wanted to touch & feel 1st hand, before buying. Its made by United Pacific (https://www.uapac.com) its finished nicely, and its a nice / welcome change from the OE plastic unit. I figure i can always wrap it w/ a leather "wheel skins" cover if it turns out to be "too cold"...even that would be nicer than the OE steering wheel.

FWIW i have a wheelskins leather cover on my f350 wheel.

horn button wiring....the white (extension wires) came with the steering wheel....
im not sure you need all that length...i used it ;)

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...2935ed0280.jpg

The layer of springs under the horn button is the bottom of the horn switch. Pull that out and you will find the nut securing the steering wheel.

Is the old steering wheel for sale? I need a new one.

Horn Problem....
 

Anybody know how to repair the contact surface on my steering column when the contact spring tears up the contact surface on the column. My mechanic installed a new contact spring dry and tore up the contact surface on the column. Am I screwed and have to buy a new column?

i think you can see that in my next pictures...where I've not only exposed the nut but talk about how to use a socket to protect the horn wiring when using a puller to press the wheel off the spline.

PM me an offer (i think i still have the aftermarket wheel box, so i can ship it in that, well protected), lets talk...shipping would be on you.

Here is mine.

Few more of mine.

I put a mahogany/billet wheel with a chrome column. (The pics are not in the correct order of installation). I also added some other chrome trim and billet air brake pulls and billet pedals. I also took all of the obnoxious warning labels all over everything off.

man i SO wanted THAT dash (w/ all the separate gauges & trip computer) over my M2 "like" dash :(

John -

you're a man after my own heart (sticker removal).

where did you get the column riser ? and pedals ?

I can help you mount that CB flush in the overhead ;) THREAD HERE

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...a0484c2383.jpg

Www.bigrigchromshop.com. I had to modify the column cover to fit the auto shift but it looks factory. I used the stocker as a guide and trimmed it out with a drimel. Used painters tape so I did not damage the chrome. I will get some more pics this weekend. I have my back up.cams where your CB is. My radio in the dash is motorized, it rolls out and opens up. It is a Kenwood with GPS /ipod/xm/etc. I have my in motion directv hooked up to it as well. That way I can watch whatever I want traveling if conditions allow. When we get there, I turn on the big sat and it stands up so you have high definition Directv on all channels. Is it wrong to have 4 HD DVR ' S in your rig? :)

Your CB install is Sweet! No more than I use mine, I might put it on the other side and install like you did.

my rearview monitor was in the same (center overhead) location....I moved it so i could get the CB flush mounted in the overhead.

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...1e585ac4ac.jpg

https://www.truckconversion.net/attac...88ec442732.png

That looks really nice Don. I have an actual glove box door where your net is. If you open it, a 9 mm HK falls out. :) I can't find anyone that talks on the CB anymore. Even if there is a wreck. I think the next stop for my CB is the bottom of the garbage can. :-) It would be fun if I had buddies and we traveled together in a group....but other than that, I can't really see a use for it in today's world.

Gotta disagree on the CB thing. I've been hugely saved a couple times in recent memory with mine. One was when I was w/b on I94 in Minnesota. Heard the truckers start talking about a big block ahead. One guy was saying to get off and he gave great directions for what roads to take to go a ways west and then get back to the interstate after the problem. I was almost to that exit so I took it and it was smooth sailing. We could even see the big accident with the huge pileup of cars behind it when we got back on the interstate just after it. I'm quite sure we dodged a huge problem that time. And, the traffic wasn't backed up to us yet when I got off so I would have driven right by my last chance to escape it had I not heard about that on the CB.

Next time was almost the identical situation. We were w/b in Michigan on I94 (are we seeing a pattern here?). I had seen a squad sail on by with the lights on but that's not unusual. Trucker came on the radio saying to anybody w/b there is a big pileup ahead. He said what exit to get off and what road to take down to I90 to continue w/b. I could not see any traffic problems ahead when I got to that exit (about a mile after the trucker had told me about it) but I took the exit anyway and it was only like 4 miles down to I90. I could hear a bunch of chatter about the pileup.

Pretty sure both of those saves was worth it to me to keep the radio on and keep the squelch up so I only hear rather close stuff. If somebody starts chatting about meaningless junk (most of the time) I just switch the pa/cb switch down for a bit. That cuts it off very easily and I don't have to adjust the volume or anything. Then when I don't see the meter bouncing around I switch it back to CB.

yeah i keep something extra up there too - Kimber, Glock, LCP, S&W M&P...depends on my mood ;) usually the LCP (my daily carry) is in my back pocket in an Uncle George's Holster

Sometimes i wish i had the glovebox door (option?) but the net helps to keep things from bouncing out.

Sometimes i keep a friend in the door pocket too :D

Overall i concur about the CB....its mostly filthy mouthed garbage, until there's a back up & then the information is all over the map such you cant figure out WHAT lane to be in to get by.

Mostly I use the CB to say thanks to other truckers (who let me over) or to let them know I'm holding a slot or room for them to move over in front of me.

Best use i ever made of it was a middle of the night / several 100 mile chat w/ one guy hauling 80k lbs of down hole (steel) tubing from houston to harrisburg....eventually he was running too fast for me (85+) to keep up & i stopped north of Meridian, MS for fuel & a nap.

No one gives any "smokey" reports anymore....so i run WAZE on my phone & a Valentine 1 as my primary defense tools.

Bob -

if you have a (non blackberry) smart phone, i HIGHLY recommend WAZE it can provide LIVE/Active Routing around problems.

Waze is a CROWD SOURCED application that leverages data (input) and automatically collected from other users....

Waze uses your GPS data to sense that you've slowed down (and changes the color of the road/map that you're own) and alert other users....it will even re-route based on this information *IF* theres an alternative route that can save you time (even as little as 2 minutes)...fwiw you don't have to take the route, you can decline the re-route.

further - if you see a car or debris on the road or shoulder you tap the screen a couple of times to place a marker & warn other Waze users (ahead or behind you)....you score points for every entry....AND....
users that happen upon your notification/location are giving the chance to VERIFY the problem is still present or "no longer there" w/ a single tap of the screen.

It works the same way for alerting of speed/radar traps....the users "work together" in a sense to alert each other / verify the reports (so minimal chance of false reports).

personally i STILL use a (garmin) GPS (which has FM Traffic integration) but it doesnt work nearly as well as my smartphone & WAZE....in fact my Garmin GPS really is there for my passengers viewing pleasure (and to provide stats to my passengers about our time & distance til arrival).

I keep a North American Arms 22 mag PUG in my front pocket, Sig 980 in SOB and 9 mm HK full size overhead. On the other overhead I have a 10mm full size glock with a surefire on it in case it gets nasty. :)