Make your own steering wheel
#1
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Make your own steering wheel
This thread will be a write up of how to make your very own custom made and custom fit steering wheel to YOUR specifications.
I don't have any pictures of what I've got going on right now and i think it would be confusing to explain it without the pictures, so I'm just going to ask; has anyone else attempted to make their own steering wheel and if you did, how did it go?
My process can be cheaper than pretty much any Sparco or Momo steering wheel and if you do it good and proper then it'll be exactly what you wanted.
Here's a list of prices of the various materials i needed for the project:
$23.96
$38.92
$26.70
Plus ~$20 for misc stuff and give or take a few bucks depending on what exactly you're doing. (This includes the adapter, which was a cheap Grant adapter that I'll fit my wheel to.)
So for a little over $100 I've bought the materials necessary for making my wheel and I'll conclude with that until i have photos of my progress.
I don't have any pictures of what I've got going on right now and i think it would be confusing to explain it without the pictures, so I'm just going to ask; has anyone else attempted to make their own steering wheel and if you did, how did it go?
My process can be cheaper than pretty much any Sparco or Momo steering wheel and if you do it good and proper then it'll be exactly what you wanted.
Here's a list of prices of the various materials i needed for the project:
$23.96
$38.92
$26.70
Plus ~$20 for misc stuff and give or take a few bucks depending on what exactly you're doing. (This includes the adapter, which was a cheap Grant adapter that I'll fit my wheel to.)
So for a little over $100 I've bought the materials necessary for making my wheel and I'll conclude with that until i have photos of my progress.
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Since I'm casting rubber (which will go around the rim of the wheel) i have to make a mold first, which isn't that difficult as long as you have the right tools and skill set, and the rest is cutting the steel cross member to the shape that i want. If you happen to have an old frying pan that you don't need and it just happens to be the same diameter that you want your wheel to be then that makes it even easier.
After the rim and cross member are together and cast into rubber then I'm going to use some upholstery grade faux suede to cover the rubber. It should turn out really nicely.
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Sorry for the wait, it's been awhile since i've done anything with the wheel but today i took the cross member to my grinder and almost finished it up, just a small piece left that i need to cut off.
Here are some pics;
The bolts are going to fit closer to the cross member when finished, and i'll clean up the rim and round off all the sharp edges, but other than that and the small piece that's left on one side, it's pretty much ready for the rubber and suede.
Here are some pics;
The bolts are going to fit closer to the cross member when finished, and i'll clean up the rim and round off all the sharp edges, but other than that and the small piece that's left on one side, it's pretty much ready for the rubber and suede.
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Just received my rubber in the mail, that sounds weird.
Anyways, this is it; http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/...2140b6f7084e6e
This is the same stuff they use on those small mallets with the transparent amber colored heads. It's extremely durable and will be more than strong enough for a steering wheel, it's relatively easy to work with as well, if you're planning on making a wheel just get the trial size, 2 pints = 4 cups, i'll only need a little less than 2 cups for the whole project. I'll get pics of the mold once i finish the first half of it.
I also got a yard of faux suede for the upholstery work. In the end i think this all will end up being the same price as a wheel from the major manufacturers, unless you buy at full msrp prices or something stupid like that. If you don't have decent tools for the work then it'll be even more, but i couldn't find a wheel like this anywhere and money wasn't a big issue to begin with and the work is fun.
Anyways, this is it; http://www.smoothonsecure.com/store/...2140b6f7084e6e
This is the same stuff they use on those small mallets with the transparent amber colored heads. It's extremely durable and will be more than strong enough for a steering wheel, it's relatively easy to work with as well, if you're planning on making a wheel just get the trial size, 2 pints = 4 cups, i'll only need a little less than 2 cups for the whole project. I'll get pics of the mold once i finish the first half of it.
I also got a yard of faux suede for the upholstery work. In the end i think this all will end up being the same price as a wheel from the major manufacturers, unless you buy at full msrp prices or something stupid like that. If you don't have decent tools for the work then it'll be even more, but i couldn't find a wheel like this anywhere and money wasn't a big issue to begin with and the work is fun.
#14
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The wheel is just a piece of steel with a cylindrical ring around it, the part that connects the wheel to the hub is the same as any Grant wheel, I'm not trying to best Sparco or Momo I'm just trying to make a wheel to my preference.
Superiority can have many meanings; aesthetics, structural, price, etc. From a personal standpoint I'd say it is superior simply because it's exactly what i want, i honestly can't find a rally style deep dish wheel like this under 350mm, this is about 290mm, 60mm is a pretty big difference, and it'll be very structurally sound once it's finished, plus how strong does a steering wheel need to be anyways? It's not like i'm making brake disks or something.
I've just mated the rim with the cross member to fit much closer, no more washers. I've also drilled some holes for the hub, just need the big one for the column.
I also bought a horn cap that pulls the entire wheel assembly together, it'll almost look oem, which is nice. http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/ite...asp?T1=5895+01
The hub kit came with a cover that goes right behind the wheel and covers the hub assembly which is painted the same way and aligns with this cap perfectly.
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The retail prices for a similar wheel from Momo is $240, and that's one of the ones that require a Momo adapter to fit to the 6 bolt pattern, which is another big chunk of change, and they have some with no holes drilled but those aren't deep dish or balanced like mine which retail for about the same as the former and a grant adapter could work with them, but mine was a little over $120 including the adapter.
The cheapest price I've found for a Momo wheel with no bolt holes was $170, still more and that's without the adapter.
As for aesthetics, it'll look like any other steering wheel. It's not going to be lumpy or lopsided.
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Hitting your face against the steering wheel will probably kill you weather it bends or not, the fact that they were bent could simply mean that it was that big of an impact.
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It was a rhetorical question and that doesn't even answer it anyways.
It does control the direction of your vehicle, and what moves the wheel? You're hands (that was another rhetorical question btw), how much strength would you need to break or even bend the wheel under normal circumstances? It's made of steel and 3mm thick Al bolted together and then encased in a resin strong enough to be used as a mallet. It's strong enough, it doesn't require special tools or equipment to make a durable steering wheel.
BTW, quoting text out of context is pretty childish.
It does control the direction of your vehicle, and what moves the wheel? You're hands (that was another rhetorical question btw), how much strength would you need to break or even bend the wheel under normal circumstances? It's made of steel and 3mm thick Al bolted together and then encased in a resin strong enough to be used as a mallet. It's strong enough, it doesn't require special tools or equipment to make a durable steering wheel.
BTW, quoting text out of context is pretty childish.
#22
I want to get across that I am not trying to be negative before you read my post..........Have you taken apart many wheels before building this one? You know cut the leather or what not off to see what's inside? Some grant steering wheels that I have seen use a round tube on the outside. Why not do that? Just an idea......By doing this you could coat the thing in rubber then sand it smooth and simply wrap it in leather or what not...
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I want to get across that I am not trying to be negative before you read my post..........Have you taken apart many wheels before building this one? You know cut the leather or what not off to see what's inside? Some grant steering wheels that I have seen use a round tube on the outside. Why not do that? Just an idea......By doing this you could coat the thing in rubber then sand it smooth and simply wrap it in leather or what not...
I was considering making the wheel rim out of a tube, but i couldn't come up with any way of doing this unless i took a pipe and bent it into the shape of the rim, but i don't have the tools to do that properly.
I haven't done much but here are some pics of the stuff that i did yesterday.
I understand people's concerns for safety and i appreciate the concern, but i will be using harnesses and i'll be kept closer to my seat than with the stock seat belt.