Skurge

my good 84' has a steering box that i believe is beyond adjustment, either that or i'm just no good at it, my parts car has a nice tight steering box in it, so i've been working on swapping it


the first day we got the 3 bolts out that hold the box to the frame, and the joint under the box connecting it to the steering, took off the wheel bolt and that damn wheel wouldn't budge. so today i show up with a steering wheel puller, installed it on the wheel and started wrenching

well, instead of the wheel coming off, the wheel bent, until the bolts just pulled right out of the wheel itself. my plan now is to drill new bolt holes and tap them(in a stronger spot) and give it another go. as of right now i dont care if the wheel is ruined as i have a good stock one laying around that i'm not using.


i hope the nardi wheel comes off my good car a whole hell of a lot easier, the previous owner put it on less than a year ago so i would imagine it should be cake

7aull

iTrader: (2)

That sucks! I have pulled a dozen RX7 wheels, and they have always popped off easily after grasping the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock and rocking (push/pull alternately) back and forth and it just walked up off the spline….

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

put the steering wheel nut back on a couple of threads, and hit the back side of the wheel with your hands, alternating sides, and it'll pop off

Skurge

i figured it would be that easy, but this damn thing just wont budge, i mean even with the puller, i dont think the wheel moved a hair, i'll give it another shot once i have some time to get back to my other garage and work more on this

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

moving it side to side and shocking it will work better than the puller

Skurge

i'll give it a shot again, i didn't like how it seemed to move the whole column around when i was pulling on it back and forth, but i will give it another go sometime this week when i have some time

sir revalot

How I do it..

Knees behind the bottom of the wheel pulling towards you..

Left hand on the top of the wheel pulling towards you..

Unscrew the nut so it's flush with the end of the shaft and belt it with a big hammer..

It's pretty awkward and unco but it's never failed..

Also a good idea to turn the wheel 90 degrees so you don't bend the wheel with your left hand pulling on it..

It might not come off with the first hit but be persistant and it will come..

Skurge

thats for the suggestions guys, i'll go at it with everything i have this week hah

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Keep in mind that using too much in-line impact on the shaft will shear off the nylon shear pins, which you will then have to replace.

Skurge

how would i know if they are sheared, and if they need to be replaced?

sir revalot

You're swapping it anyway aren't you? If they are sheared the steering shaft will move in and out.. (safety mechanism if in an accident).

Divin Driver.. Yes you are right.. I only realised this after I had done a few..

However I've never been as unfortunate to get a good enough hit on it to break these pins.

Skurge

well as of now the wheel will move in an out if i pull on it, about 2 inches maybe? it was like that when we first started on this, dont think that its changed since we've beat on it, is that normal?


i'm swapping it yes, i'm stuck at taking the box out of the parts car at the moment, i haven't touched anything on my good rx7 yet

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

not normal, pin is broken already

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

I just pulled my wheel on my 80 and it had never been pulled before. I couldn't get it to budge
using my hands on the wheel and flexing it. Then I took a torch to the inside of the wheel and
just heated that up a bit on the nut and the area around it being careful not to burn anything
else up in the general vicinity. Grabbed the wheel and flexed it a few times and hit the back of
the wheel with hands some and it popped off.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Yep... which increases your options in some ways and limits others. Upper half- of the shaft is probably only held in place now by the horn ground wire and the bushings inside the carrier tube.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the splined part is tapered a little so rocking the wheel seems to work better than just pulling.

Skurge

well i guess it could be worse! still have to go back over there and try and get the wheel off, get the whole thing out of the car and see if i can replace the pins, hopefully thats not too bad(taking off the outer shroud) and i can get this all done before the weather gets too cold to be in the garage