Aftermarket steering wheel question.

[Heavy Foot]

I bought an aftermarket steering wheel, and I'm just curious how long it took you guys to install it. I'm not sure if I want to tackle the job, but I'd like to get a rough idea on time. If I bring it to a shop, I don't want to get raked over the coals and get charged 4 hours shop time. Any info will help. Thanks.

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[Dven11]

There are plenty of videos online about this. The consensus seems to be that it is a PITA, me included. One thing I read that helped me is to buy a valve core tool. Just make sure it is long enough.

I hate the OEM wheel so it was a must upgrade for me.

 

[lucky phil]

There are plenty of videos online about this. The consensus seems to be that it is a PITA, me included. One thing I read that helped me is to buy a valve core tool. Just make sure it is long enough.

I hate the OEM wheel so it was a must upgrade for me.

What was so painful about it? How was removing the steering shaft bolt?

 

[Evolution]

I will say it again… use a tire valve stem remover to release the springs. It helps to clip in the spring and not pop off.

 

[Stedy]

It was pretty straight forward. Did mine in a couple of hours. The most challenging part was getting the airbag into the new airbag cover but working on it slowly and carefully you get there. If you're keeping the old cover then that's a non-issue.

 

[Vertex]

What was so painful about it? How was removing the steering shaft bolt?

The biggest PITA about it is trying to find a tool that works good or just flat out getting lucky (or unlucky) when trying to get the spring clips to release to get the airbag off the wheel. For the most part the rest of it is easy.

My personal experience when replacing my paddles is it took something like 3 hours because I just could not get the springs to release. I tried different tools etc. Just got super unlucky and obviously frustration set in some after the first hour which I'm sure didn't help any but did not damage anything with the column or airbag. Until you find that "perfect" tool that airbag to me is just a huge PITA to get off

 

[DarkZupra]

Total time (not including disconnecting battery and letting caps drain) for me is about 15 mins. Once you figure out the springs, its easy.

 

[exe36m3]

About 2-3 hours if you had to budget time. I've had mine on/off 3x. The bulk of the hard work is getting the airbag spring to release. I used small flathead screwdriver and filed a small notch in the middle to better catch the spring.

Once the airbag is off, It's a 16/17mm socket with a breaker bar to undo the center wheel bolt. Take a photo of the wiring, and then unplug everything (use a small needle nose if you need leverage), a few torque screws to remove items, and the plastic airbag mounts (just push sideways and up)

 

[Dven11]

What was so painful about it? How was removing the steering shaft bolt?

Finding the spring with the proper tool. Tire valve stem remover makes this a lot easier. I believe you have to start with the right side of the wheel and then do the left. Popping out the airbag is the hardest part.

Removing the steering shaft bolt was not too hard. It was on there good, but I used an impact gun. Putting everything back is fairly easy. Make sure none of the wires are pinched and everything is connected securely.

I have a G8x wheel and all of my controls work, even the adaptive cruise control.

 

[nanaisu]

Once you've done it once, you can do it in about half an hour easily. Make sure you disconnect the battery.

Your first time doing it will be the hardest and longest, after you've done it once and you know what you're looking for, it's super easy. Get a couple tools and find out what works best for you. I found a flathead screwdriver worked the best for me, YMMV. Make sure you find the spring and are 100% sure that's what your pushing on. With a flathead, you can feel the grooves in the spring. It does require a fair bit of force. More than you'll probably be expecting.

Also press down on the horn firmly while you're applying pressure to the $tool you're using to disengage the springs.

Definitely recommend using an impact to remove the bolt (mine had a KX2 10.9, I believe that can vary by MY?), I wouldn't mess around with a breaker bar. Possible? Sure. I would rather make one trip to the hardware store than 2 imo. Plus, an excuse to get new tools!!!

For removing the connector, I found a keyswitch puller like this guy works very well.
https://a.co/d/h3jqkji

 

[downshift00]

Finding the spring with the proper tool. Tire valve stem remover makes this a lot easier. I believe you have to start with the right side of the wheel and then do the left. Popping out the airbag is the hardest part.

Removing the steering shaft bolt was not too hard. It was on there good, but I used an impact gun. Putting everything back is fairly easy. Make sure none of the wires are pinched and everything is connected securely.

I have a G8x wheel and all of my controls work, even the adaptive cruise control.

No coding for all the controls on the wheel to work?

 

[DaBear723]

The worst part as everybody mentioned was the airbag. That took me about 40-45 minutes to get that damn thing off. Every time I got one side out the other side clicked back in until I finally got it out. After that everything was super easy and took about 15 minutes. I also used an impact for the bolt with no issues.

 

[DarkZupra]

I have a G8x wheel and all of my controls work, even the adaptive cruise control.

Every button of the cruise control controls works?

 

[MKV2021]

I'll be doing this pretty soon, and this seems to be a pretty good reference point for how and what you're doing: (3:28 for the spring explanation)

 

[Teleguy11]

What was so painful about it? How was removing the steering shaft bolt?

The worst part of the job is getting the airbag cover off. Like mention before, there are many youtube vids out there to walk you through it. After you get the cover off, it's like 20 mins to complete the job.
Good luck!

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