Aftermarket Steering Whell Help

[carma42]

I have a '95 Civic EX with of course cruise control and air bag in or on the steering wheel. Iknow i will have to relocate the cruise control but can anyone tell me how hard it is to put on an aftermarket steering wheel. I am going to try to put on an Ichibahn wheel.

[Turbo_LS_Hatch]

Hopr ya got a steering whell puller.

[carma42]

k if you know anything about it could you give me a little more help than that? i am serious about doing this. where would i get a steering wheel puller? and will i need any other special tools ?

[pdiggitydogg]

(Youve got PM) :yes:

[Shot 2 Hel]

well you would have to take out the that goes to the airbag to disable it before you did anything. But personally i wouldent do it becuase i would lose the airbag. Thats all i really know. Best of luck to ya.

[oc civic]

you do NOT need a puller... and you do NOT need to do anything special for the air bag EXCEPT unhook the battery for like 20 minutes prior (can you JUST do it 5 minutes before?? MAYBE 10 minutes before??? probably.. but i wanted to be SURE that the air bag would NOT deploy.. so i left is off for 20 minutes prior...)

http://members.aol.com/xoccivicx/images/dash1.jpg

if you have any specific questions post them and i will try to help

[Turbo_LS_Hatch]

I never said you actually NEEDED one, but it does make things a little easier to do don't ya think? What steering wheel is that BTW? I have a Momo Formula.

[oc civic]

Originally posted by Turbo_LS_Hatch
I never said you actually NEEDED one, but it does make things a little easier to do don't ya think? What steering wheel is that BTW? I have a Momo Formula.

300 mm momo monte carlo.. nah i really think with a civic at least that a steering wheel puller is unnecisary.. it was pretty easy.. me and my friend matt did it in the rain in like 30 minutes..

[TeriyakiBroccoli]

Yea, make sure you unconnect the battery.

Anyways, make sure ur insurance company knows because if u disconnect or take off the airbag w/o telling them, and u get into a wreck, then they might drop your coverage on the spot.

[JamieS697]

could they drop u off the insurance if u take off the stock or just if u dont tell them???

[TeriyakiBroccoli]

they will probably drop your coverage if u get into a collision and that is if u didn't tell them prior to the accident that you removed your wheel. If you remove your wheel + tell them, then most likely they will bump up your rate, but u will be covered if something should happen.

[pdiggitydogg]

most companies give a discount if you have srs so if you change the wheel you'll most likely just lose that lower rate (its only a few dollars anyways, nothing big). But yes be sure to tell them that you replaced the wheel and no longer have the srs so you dont get in big trouble if you get in an accident

[nonovurbizniz]

as far as disconecting the battery for twenty minutes I hope this wasn't in lue of jumping the short connector for the srs... because even with it disconnected theres a chance albeit small for the unit to discharge. Whenever working even around the srs harness' you should jump the short connector under the wheel in the acces panel.

OH and just to be double safe everyone is clear that you disconect your negative lead then the possitive off the battery... right?

[oc civic]

if you disconnect the battery the unit can not fire.. to my knowledge (correct me with proof if im wrong) BUT once the battery is disconnected the system is OFF..... i went to two differant people for that answer... BUT it COULD be wrong.. one was an emt, and one a general mechanic...

[nonovurbizniz]

it's a remote possibility but it is possible. if you cross a wire by accident (something that has a capacitor) they also SAY that it can be discharged via static electricity but I think that's a crock.

I'd just do it to be safe, at EVERY mention of removing anything even close to the srs the manual repeatedly says BE SURE TO JUMP THE SHORT CONNECTOR FOR SRS WHENEVER WORKING AROUND WITH OR NEAR THE SRS SYSTEM or something to that effect.

better safe than sorry.

[pdiggitydogg]

um...maybe just remove the fuse and remove the battery...then theres no chance

[nonovurbizniz]

no there's still a chance. if there's something attached to a capacitor or you have enough static electricity or lightning strikes...etc. I'm not saying that it'll ever happen but there is a chance.

The point of them putting in a jumper is to make it so that even if power (or ground) is applied to the airbag wire it will not make it discharge. It's just a safety precaution but one worth taking in my opinion.