giosoccer20

as the title asks, is it normal for the steering to get heavier with an aftermarket wheel? I just installed a very nice Grant GT steering wheel (cost $110 so it's good quality), 13 3/4" in diameter (which is almost 1.5" smaller than the stock truck wheels these have), and used a grant installation kit.

upon test driving, i noticed that the steering is significantly heavier. is it only becuase the wheel is smaller, therefore giving less leverage? the steering almost feels unassisted, and there is almost no self-centering. Orrrrr, is it because the hub adapter is touching the plastic of the steering column? i'm thinking it's a little bit of both, but mostly the latter..

here's a photo of what it looks like. I absolutely love it (it's not installed off-centered)

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

It might feel slightly heavier, but not very much.
The hub adapter shouldn't be touching the plastic of the steering column at al, if it is then you'll need to have a little bit machined off the bottom of the outer hub rim.
FYI, I had to have 5/16" machined off the bottom of my Momo hub so it wouldn't rub.
Post up a photo with a side view of the hub.
BTW, did you already install a resister to fool the airbag system so the light will stay off?

Tanus

yep smaller, put a school bus wheel on there and you could parallel park with your pinky.

p.s. dont be a sally, you get used to it.

giosoccer20

no i like very much that it's heavier, but I want it to be heavier for the right reasons! lol.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Here's how mine looks from the side, it looks close but its not touching at all.

Tanus

i highly doubt its from rubbing the plastic part, but jack your front wheels off the ground and feel how it turns if you think there might be resistance there

giosoccer20

is there any harm if I drive a little bit with the hub adapter touching the steering column plastic? Is it too much resistance, therefore adding stress to the power steering mechanics?

ok i'll post a photo. I was sliding a plastic card around the edges of the adapter, because at first it looked like the adapter was supposed to sit inside of the column, but I wasn't able to get all of it within the column.

and no, I have not put a resistor in. I also made a dumb mistake when cutting the airbag wires and clipped the black trio of wires as well -__- which I'm assuming had the wire for the horn as well. I don't care for the horn that much. but I'm wondering where the resistor goes. do i connect it under the dash somewhere, or on the exposed wires where I cut them?

giosoccer20

giosoccer20

I'm also not sure about the resistors, some have had success with 2.2 ohm resistors, and others have had issues? is 2.2 the correct one?

giosoccer20

yet more reasons of why i need to get jacks for my car... haha.

when i'm turning it feels normal, it's just that the self-centering is almost gone, you know what i mean? the steering lock doesnt unwind on it's own back to the center like it did with the stock wheel. Just wondering if that's normal for aftermarket wheels

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I'm using a 2.2ohm resistor, and roughly every 3 months the airbag light comes on then I have I have to clean the connector the resistor is hooked up to, then I'm good for roughly another 3 months again.

You'll see the yellow connector right by the steering column just under the dash where it connects to the yellow cable going up to the yellow connector that was connected to the air-bag in the steering wheel.

Tanus

oh id jack it up and see if plastic is interfering or something, the centering it does is from kinetic motion of the car, smaller wheel wont affect that, but you positive the wheels not a tiny off centered and its you fighting the centering? try letting go of wheel as you pull out of a corner and see what it does by itself.

giosoccer20

yeah the wheel isn't off-centered. I've taken my hands off, and the car almost stays turning. it centers back a little, but not nearly as much as with the stocker. I think it might indeed be the hub adapter rubbing too much on the column

giosoccer20

so I don't have to take the wheel off to connect it?

giosoccer20

i started grinding down the hub adapter, and the steering became a lot lighter. there is still some rub, so I have yet to perfect the grinding.

Empatho

iTrader: (16)

I have a 2.2 ohm resistor on mine for about a year plus and I never had that problem.

That would do it, if the hub is rubbing then it will make the steering feel heavier.

giosoccer20

Interesting though, because I grinded the s**t out of the hub, and upon visual inspection, it doesn't look to rub under any lock of the wheel, however there is this slicing sound which comes after like half lock or something. Not crazy, but it's clearly there. And I still don't know if my steering is too heavy or not, i need someone with a well-installed aftermarket wheel to test drive my car! lol

It's probably worth mentioning this, but I never removed the airbag clock spring, or w.e it's called (that yellow part when the steering is entirely removed). Could that be making the sound? I didnt remove it because with that in place, aligning the wheel is super easy, because there's a hole which aligns with the hub of the aftermarket wheel

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Most likely that's it!
I removed mine since it was keeping me from mounting my momo hub correctly.

giosoccer20

ahh crap, okay. is it easy to remove? just pops right out?

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I believe you'll have to use the steering wheel removal tool to slightly compress the yellow piece down so you can remove a snap ring holding it in place, and carefully remove the piece with the wires coming through the column on the hole on the left side, I think you need to push it in a rotate it then it'll come out, , I'm not 100% sure since it been a while since it did it. I'm also pretty sure you need to cut the connector off for the yellow cable that goes down through the steering column.