Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - Removing the original steering wheel

Im posting this as a new thread so that those of you doing a search in the future can find it a little easier. I searched hard for good info on steering wheel removal, but only found a handfull of sites and threads dealing with it. I hope this is helpful to SOMEONE in the future.

I ordered a Grant chainlink steering wheel and had a helluva time removing the original steering wheel. I searched the internet high and low looking for a solution to get this booger off......tried everything I could find and NOTHING was working!

The easiest method was to remove the nut under the scorecard holder soak it in WD-40 for 15 minutes and hit the back of the steering wheel with a rubber mallet 4 or 5 times on top, bottom, left and right....I did this....ended up soaking it in a half a can of WD-40, and beat on the sucker for HOURS....never budged. But this method DOES work on MOST carts according to many folks on the internet. But not mine.

I also loosened the nut to where it was flush with the top of the bolt, placed my feet on the dash of the cart and pushed upward with my knees and thighs while hitting the bolt with a center punch and a hammer. Never even came close to moving...as a matter of fact, I think this method was placed on the internet as a sick joke. The only thing this accomplished was bruising the heck out of my legs!!!

Another failed method was to just grab the wheel like an insane psycho and pull, rocking it left and right...I thought this would work, but the only thing IT accomplished was my arms fell off onto the ground and I had to mop up all the blood and staple them back onto my shoulders!!! OK, ok...but it didnt even come close to moving!

The above methods were suggested by well respected cart builders and repairers, so Im sure these methods HAVE worked on many, even MOST cases.....but not mine.

SO, now Im thinking....and Im thinking HARD. And it hits me like a red brick thrown by my pissed off little wife. I grab the jack out of the ford, and a couple of tie straps....I set the jack upside down onto the center bolt and secure it with the tie-straps around the wheel....now when I crank the jack, the straps will pull the wheel and the wheel will dislodge from the shaft!!!! God, Im a genius!!! So, Im cranking and cranking and the steering wheel is bending like a rubber band....a few more turns and this suckers gonns fly off!! Well...the steering wheel broke....but not off. Guess I aint a genius after all.

Ive been working on this all day...its dark and cold, Im filthy and pissed and at my ropes end. $%^&*($%^!!!!(insert favorite curse words there!!!)

I figured I was going to have to use a hacksaw and another case of beer and make another afternoon of carefully, slowly and painfully sawing through this 1 inch peace of steel or lead or whatever the hell its made of...man, I HATE physical labor!!! Then I get this message from a regular Joe who Ive known from the Disboards Camping Forum who just happened to be a member of this forum as well..."DaddysCoolTV" . Now this cool cat is a REAL genius. Here's what he wrote me....

Quote:

Hey are you also on the Dis forum? Good luck with getting the stering wheel off I did the same that you have done so far. If you are going to replace it this is what I ended up doing. I broke the original up with a hammer to where all I had was the hub on the stering shaft, then I took a dremil with a cutoff disk and starting cutting 2 slots into the hub across from each other being very careful to not cut into the shaft finally it weakend enough for the hub to come loose. Not sure about your 11mph your probably right with the batteries, I took my garmin out last weekend and gps'ed mine and got 27.7mph on batteries that haven't been charged for 2 weeks.

Good Luck,
Chris

Man, that seems soooo much simpler than hacksawing this POS!!!

So, I grab the jigsaw and I cut the plastic steering wheel up in all kinds of a mess. I wasnt trying to be neat, I was trying to be done.Peeling the last of the plastic off of the hub wasnt as easy or as much fun as destroying the rest of the wheel, but wasnt hard. And there it is....the HUB! the core of the problem, just sitting there, looking all innocent. As if it has no idea how much trouble he's caused me. DIE, YOU MFer!!!!! But wait.......I dont have a DREMEL. So I open up my dusty a$$ wallet and after all the moths and bats fly away...I pull out $35 and buy a dremel from walmart.....this is the COOLEST little tool Ive ever bought. And it cut through the hub in under 10 minutes. I used about 10 of the cutting disks...but they arent expensive at all. Now ITS OFF!!!!!!!! Im DONE!!!!!!

Im gonna finish the last 7 beers of the case, then when Im good and drunk...Im gonna have the little wife drive me back to walmart and return this dremel because it doesnt work, or isnt the right size, or because I already have one and my wife bought it for me for my birthday or some stupid excuse.

Hope this has been helpfull, .....just for your information, the case of beer IS NOT required while removing the steering wheel, but it sure gives you good reason to take plenty of brakes. Good luck and dont drink while operating power tools