Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

[axeslinger1957]

Yup. I was in a hurry and stepped in it... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The current steering wheel on my boat is a piece of junk and I need to replace it. The clock is ticking (of course) as my wife has committed that we will bring it to the big camping outing next month. Of course, she doesn't allow me any time to work on it, so...

Anyway, I THOUGHT I understood what I read here about pulling off a steering wheel - loosen the nut, then somehow pry it off.

CRACK! OH *&#$! Yup. I didn't pry it off. I busted half the steering wheel hub off. I... uh... don't think I understood the directions.

The nut I'm supposed to back off is actually the one UNDERNEATH the console, isn't it? Like down where the pulley stuff is (I've got cable steering)?
So I'm not sitting in the driver's seat to pull this thing off, am I? Apparently, I'm expected to swallow my pride and lay on the floor to hammer at this nut, right? I have a couple of honkin' breaker bars as well as the BFH. Could they help?

 

[5150abf]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

There should be a nut under a cover in the center of the steering wheel, that is the one you want and you aren't likely just going to pull it off.

You need to get a puller, looks like a weird peace sign and you put bolts into the steering wheel and screw the center down to pull that.

Don't get into anything under the dash, nothing you need there and what steering you have doesn't matter, all wheels are held on the same way.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

sit in drivers seat, loosen nut, do not remove, now smack nut with a hammer. the rest should come loosen up, then remove nut. nothing underneath needs to be touched.

 

[doctordelerious]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

The Lieutennant and Commander are both right, you can rent a puller from some auto zone locations.
but if it is not too bad you loosen the nut and hit it, dont loose the moon key inside, and you can try penetrating oil. good luck !

 

[axeslinger1957]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

OK, let's see...

1) Nut in driver's seat - check

2) WD-40 or other lubricant - check

3) BFH to slam nut on top of steering wheel - check

4) Rent puller from auto store if all else fails - check

Thanks, one and all!

I hope to "get hammered" tonight!

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

sit in drivers seat, loosen nut, do not remove, now smack nut with a hammer. the rest should come loosen up, then remove nut. nothing underneath needs to be touched.

Use your knees to put even upward pressure on the wheel as you hit the nut - best to use two hammers, a ballpen to hold on top of the nut & anykind to wack the other

 

[axeslinger1957]

I can't catch a break!

I can't catch a break!

I totally failed in my attempts to remove my old steering wheel hardware. The existing, broken wheel has no holes to insert the bolts of a puller. To make matters FAR worse, I am told by a mechanic that the threaded fitting the steering wheel securing nut goes on has very little metal left on its threads! Ohhhhh, greaaaat!

Well, I did put off dealing with it...
OK, I'm swallowing my pride here... is there a plan B? Can I replace the thing that the steering cables attach to? Is it easy to get? What's it called? I didn't see it on iBoats.

 

[jdlough]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

The thing that the cables attach to (and that the wheel also attaches to) is called a helm. For cable systems, it will either be a rack & pinion helm, or a rotary helm.

Here's a likely rotary helm, made by Teleflex:

http://www.iboats.com/Quick_Connect...46636874--**********.817047683--view_id.64847

Note that it uses the Teleflex Quick Connect cable. The helm must match the type of cable. Your cable could either have the older threaded connector, or the newer Quick Connect.

Call iboats 1-800-914-1123 to make sure you're ordering the right part, and not missing anything. They'll walk you through it.

(You still have to figure out how to get your busted wheel off your current helm, though)

Jim

 

[axeslinger1957]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Mine doesn't look like that -- I don't think. As I recall, there's a nut underneath the dash as well, so I think I have some kind of threaded pulley kind of thing. What I was thinking was that I could hacksaw off the messed-up remnants above the dash, replace the "helm", put a new steering wheel on, and be done. Provided this is not cost-prohibitive.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Time for some pictures of what is on the boat and now badly beat up it is. A new helm can be had for as little as $75 if you shop around.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Note that it uses the Teleflex Quick Connect cable. The helm must match the type of cable. Your cable could either have the older threaded connector, or the newer Quick Connect.

If you read his earlier post, he has pulley steering. This boat might be old enough to have a non standard or otherwise difficult steering setup.

If he's really destroyed the hub and wheel, he'll need to replace the hub with either another pulley hub (most likely salvaged from an equally old boat) or the whole steering setup with a more modern cable system.

Post some pics.

Erik

 

[axeslinger1957]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Guys, what about a "2-jaw gear puller"? It looks like it doesn't use bolts...
Awfully expensive, but I wouldn't have to replace any hardware except the steering wheel itself - which is all I wanted to do in the first place.

Actually, I could just rent one...

 

[axeslinger1957]

Bon Voyage, steering wheel!

Bon Voyage, steering wheel!

I drenched the tapered fitting in a cocktail of silicone lubricant, boat fogging oil and engine degreaser and let it "cook" for about 23 hours. Earlier tonight, I applied "persuasion" from a big honkin' 2-jaw puller I borrowed from my mechanic friend. Needless to say, it couldn't withstand the onslaught and slid right off in about five minutes of playing with the puller. No battle damage that I can tell, and the cylindrical-looking spline thing seems to be sitting in the groove.

Next step: Go get another steering wheel...
After that: Install it Ruh-roh...
Ummm, after what I went through to get the old one off, I don't want another battle royal to put the new one on.

Any ideas, quick tips, cheats or dirty tricks?

 

[werthert]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Oh man you should be a writer, you've missed your calling..!

All I could think about while reading this was the scene from Tommy Boy where Chris Farley goes, "Oh man, That... Was..... AWESOME! sorry about your car (boat)!

Sounds like another hammer job, but maybe this time starting out with a lot of delicate taps.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

That was a good read!

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Not all steering wheels are held on by a nut under the cover. The Crestliner that I'm restoring has the steering shaft pressed in to the steering wheel. There is a 2 part bezel on fron with key ways in it. Chamfered bezel goes on 1st, then flat bezel. Then there is a tube that's threaded on one end goes insise the bezels (threaded potion under the dash). A big nut is under the dash that holds the bezels on. The steering wheel with shaft attached slides into the bezels and a drift pin is on the back side. The drift pin keeps the sreeing wheel from pulling out and also slides into a key way in the cable "screw".


In short to remove my wheel I have to remove the cable "screw" , remove the drift pin and the wheel and shaft will slide out.

 

[axeslinger1957]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Oh man you should be a writer, you've missed your calling..!

All I could think about while reading this was the scene from Tommy Boy where Chris Farley goes, "Oh man, That... Was..... AWESOME! sorry about your car (boat)!

Sounds like another hammer job, but maybe this time starting out with a lot of delicate taps.

Oh, so "press fit" is really "hammer fit", huh? Ahhh... I see...

 

[axeslinger1957]

The end of the story (I hope, I hope)

The end of the story (I hope, I hope)

Yeah, this is a nine month old thread. At least five of that was fall and winter.
I think I have good news to report. I finally got off my duff and brought my wrecked hulk of a steering wheel to a local marine store. They measured the size of the "axle" opening as well as the size of the "keyway". Both corresponded to my old wheel. Got the new one home and worked on putting it on. I discovered to my horror that the nut would not tighten! Oh, no!

I discovered that the helm slips up and down and that by pushing up on it, I probably got myself another half inch or so sticking out above the steering wheel. There were also a couple of washers at the bottom of the steering wheel bolt, shaft, axle, whatever. Removed those. Still couldn't get enough bite to make it grab and started planning mentally how to justify buying a new helm.

Well, my brother suggested I remove the wheel and slowly tighten the nut all the way down and then run it back up in the hope that that would clean out the threads -- or something. Desperate, I gave it a shot. I don't know if that was it. All I know is that the nut tightened down real nice and I have a nice new steering wheel that looks good and seems to work just fine.

Now to tangle with some of those OTHER projects I've been dreading...

 

[seabob4]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

And for your work...

 

[Jacket4life]

Re: Aw, man, I screwed up! HELP!

Lol. Very entertaining. Glad it worked out!