Steering Wheel Puller Adapter

Description

I needed to work on the steering column and one of the first things I needed to do was remove the steering wheel. After looking around at all the different types of pullers I already had, nothing would do the job properly.

I decided what I needed was an adapter that I could use with a standard 3 jaw gear puller due to the steering wheel spoke arrangement. This meant it had to be round and slip around the steering column under the steering wheel.

I dug around in my scraps and found a shaft holder from some old piece of equipment that looked promising. Refer to Picture 1 below to see what this started as. ( The threaded holes were originally used to mount the shaft holder to the equipment and are not used for this application. - [ although it makes it easy to hang up. ] )

A local machine shop should be able to manufacture one of these for a reasonable price if you don't have the necessary tools handy.

Also, If you don't have a 3 jaw gear puller, you should be able to get a loaner from your local auto supply store.

Materials

4 1/2" x 1/2" steel ( square or round )

Tools

Milling Machine ( boring, surfacing, milling )

- OR -
Lathe (boring, surfacing) and Bandsaw

Steps

Refer to Figure A below.

If the steel is square, cut/machine it until it is round to dimenson.
Bore the center hole to dimension.
Surface the plate to make sure it is flat.
Use the bandsaw or mill to cut the slot the same dimension as the center hole.

Figures

Figure A: Steering Wheel Puller Adapter Diminsions and design. ( Click on image to enlarge. )

Application

Set up with puller ( Click on image to enlarge. )

Pictures

Picture 1: Piece I started with. ( Click on image to enlarge. )

Picture 2: After machining. ( Click on image to enlarge. )

Picture 3: Steering Wheel after removing - left no marks. ( Click on image to enlarge. )