Hancock5158
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
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- Location
- Adelaide
- Members Ride
- Series III VS Ute
Good evening. I just got done fitting a genuine HSV leather steering wheel out of a VS Clubsport into my non-airbag series III VS ute. Couldnt find much info on the matter before i started so once it began looking like it might actually work i decided to snap a cuttla pictures before i put it all back together and share what i did to get the horn working.
So the main problem is that the srs wheels use the clock spring as the gyro that allows the wheel to rotate while still feeding current to the horn and airbag, and the non airbag cars use this cam that pushes into the back of the wheel with 3 pins, as such, the assembly of the wheel is different.
The black bit poking out the top of the one on the right is the part responsible for cancelling the indicators and is the reason mine were not cancelling, as you will see in the pictures of my original part (which i used for practice before fabricating the 'new' part) it has broken off, hence why my indicators didnt turn off, so if youre going to u-pull it for this part like i did, make sure it has that arm still attached and in good condition. The gold ring is the contact for the horn circuit which rolls around on this pin as you turn the wheel, providing a circuit for the horn throughout the wheels rotation.
First things first youre obviously gunna have to take your wheel off, 4 screws behind the horn pad gets rid of that and then ya left with a nut to take off, at this point, any good mechanic will tell you you should always use a wheel puller for this.. however, im not a good mechanic so heres the backyard way for those of you playing at home. Crack the nut and undo it till its only a couple of threads on, sit in ya seat and with ya knees behind the wheel, apply even pressure towards you on the back of the wheel to try bring it off as straight as possible, whilst applying pressure with your knees use a hammer to strike the nut with a circular piece of metal or otherwise suitable implement (i use a spark plug socket upside down).
After a bitta pressure and some whacking the seal should break and the wheel will push up against the nut, then you can undo the nut and remove the wheel.
You're going to see that part from the first picture fixed to the back wheel, take that out by pushing the pins from the front of the wheel, this is where we begin modifications for the new wheel.
So using my old broken piece for practice to make sure it worked, i used a grinder to shave off the pins that would usually have pushed into the back of the non-airbag wheel to hold it in place.
On my new piece i made sure to make it a much smoother finish so it sits flat against the back of the wheel.
Next i fit my new cam to my old wheel to see exactly which position the turn signal cancel arm sat so i could position it accordingly on the new wheel. Then i positioned the old cam on the back of the new wheel replicating the exact position of the correct one in reference to where the turn signal cancel arm is meant to sit, you will see 2 of the holes left in the cam after cutting the prongs off, poke a texta through them to mark the position when you think youve got it right (Hint! Both marks were pretty much right next to the existing holes in the steering wheel that would usually have been used to fix the clock spring to it). Then very carefully with a 1/8 drill bit, i pilot drilled my marks to almost the depth of the wheel without going through (wont matter if you do go through). Then i took my new cam off my old wheel ready to chop it up the same as my practice piece seen in earlier pictures.
Once i had my new cam cut and ready to install, i used some tekkys and my impact driver on the SLOW speed to drive the screws into the steering wheel, being sure to not over turn them and spin the thread. I should have got some more pics before i got this far, my apologies, but here is what it should look like once its all fixed on. Remember to poke ya wires through the big square hole before fixing it on.
And from there it was simply a process of refitting the steering wheel exactly as if it were a non-srs equipped wheel. Remember to earth the purple wire somewhere (i just stuck it in one of the holes on the wheel as it was a tight enough fit for it not to move).
Using this method i now have the freedom to use any compatibly shaped VS/VT horn pad with plug and play functionality for the horn buttons, i tested this with the SRS pad that came with the wheel and it worked fine, however i chose to stick with the non srs horn pad for now.
Anyways works beautifully around the full rotation and also fixed my non cancelling indicators while i was at it! Hope this helps someone else
So the main problem is that the srs wheels use the clock spring as the gyro that allows the wheel to rotate while still feeding current to the horn and airbag, and the non airbag cars use this cam that pushes into the back of the wheel with 3 pins, as such, the assembly of the wheel is different.
The black bit poking out the top of the one on the right is the part responsible for cancelling the indicators and is the reason mine were not cancelling, as you will see in the pictures of my original part (which i used for practice before fabricating the 'new' part) it has broken off, hence why my indicators didnt turn off, so if youre going to u-pull it for this part like i did, make sure it has that arm still attached and in good condition. The gold ring is the contact for the horn circuit which rolls around on this pin as you turn the wheel, providing a circuit for the horn throughout the wheels rotation.
First things first youre obviously gunna have to take your wheel off, 4 screws behind the horn pad gets rid of that and then ya left with a nut to take off, at this point, any good mechanic will tell you you should always use a wheel puller for this.. however, im not a good mechanic so heres the backyard way for those of you playing at home. Crack the nut and undo it till its only a couple of threads on, sit in ya seat and with ya knees behind the wheel, apply even pressure towards you on the back of the wheel to try bring it off as straight as possible, whilst applying pressure with your knees use a hammer to strike the nut with a circular piece of metal or otherwise suitable implement (i use a spark plug socket upside down).
After a bitta pressure and some whacking the seal should break and the wheel will push up against the nut, then you can undo the nut and remove the wheel.
You're going to see that part from the first picture fixed to the back wheel, take that out by pushing the pins from the front of the wheel, this is where we begin modifications for the new wheel.
So using my old broken piece for practice to make sure it worked, i used a grinder to shave off the pins that would usually have pushed into the back of the non-airbag wheel to hold it in place.
On my new piece i made sure to make it a much smoother finish so it sits flat against the back of the wheel.
Next i fit my new cam to my old wheel to see exactly which position the turn signal cancel arm sat so i could position it accordingly on the new wheel. Then i positioned the old cam on the back of the new wheel replicating the exact position of the correct one in reference to where the turn signal cancel arm is meant to sit, you will see 2 of the holes left in the cam after cutting the prongs off, poke a texta through them to mark the position when you think youve got it right (Hint! Both marks were pretty much right next to the existing holes in the steering wheel that would usually have been used to fix the clock spring to it). Then very carefully with a 1/8 drill bit, i pilot drilled my marks to almost the depth of the wheel without going through (wont matter if you do go through). Then i took my new cam off my old wheel ready to chop it up the same as my practice piece seen in earlier pictures.
Once i had my new cam cut and ready to install, i used some tekkys and my impact driver on the SLOW speed to drive the screws into the steering wheel, being sure to not over turn them and spin the thread. I should have got some more pics before i got this far, my apologies, but here is what it should look like once its all fixed on. Remember to poke ya wires through the big square hole before fixing it on.
And from there it was simply a process of refitting the steering wheel exactly as if it were a non-srs equipped wheel. Remember to earth the purple wire somewhere (i just stuck it in one of the holes on the wheel as it was a tight enough fit for it not to move).
Using this method i now have the freedom to use any compatibly shaped VS/VT horn pad with plug and play functionality for the horn buttons, i tested this with the SRS pad that came with the wheel and it worked fine, however i chose to stick with the non srs horn pad for now.
Anyways works beautifully around the full rotation and also fixed my non cancelling indicators while i was at it! Hope this helps someone else