I am trying to remove the steering wheel on LoBird and sure enough, on of the holes that the screw from the puller goes into is stirpped. Any thoughts? Re-tapping the hole? Welding the screw to it? Please help............
Unless you can make the bolt hold with something like jbweld, you may have to tap a new hole. Or maybe put in a threaded insert at some point? Does the hole go all the way through so that you could put a nut and washer on the end of a longer bolt?
Why not just retap the hole first? But if there is room for a nut, use a smaller bolt with a nut. Handy Andy is right. Do not forget to leave the large center bolt on loose while pulling the wheel. Faces and noses can be hurt if the wheel suddenly comes loose. I'm just guessing this part!
I have never had a vehicle "need" the puller to remove the wheel. I have only however removed 4 steering wheels from 2 kinds of cars so I can't really be a know-it-all but I've always been able to remove the center nut and whack on it (gently but FIRMLY, you know, how you spank a kid, not out of anger, but out of love and resolve) with a rubber mallet a few times and they ALWAYS came loose right in my lap.
Occupant, you have been lucky, or the vehicles you have removed wheels haven't been too old. I've whacked, beat, tugged, jerked, and even cussed and the wheel just laid there lookin at me. Even with a wheel puller I have had some very tight. That's why I know about getting a wheel in the face when they did come loose.
I'd just tap the hole to the next size larger bolt and use that. No big deal. If you want, retap both holes so they match and it'd look like it was supposed to be that way. Besides the other hole might be getting marginal too. Just be very careful with the drill so you don't go into anything behind it. Also it would be a good idea to disconnect the battery first so your shavings don't short something out. Then vacuum it really good before reconnecting the power. I see no way JB weld would hold. I had a real welded nut break off a homemade puller once on a wheel that was really stuck. The nuts were welded on by our fab shop. Besides JB weld would be messy. Before I had a puller I used to just yank them off and I got lucky the first couple times that it actually worked. I had to twist at it quite a bit and pull with all my might, and when it finally gave it threw me back in the seat really hard. The next one there was no way, and that's when I made a puller. But the steering wheel is a piece of cake compared to trying to reassemble the lockplate if you've removed it and don't have a tool.
the steering wheel is a piece of cake compared to trying to reassemble the lockplate if you've removed it and don't have a tool. Don't even want to talk about those!
