How to remove Steering wheel and adapter?
 

I'm looking to add a trim control onto my steering wheel shaft and I've run into a bit of a problem.

I have a Rex Marine wheel and adapter mounted to a hydraulic steering box.

I pulled the steering wheel off, then removed the nut holding the adapter to the steering rod. Because the adapter spins with the wheel I need to mount this controller between a fixed steering bracket and the rotating adapter and I simply cannot get this adapter off. I tried re-attaching the wheel to give it a pretty good tug but I could not free it.

Because this is a 40 yr old boat (73' Monza) I don't want to run the risk of damaging the hydraulic steering box simply because there was an adapter release trick I was unaware of.

For reference, what I am attempting to install is a Teleflex Marine pro trim controller.

In the meantime, I gave it a good shot of WD-40 to see if this may loosen this up.

Any ideas what it may take to pull this off?

Thanks!

- scott -

fixx
 

its a tappered shaft with a keyway,,the more you tighten it the tighted it gets..you need a steering wheel puller to get it off...autozone has them...

If your steering is like most systems you have a tapered shaft with a keyway to line up the adapter. The safest way to remove the adapter would be to use a steering wheel puller set, you can usually rent or borrow one from a auto parts store if you dont have one. It uses two bolts inti the adapter through the puller & a forcing screw to pop the adapter loose. Or you can mount the wheel back on install the shaft nut so the top of the nut is flush with the shaft & give it a smack with a hammer while putting pressure on the wheel with your knees & one hand, this method works with manual systems but might cause damage to the helm unit if your not careful. 1st way is the best, 2nd way last resort. hope that helps, Randy

I was wondering about this (thinking gear puller), but I don't have any gap below the end of the shaft to attach to (to get proper leverage)? or are you saying the steering wheel puller has an alternate way to secure itself to the shaft than just having the kinda hooks you would see on a gear puller?

One other clarification in case I was not clear, the steering wheel I have off, it is the shaft below it that I am struggling with.

A steerng wheel puller works like a gear puller but bolts to the adapter using longer bolts into the steering wheel bolt holes

fixx
 

a steering wheel puller has 4 slots in it where the bolts go through and a you can attach it to the three bolts that is holding on the steering wheel..make sure when you put the bolts into it the bolt goes a goes 1/2 '' into the hub,,sometimes it takes a good amount of pressure for the hub to pop..ill usually give the center bolt a half turn them tap the end of the center bolt with a hammer to pop the hub ..

After I sent my last note I realized I was too focused on a gear puller and it quickly became clear to me that I would need to bolt the puller to the shaft vs. trying to grab onto the bottom of it LOL.

As it turns out I went the route of wd-40 and a few solid taps on the steering shaft and I was able to get this off.

One side note for others trying this though, the first "punch" I used to tap on the shaft was fairly small in diameter and one bad hit of the hammer ended up damaging the threading on the steering shaft.....so be sure to use a very wide "punch" (I ended up using the metal bar from a barbell set and this worked great).

Repairing the damaged threads on the steering shaft was a bit of a new adventure, I'd never before used one of those rethreading tools and with a fair amount of patience I was able to fix the threads....all while I was thinking "holiday weekend is around the corner and it would stink of I couldn't get the steering wheel back on"....worse yet would be explaining this to the wife :-)

Trim control is properly mounted on the steering shaft and I'm good to go!

Thanks for all of your guidance!

- scott -

Scott for future reference leave the shaft nut on the shaft flush with the end to protect the threads from damage. Glad you got it completed. Be careful and enjoy the holiday weekend...

How do you like this product rather than the two button add http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/T-H...FcHe4AodVxEAGQon with wire bolted to throttle if throttle don't have trim inside? It seems to be only on bass boats.
the wires don't bind in the steering?
mike