<VV> steering wheel removal

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

>I have had almost no luck with JR's method, although I keep trying! gggg
>  
>

Some of this depends on the value of the steering wheel,  some of which 
can get pretty outrageous -- keep an eye on eBay for wheels for the 356 
Porsche for example, where several have sold for prices that would buy 
you a nice Corvair.  Wheels like that, you (or I ) use a puller, carefully.

Otherwise, JR's method has some validity, but it is faster to have one 
guy pull on the wheel with the nut loosened but only partially removed, 
while a 'trusted friend' uses two hammers, one held as a punch against 
the shaft and the other to strike the first one.  Bingo.  Generally 
easier to find two hammers than the right bolts for the puller, even 
though you have every bolt size known to man (you thought) in the puller 
box.  (USS; SAE; fine, coarse, and "intermediate" metric; Whitworth ...  
three of each size ...  oh, did I mention washers?)

Do this a few times, and you start to figure out that yes, you can just 
pull the dang thing off with out the hammer man or a puller, as long as 
it is a wheel you can afford to replace if you crack it, which I have 
never done but I'm sure it will happen some day -- don't remove the nut 
all the way if you want to try this -- it is sort of like a Zen 
isometric exercise, but many times (not all) it is do-able.

Bill Strickland