How to Remove Steering Wheel???

[solbes]

I was tinkering around on the boat this weekend and wanted to install a CD player on my Lund. It was a Sony and came with a nice sticker template that fit perfectly where the player was designed to go; just to the right of the steering wheel.

Thinking this would be easy I drilled the 6 holes for mounting the unit. I was about to use a rotozip to cutout the hole when I noticed the steering wheel was very close. There's no way I can get the CD player to slide in without first removing the wheel.

I popped off the Lund center cap and removed the main nut and washer. There doesn't appear to be any other attachment to the shaft. Pulled and pulled and couldn't get it off. I suppose this is stuck on a taper or something? Do I need to get some specialized puller, or is there a good method for removal? It's a Teleflex Safe T Steering system on a 2008 boat. Thanks!

[marine_man]

It sits on a taper.

Unbolt the steering wheel from the hub and use a puller, or, leave the steering wheel installed, tighten the nut down so the top of the nut is flush with the top of the stud / threaded portion of the steering shaft, and while using your knees to pull on the steering wheel, hit the nut / shaft with a hammer.

marine_man

[solbes]

Finally had a chance to try and pull the steering wheel again. Picked up a tip on another HSOforum that I wanted to post. Hopefully it works for someone else when they run into this same problem.

I used some shim wedges that fit between the back of the wheel and the front of the steering housing. Some oil on either side to prevent scratches. Loosen the wheel nut, get the shims real snug against each other. Two fairly light pops with the hammer on the wheel nut and it gave way. Very nice and no damage to anything.