steering wheel removal 89 nautique

DrCC wrote: Put the nut back on flush with the end of the shaft. Get a brass punch and a hammer, while giving the wheel some outward pressure, two swift smacks and you will have a steering wheel off and in your hands. Should take less than 30 seconds. AT

I second that. I took my entire steering column out before I did it but in the end I braced the steering wheel from the back of the hub with some wood and whacked the tip of the shaft with a punch and it came right off like butter. Nothing to it once you have done it!

Hey now, I tried pullers and couldn't get the jaws to grip. 1 small puller that would grip the hub, but not at full tension. I tightened those, but the jaws slipped every time. Another set of larger pullers, but the jaw ends were too big to get between my hub and dash plate. After much frustration I was willing to do any method to get the thing off so I could get out on the water. It would have been kind of hard to steer with just a hub. And my wheel and cover plate ende up getting screwed up during removal due to excessive corrosion. Gary's tool would have been nice, but I don't remember a place on the hub to thread the exterior rods of his puller into.

Gary,
Thank's for showing what a professional uses for tools. Two ball peen hammers and your knees pushing on a prybar?? Must be the difference in geographical location!!

Dan,
my steering wheel gave me fits, a puller wouldn't work on mine. Boat Dr. gave me a good tip though. Use either the steering wheel, or put a prybar behind the steering hub to give the hub some good pressure and support the pressure with your knees. Use 2 ball ping hammers, put the ball end on the center of the shaft and give the other end a good hard wack. Do this a couple of times, and the shock should release the tension on the taper. Then the wheel just slips off. All this of course is after you get the cover off and the retaining nut out.

As far as another steering wheel, I used the basic 3 spoke GT Grant at your local auto parts store, and I had to buy a install kit which was a hub assembly that fit over the 3/4" taper shaft.

This is all with my 86, though with my 85 that I had at an earlier time in my life, the steering wheel had 3 bolts in it just like the GT from auto parts store had, so I just unbolted it and bolted on the new wheel. That was by far the easiest upgrade I did on that boat.

Dan,
Most wheels are on a 3/4" tapered shaft. A plate style puller is best to remove it off this taper. The center trim should come off and then usually there are holes under it in the hub for pulling. Get the center off and post a picture if you have any questions.