Considering replacement of steering wheel

Iron Sky

Iron Sky

New Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2020
Messages
18
Location
Dallas
I’ve been considering this for a long time, swapping out my nasty old airbag wheel for a nice, new Grant or something. I know nothing can fix the sticky degrading rubber on the OEM wheels, and really don’t think I would be risking much with just a standard wheel. None of my other Jeeps ever had an airbag and I survived many issues both on and off road. I’m aiming for a “if it’s not there it can’t break” mentality here - already removed the radio and all HVAC from the Jeep.

Good idea, bad idea? Things I should watch out for on the instal? Issues with inspection/ registration?
 
Get an NRG Wheel not a Grant. Cant help you on the Texas inspections, I know its not a problem in Oklahoma. I would talk to someone down there before you went through all the trouble. I want to replace mine but its low on the list compared to other things.
 
Removed the passenger side airbag . . . . will be making another 'glove box' there. . . .
Having done that, the airbag light on the dash was on all the time. I removed the pigtail from the airbag and used a 2.0 ohm/0.5 watt resistor ($4.00) and ran the hard wires into the two miniscule plug sockets. Held tightly together with a small zap strap. Airbag dash light is there at start-up, and goes off with the other dash lights. I did unhook the battery while installing the resistor. The resistor 'fools' the computer . . .
You may need to do something similar when you change steering wheels.
 
Iron Sky said:
and really don’t think I would be risking much with just a standard wheel.
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Something to consider, safety aside if you are in a serious accident and are injured or killed the police report will likely show the airbag was removed/disabled. That could mean no medical coverage, no life insurance payment, no real insurance coverage at all even if the airbag would have made no difference at all. Not really worth it for looks in my opinion but it's obviously your choice.
 
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Ew, did not consider that... Although the TJ is a recreational vehicle, it does see some highway and town driving when it’s been registered and tagged. I hadn’t considered that there could be implications if there was an accident (I mean besides the obvious if it was bad enough to need one).
 
Iron Sky said:
I know nothing can fix the sticky degrading rubber on the OEM wheels...
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cover it with a Wheelskins cover

wheelskins.jpg
 
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When my wheel went beyond hope, I bought a used wheel of off ebay that was in pretty decent condition. It was around $100. 2 years ago, I had a guy in TX wrap the wheel of my E28 (my daily driver) and it has held up extremely well. I can DM his contact info to you if you are interested.
 
glowell222 said:
When my wheel went beyond hope, I bought a used wheel of off ebay that was in pretty decent condition. It was around $100. 2 years ago, I had a guy in TX wrap the wheel of my E28 (my daily driver) and it has held up extremely well. I can DM his contact info to you if you are interested.
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@glowell222 can you DM me info for the guy in TX?
 
Hi TT-I just sent you a DM, though I can happily post his website here, as I didn't realize he had one! I reached out to him directly on the advice of an E28 forum member. The website is www.leatherwheels.com.
 
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