(^2) AIRBAG REMOVAL
The first job is to remove the airbag from the
wheel. Now, even though you’ve got no charge
in the electrical system, we’d still air on the
side of caution when doing this job. Never yank
about on the bag, or blindly stab away with a
screwdriver, and most of all - never do it while
having your mush right in front of it! It’s rare that
(^3) STEERING WHEEL REMOVAL
Now you can remove the wheel, but first make
sure your road wheels are straight and take the key
out. This should stop you putting your new wheel
on all wonky (don’t worry, we’ve all done it).
Your standard wheel will be held on with a big nut
in the middle, and unsurprisingly it will be bloody
(^4) BOSS FITTING
This one is pretty self-explanatory, although there
are a couple of pitfalls to look out for. You’ll see that
the shaft it goes onto has a load of gear teeth, being
vehicle-specific, your boss should simply slide onto
these, allowing you to reinstall the centre nut. Some
bosses are ‘keyed’ so they can only go on one way.
Others can go on multiple ways, so make sure you
look out to see if the boss has a marking to tell you
where the top is.
The other thing to remember is that some
aftermarket wheels have different PCDs to others.
If you bought your wheel and boss from the same
brand, it’ll likely line up first time; if not, and you have
a boss like ours with more than six holes designed
to accept different PCD wheels, you may have to
orientate the boss slightly out of centre so the
wheel lines up.
If you’re unsure, you can always fit the wheel to the
tight. You may need a big bar (I prefer a lazy impact
wrench) to get this nut off. Don’t forget to hold the
wheel to keep it straight while you’re cranking away.
Now you’ve taken the nut off, take a breath, and put
it back on a few turns - this is my all-time top tip.
The wheel will be on tight, you’ll need to do some
they go off at this stage, but it can happen.
Anyway, airbags are usually held to the wheel
with a pair of torx, hex or standard screws at
the back. Some, particularly older VWs, have a
screwdriver hole where you need to pop off a
clip, so it always makes sense to look this up
before you start.
You may need your keys in the ignition to disable
the steering lock, so you can turn the wheel and
gain access to the screws.
Once the airbag is out of the wheel, undo the
electrical plug and then take it away to be stored
somewhere safe, or disposed of at a proper
council recycling centre.
serious yanking on the bugger to pull it off. Having
the centre nut on there is rather useful to stop the
wheel coming loose, flying off, and smacking you in
the face ( yep, we’ve done that too). Once the wheel
is loose, remove the nut fully, and then the wheel.
This part of the job is done.
boss with a couple of screws first, just to check
that it’s all straight.
When you’re happy, and being careful to slide the
horn and airbag wires through the boss, you can
put it on and bolt it down tight.
defining car culture 063
barré
(Barré)
#1