Looking to change the airbag looking wheel from my 92 bird. Gonna change it to a third party brand because older Firebird models are hard to find. The pic below is the wheel I am thinking about. Let me know all your suggestions and criticisms. I want any and all recommendations about particular brand names/styles/etc that you may have done and/.or had experience with. I also was wondering about how difficult a process it is, what size is the wheel hub and how big is the wheel itself? Any light you guys can shed on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

The older firebird wheels are easy to find on e-bay.

 

That is very true but being from Canada you will sometimes run into crazy customs charges. I cannot find a wheel from Canada

 

If your car is a beater there are plenty of them. I bought the 87 style...three spokes with GTA emblem and believe
I paid about 160. It was supposed to be "PERFECT" as described by seller. Repeated emails verified the PERFECT shape. It was not Perfect upon arrival. For that price you would expect PERFECT as described. Luckily I got my dough back.

If you want a decent ot nice one you'll pay. Your aftermarket wheel is a good choice.

 

I think so too. The black and grey will match my interior too.

 

My cars not a beater by any means.i've put over twenty thousand into it now.it is a daily driver.therefor a decent wheel is all it needs.hence my reference to e-bay.with an afterwarket stereo i no longer need the steering wheel controls so i got an older style off of e bay.something it could have came with.then i will keep the old wheel in the house for a later restoration when i no longer drive it daily.

 

Just checked my ebay item description. Bought that wheel several months ago. I actually paid 227.50 with shipping.
All I am saying is NICE ones are out there if you want to pay. A lot of OK ones are their too. Nobody said your car was a beater. Chill

 

I hear ya... I just hate those airbag looking wheels, they don't even feel right.

 

Hey goalie
I noticed you are from the rock. I may be mistaken, but I believe removing the airbag will void your insurance in Canada. You might want to check into it before you change your wheel. A little fender bender could cost you a lot more out of pocket than a new steering wheel.

 

I have the same wheel you have pictured, except it's black on black.
Got it off ebay for like $20, definitely worth it. It's basically the same as the rest of the high priced racing wheels out there, but a cheaper asian knock-off. Lightweight, durable, and more comfortable for driving. I've had it on for about 3 months now, and drive everyday with no problems.

Installing it wasn't that hard either. The only thing is, the plastic peice that covers the hub was connected to my old wheel, so my new one looks a bit ghetto with the metal exposed behind it.

^not sure if that makes sense.

I could take some pictures of you wanted, let me know.

If you get a cheap one off ebay ($20-40) and try it out, if you don't like it, at least you didn't spend a lot on it if you don't feel like going through the trouble of returning it. But I think you would like it, makes your car look more like a race car lol

 

The Grant steering wheels won't have the problem that Ihnsane mentioned since most of them have a curved black metal bell on the backside of the wheel that covers everything up. I totally agree with goalie about the look of the airbag wheels. I always refer to them as "pregnant" steering wheels. Yuck! Fortunately my 89 was the last year before the "pregnant" wheel came about, so it wasn't an issue when I decided to go aftermarket. As far as insurance goes, you got to be kidding me anyways. These cars are almost 20 years old! If you can't afford the insurance on a car like these, you probably couldn't afford to put gas in it either. Lol.

 

My comment is not a matter of being able to afford insurance. It is a matter of not having an airbag in a vehicle which originally came with one. Here in Canada, insurance companies are right there with lawyers, politicians and child molesters. In other words, they are scum. If you have any need for them, the first thing they try to do is get out of paying any way they can. Simply put, removing the airbag may be all they need to void the insurance on the car if he ever needs to make a claim. It is something that should be checked into.

 

I think it depends on where you live in Canada. That rule does not apply in Newfoundland to my knowledge. I think that the airbag has already been removed prior to my purchase. Thanks though... I will look into it just to make sure.

Thanks
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Yeah... some pictures would be great! Is there any way to cover up the metal with some custom pieces?
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......It totally ruins the look of the sports car completley. Gives the Firebird a family appeal I guess. Although I must admit my car is not much of grocery getter...lol

 

I will look into it and let you guys know the result.

 

I agree with Pat Hall. I personally went with the below choice. I have an 87 Trans Am and it took me under an hour to get everything done, from pulling the wheel to the horn button. For the wheel and hub, I paid around $70-$80 but that was from a local Adavance Autoparts. Just make sure to get a steering wheel puller. You're going to need one...

 

Thats a nice wheel. Looks really good in the car too I bet. Yeah I do indeed have a wheel puller.

 

One quick question for you guys that changed from an air-bag to non-pregnant wheel..
One more confirmation that you can simply disconnect the battery for 5+minutes and change the wheel safely?
.
Saw almost the same wheel as HCR13 for $40 (untill I find a nice pre-1990 firebird wheel) and just want to be on the safe side.
.
I've had an air-bag go off one time in an accident and it knocked me the funk out!

EDIT : Will a gear/pulley puller work? Last two wheels I've changed came off with a little wiggling.

 

i have a 86 iroc z camaro and went with this steering wheel.. i bought it off of ebay for real cheap the only thing you need to make sure of is that you get the adapter to be able to put it in with.

 

Yeah, I actually think I used a pulley puller, but I had to destroy the stock wheel. I had to drill 3 big holes on the plastic sleeve directly behind the wheel so the hook part of the "claw" could grab on more... I bought the wrong kind of wheel puller, so I just improvised...

 

I am not sure the kind of wheel puller I have because I am up my girlfriend's place right now. To be honest I don't even think the airbag is in my wheel. The cover doesn't look torn or repaired so I am not sure. My father told me he took the wheel of my Brother's Chevy S-10 ZR2 and she has an airbag, but I never asked him if anything had to be done to the airbag or the airbag release before hand. Does anyone know for sure?

 

I paid $45 for this wheel from auto zone.

 

I believe it should come off after disconnecting the wires. My best advice is to use common sense. Disconnect the batt. and then take it apart. Take the whole airbag assembly out (Honestly, I'd probably sit in the passenger side while doing this, just in case) after all that is out, you'll see the main bolt and three hub bolts. Once everything is loose and off, then you use the steering wheel puller. I beleve you connect the puller to the hub (with the long bolts) and the main shaft of the puller goes on the steering shaft. As you tighten the puller shaft, it stars pulling the wheel way( or out) until it pops off...

 

ram air'd gta nice... the wheel fits nicely.

I will proceed with caution when I install the wheel, wouldn't wanna get hurt and/or have anyone else hurt over a steering wheel.

 

Yah, point noted. It just depends on where you live I guess. There's always some stupid BS you have to deal with. My buddy was all worried about removing his air bag on his 90 Iroc, and I told him to take a good look at the front end of his car. His old lady has rear-ended two different people with it and the front end is pretty mangled. I asked him "did your airbag ever deploy", and he's like "um, no". Well there's your answer as to whether it matters if you disconnect it or not. Lol. Here's a pic of the Grant I put in mine. I love it.

 

Plan on getting a Bowtie emblem for the horn button.

 

Taking off the airbag is easy. Just disconnect the battery first then take the fout screws out from the rear. After that just pull off from the front and make sure you put it someplace safe. After you get the bag off its just like any other steering wheel. The only this you will have look out for is the air bag idiot light will be on after this. You will have to do some fiddiling with the wiring to shut it off.

 

I was just going to pull the bulb, but like I said I was in an accident in 2000 - when the airbag went off, I got knocked the funk out!

 

Shoot I just swaped out my steerin wheel in my 90 with airbag for one from an old suburban at a bone yard.I liked the look and hate airbags.The horn button even says chevrolete on it in red letters ta match my interior colors.As for the air connections i just unplugged the lead up tp the bag ,cut it and pulled it thru.If I ever decide ta reinstall it i'll just solder the wires and seal with heat shrink tubein.Also there were no indicators come on in my dash for the A/B system.All the bulbs are new and work as i changed most out for amber ones recently and being rather **** tested each bulb in the cluster.Even the little ones for the idiot lights.
The new steerin wheel maynot be show quality but what the heck i like it.Horn works easier now too as i wasn'y used to havin ta hit either side to make them work.

 

Wow...I had no idea how much our steering wheels were wirth!

The one in my 87 GTA is in perfect shap. In fact, I have a cover over it (like a wrap, but the slip-on type).

I was going to get an aftermarket one, but not after seeing the cost of one, plus the adapter cost.

Maybe I could get an aftermarket one, then sell my original, to recoup the cost?

 

http://www.xforceracing.com/xForce/p...d=19100000P004

I bought this wheel online last summer for $100 shipped, and got a free matching shift **** with it. Uses a momo adapter, so there is another $50ish on Ebay for that.