I searched but came up empty. I have a 1991 RS and the steering wheel has some issues. First, the horn button needs Thor's hammer to work and second, the steering wheel it's self is cracked horribly and looks nasty. I have a nice Grant aftermarket wheel picked out for it but before I switch them out I need to find out if it is legal to actually do so and will it pass inspection without an airbag. I read somewhere that vehicles equipped with airbags must always have them. I see a lot of Camaros with aftermarket wheels but I just want to make sure before I go about doing it. I'm in central Texas if that makes any difference.

 

My advice is to ask a couple of stations. I say this because I know of several that have swapped to aftermarket wheels & pass despite the lack of their airbag now.

To the best of my knowledge, you cannot. I also cannot find anything in the Law that says you can't. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/insp.../item_insp.asp

Interior specifics:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/insp...ejectsubmit=Go

What I can do is this....I have a very good contact at DPS in Austin who in the Vehicle Inspection Bureau department & I will ask him. He will not "lie" & say you can't just trying to keep people from doing it. OK?

But since there is an aftermarket airbag steering wheel, I would recommend just getting one of those.

 

Alright, I really appreciate that.

 

Well, I have "good" news. You can remove & nothing the Inspection Station can do about it, as long as the horn works.

I was actually hoping he'd say it is illegal, but he didn't & I'm not gonna lie about it. But I still say don't do it & get one of these.
http://www.grantproducts.com/search?...t=Submit+Query

Word for word:
"The Air Bag (Federal Requirement) isn’t an item of the annual Safety Inspection, however, most horn buttons are mounted within the Air Bag cover on the steering wheel, so if the Air Bag was removed and if the horn buttons are disabled and if the horn isn’t working, the vehicle will fail the safety inspection, because the horn is an item of inspection.
If people are disabling the Air Bag, it seems to me that they would be violating a Federal Requirement, because Air Bags are a Safety item installed by the vehicle manufacturer. If that person is ever involved in an auto accident with the Air Bags removed and if it’s a fatality, I’m sure that this will be investigated, because the Air Bag may have saved their life."

 

It's true that , but if the whole steering wheel is replaced, than the new one would probably have its own horn buttons. It's not like people are just pulling out the airbag 'cause they don't want it there. They're replacing the whole steering wheel so there's no place to put one. (unless you drop $500 on one of those OEM airbag wheels)

 

Yeah. He was just covering his gas so that his words could not be construed as meaning that if the horn function went away, then it was still ok.

And people just pulling the airbag out totally would not surprise me one bit.

 

Oh yeah, cause that's attractive.

 

Where are you going with this? I tried to help somebody out & you stick your nose in saying nothing but negative stuff. Your certainly not helping he thread any, so why are you here? Just to stir up crap? Pitch in & help, or just go away.....

Not an attractive steering wheel, but I've seen SOOOO many people who are against air bags, that nothing would surprise me.

 

I'm not trying to be counterproductive, it just sounded like you were trying to scare Cyberdragon away from getting an aftermarket steering wheel with no airbag.
If my comments sounded like a personal affront to you, I offer my sincerest apologies.

 

If you haven't already taken the air bag wheel off, please be careful when you do. DIsconnect the battery is number one. When you do get it off hold it so the bag is pointing away from you in case it accidentally goes off.

 

My main issue with those steering wheels in the link is they look a bit too modern for my interior. It's a completely stock '91 interior. If I had a fourth gen setup I could see where one of those wheels would look quite nice. My other issue is price. I'm hoping to get a nice wheel under $150. And yes, the ones I've looked at have horn buttons so I guess it's just a matter of having it all line up. I actually have a friend who's quite skilled at this stuff so I'm not going at it alone. I've read a lot of horror stories of airbags going off so I do not intend on messing with this alone by trial and error. Anyways, thank you, BlackenedBird for your help.

 

Disconnect the battery well before starting & let the airbag discharge its "reserve" power before messing with it. They pack quite a kick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRp0bqwY5ug

 

the stock horn buttons always break at this age. I replaced mine with grant wheel. don't forget if you go aftermarket you have to mod the steering colum or the aftermarket hub.

 

i got a full NRG setup..no horn or airbag but then again the gta didnt have one anyways

 

So today I picked up the new steering wheel. It's a billet and chrome Grant. I'll see about uploading a picture later on when I'm home. I do have another question though. I bought it at O'reily and it doesn't list a 1991 Camaro as being compatible. I kept the receipt just in case this isn't going to be a possibility. I have seen these wheels in or cars here on this forum. Is there a certain installation kit to perform this and will the horn work with it?

 

removing an airbag is illegal. there were laws passed at the tail end of the 90s that make it a federal crime to remove any safety equipment the car rolled off the factory floor with, including airbags. but its also a federal crime to remove emissions equipment, but its not enforced the same everywhere. its one of those things that depending on the area your in, they may not care at the inspection place. however insurance companies can cancel your policy/deny you coverage if they find out you removed or otherwise disabled the airbag. passanger bags are able to be disabled via a switch (like new cars), but driver airbags must remain active at all times to be legal.

all that being said, im bagless and have been for a couple of years.

if you bought a grant wheel, look on the back of the box, or look up on their site which install kit you need for it. they dont just bolt in place of the stock wheel, you have to have the proper install kit for your car/wheel combo.

 

I figured that would be an option however it only lists 1967-69 Camaro as being compatible.

 

what wheel is it?

 

That's the wheel. I apologize that the picture is sideways. For some reason my computer isn't letting me flip it. It doesn't say anywhere on the box what wheel it is.

 

Its the grant club sport. Ive got the same wheel in my car. Its been years since i put it in, but i know the install kit was on the shelf when i bought the wheel.

 

On a side note. I applaud you for spending a lil extra and getting something besides the generic grant challanger wheel everyone else seems to get.

 

Thank you. I wanted something classic looking but still a bit modern so it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. It gives me hope getting it into my car seeing as how you have one in a car of the exact same year and model. Did you install it yourself? Was it a huge project?

 

its fairly straight forward. youll need a steering wheel puller and need to disconnect the battery before messing with the airbag...

i looked at the pic you posted on my phone, and it looked like it was a real gauge cluster behind it.....

 

i didnt like the chrome look, so i painted it flat silver

 

Wow, that turned out very nice. I love the bowtie. I might just do that myself.

 

SOB. Right when I thought I was one of the few on TGO that chose this wheel

 

from all the threads ive seen on here over the years. I think ive seen maybe 5 other people with the sport club. everyone seems to want to cheap out and get the grant challanger wheel. Its only like $50 compared to the $100 i paid for the sport club a few years ago. the challanger isnt a bad wheel, but it just doesnt fit the lines and look of the 3rdgens IMHO.

 

i like those grant air bag wheels but it doesn't look like any of those will fit our cars plus they don't come with the air bag just the wheel. that could get pretty expensive

 

I also have the Grant club Sport wheel...love it

 

the grant airbag wheels are ment for later model cars, it reuses the stock airbag.