Aftermarket Steering Wheel headaches

[Omie01]

When I bought my car it did not have the original steering wheel, it of course had, wait for it................The GRANT steering wheel that all these cars seem to have. Needless to say the horn didn't work, and the center button kept falling off, so I tried a more expensive Grant wheel but what do you know, it was also junk!! So I went through the original Grant wheel and actually got the horns working, but still can't get the horn button to stay on, even after getting another adapter kit and trying the wafer board thing in there, "which was even worse". So.......I finally broke down and decided to spend the $200 or so for a Volante steering wheel kit from CJPP and what do you know, the adapter hub doesn't go down to the column as close as it should, not to mention, if I didn't have the spacer ring from the Grant kits, it would have crushed my turn signal unit, the 6 dress screws that came with it to secure the wheel to the hub were too short by a half an inch!! I had to find replacements at the local hardware and make them fit. Doesn't anybody try these parts before they sell them for over $200!!! And then the icing on the cake, it shorted out the circuit for the horns so the fuse popped!! I had to isolate the steering wheel from the hub!! What fun!!!  I remember when I had my first Mustang 20 something years ago, and was hoping to restore it someday all I could think was, how cool they are making so many parts for our cars, I should be able to make a beautiful car!! I had no idea almost every part I would buy would have to be manipulated, modified, altered, or just plain thrown away and replaced with a good original!! Sorry, had to vent. It seems to me that everything I touch on this car has been an uphill struggle to accomplish. So just beware, just because you spend the money for a good one doesn't necessarily mean that it will work as intended!!

 

[turtle5353]

The stock repops that OMS is selling are really sweet!! Expensive but fit perfect and look better than new!!

 

[OzCoupe72]

Know how you feel with some of these repro parts

I think the companies producing these should actually try to fit them to a 7173 before selling them to us unsuspecting buyers!

I have a Grant steering wheel still in the box so after reading your thread I'm a bit concerned now

 

[NOT A T5]

First rule of thumb...STAY AWAY from CJPP. I bought a bunch of  ill fitting parts from them, but not no more! I have installed a Grant steering wheel (bought from The Paddock, remember those guys?) in my car in the late 80's and it fits and even the horns work.

 

[Omie01]

I just don't want a stock wheel in my car, I don't care for the thin wire grip. In my experience most of these parts are coming from the same manufacturer, just different distributors. I do understand that some parts have more than one place making them, but not many. Not to mention, NPD does not sell aftermarket wheels. I just try to alert everybody to any problems I run into. Can anybody recommend a steering wheel that looks good, locks like it should, and functional horns?

 

[Pegleg]

I fitted a Moto Lita steering wheel. It fits perfect. The horn works. The horn button stays where it should. The only downside for the majority of members here is its a UK company so they would be more expensive for any member outside the EU