The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Whats type is everyone running for a aftermarket steering wheel? What kind of adapters did you use if any? Pics?

thats a broad question? Did you want Mopar Style, Eg Grant or any type of brand- as there must be a lot of different sizes and styles. Grant copies are on Ebay a lot and you can buy the boss separately.

gregvega wrote:Whats type is everyone running for a aftermarket steering wheel? What kind of adapters did you use if any? Pics?

I just received my Grant 246 this week (wooden Tuff wheel lookalike). I will install it this week-end.

I'm thinking the tuff type wheel. Is it a bolt on deal like the factory or do you need a adapter?

Most aftermarket steering wheels require an adapter though I understand there are a couple (?) out there that don't need an adapter

Here's a site that has a good collection of steering wheels for Challengers to give you some ideas
http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/stwhha.html

gregvega wrote:I'm thinking the tuff type wheel. Is it a bolt on deal like the factory or do you need a adapter?

Tuff wheels are a bolt-on.

The current repros are bolt-on too.
The Grant repros have dual bolt patterns : Mopar and Grant. They come with the horn button (center cap) but not the horn switch (which can be found on eBay, it is sold by some of the people who also sell the wheels. I got mine from a seller named 'supertuff', and the service was excellent)..

You can find adapters for just about anything.
I have tried a Momo wheel I had laying around (which was a bit small, so I settled for the Grant) ; I used two adapters from Grant : on that let me mount a Grant wheel on a Mopar column, and one that let me use a Momo wheel on a Grant bolt pattern. Grant also makes adapters for other wheel makers.

I always thought Mopar did a great job of replicating finger-jointed walnut with plastic on the e-body steering wheels. After surviving in the desert southwest US for many years, my wheel had cracked and separated, like many others, so was not really repairable. So we made an exact duplicate of the original plastic wheel using a solid finger-jointed walnut shell over the steel core. It's not original, but neither are the re-do's by the experts in the field. Here's some pics of another black one we sold on eBay. If anyone is interested, I can supply info on jigs required to build one of these.

Very nice
Did you steam it to get to shape?

fal308 wrote:Very nice
Did you steam it to get to shape?

fal308: Thanks. Bent lamination with steam assist is certainly the conventional way of making wooden wheels - in fact the Nardi wheel on my Cat is made that way.

But if you look closely at the fake grain pattern on these plastic e-body wheels, you will note that they are designed to look like they are constructed of multiple pieces of walnut, finger-jointed together.

To make the wheel, we finger-jointed six pieces of walnut into a hexagon shape, then trimmed the hexagon into an inch-wide donut about 16 inches in diameter. We made two of these donuts, then using a mortising bit, formed a groove in both for the steel core of the wheel. We then sandwitched the steel core between the two donuts using urethane glue. From there, it's a matter of replicating the exact contour of the original wheel using roundover bits - and then a spindle sander to form the grips on the backside.

Chrysler must have made a real wooden mock-up to design these plastic wheels, because the fake grain pattern is really quite tastefully done and does represent proper grain orientation.

I'm impressed! That's a lot of work but the real correct way to do it. Keeps the stress out of the wood. (My wife's parents just recently got out of the antique furniture restoration business and I used to do a bit of carpentry on the side, so I know enough to be dangerous )
Could also make for some nice custom wheels - like Ironwood on a Gunmetal or Winchester gray car etc