Steering wheel legallity

I've heard that putting an aftermarket steering wheel on your street driven car is illegal. Is it? Also is it illegal to remove your air bags? These are just things I've heard and don't want to be out $300 if I get a new wheel and can't put it in.

I don't know if its illegal, but it may cause some trouble with your insurance company. So even if it is legal, you should ask your insurance company first to see what their conditions are.

Originally posted by highbrid
I've heard that putting an aftermarket steering wheel on your street driven car is illegal. Is it? Also is it illegal to remove your air bags? These are just things I've heard and don't want to be out $300 if I get a new wheel and can't put it in.

The way I think it is, is...If your car has an airbag, you can't remove it and replace it with a wheel without an airbag. Not positive but I'm pretty sure. I don't know what the consequences are though. Insurace up, fine, or what, don't know.

putting in a aftermarket steering wheel is not illegal. If you have a car that doesn't come equipped with airbags. If you do have a car with airbags it would be illegal because you would have to disable the airbag to put the aftermarket wheel on.

any aftermarket wheel smaller then 10" is illegal for street use.

Originally posted by crxlvr
any aftermarket wheel smaller then 10" is illegal for street use.

What! So I can't put on my six-inch, ghetto-hopper, silver chain steering wheel :bandit: - damn! :D

Originally posted by crxlvr
any aftermarket wheel smaller then 10" is illegal for street use.
That's bs, man!
Anyway, the legality of steering wheels lies in if you had airbags. If it came with it, it has to have it!

I know that you can disable airbags with proper permission ... Also some cars have keys that you can disable airbags with ... Then couldn't you remove the airbag if you had permission from the insurance??

This depends where you are. I think in BC here, our steering wheels must be greater than 13" in diameter. My friend had a 12" one and the police made him take it off in any case...

As for airbags, they're EXPENSIVE AS HELL to replace. They're there for good reason, they save lives. The passenger one can be disabled in any car equipped with one, because they're proven to harm small children at times... Refer to your owners manual on information on how to do this... However, that doesn't help installing a steering wheel much.

A red light will come on in your dash on most (all?) Hondas, if the airbags are missing or not ready to release properly. I took a rebuilt Honda for a drive when I was looking to replace my old Civic, and the light was on. Kind of annoying, actually. The shop was going to take the dash apart and remove the light bulb, once an owner was found. This dealership specialized in taking written-off cars and fixing them like new, but they said to replace airbags cost $3000 or so because of the explosive charge inside that releases the airbag. Think about how fast an accident occurs, and how fast the airbags must be released... It can't be a cheap mechanism. Taking out airbags essentially reduces the value of your car by that much... A future buyer would most certainly want airbags, and they have to be installed/inspected too... Why remove them? It's just not worth it...

I've never heard of the size of a wheel being an issue just the if it has an airbag or not.