billet steering wheel

ok guys just bought a billet steering wheel and i have no idea on how to remove the old one. I know genius right. maybe i should of thought of that before hand but it is done now. my truck is a 97 s-10. done searches but not really much help. trying to get it off without the AIRBAG!!! going off. i do not want this to happen. if anyone can give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it. need the wheel off ASAP. thanks.

ps.. i have been told u need to wait at least an hour after disconnecting the battery before even touching the airbag is this true.

also, how much would an adapter run for one of these steering wheels.

disconnect the battery and wait 15 mins. getting the airbag off isnt too much of a hassle, im pretty sure you just use a flathead screwdriver and some patience and you can get it disconnected at all 4 corners. once you get it off DO NOT TURN THE WHEELS PAST CENTER you can go a turn either way but i wouldnt go any more than that because you can lose your position and f'up your clockspring when you go driving it and the steering wheel is off by a turn or sth :P anyway a bolt holds the steeringwheel on, take that loose use a puller and thats it. reverse procedure to get it back on. going to a billet wheel will probably nix the airbag going back on so i dont know what youd do about the light. also an adapter i have no clue about.

disconnect the battery and wait 15 mins. getting the airbag off isnt too much of a hassle, im pretty sure you just use a flathead screwdriver and some patience and you can get it disconnected at all 4 corners. once you get it off DO NOT TURN THE WHEELS PAST CENTER you can go a turn either way but i wouldnt go any more than that because you can lose your position and f'up your clockspring when you go driving it and the steering wheel is off by a turn or sth :P anyway a bolt holds the steeringwheel on, take that loose use a puller and thats it. reverse procedure to get it back on. going to a billet wheel will probably nix the airbag going back on so i dont know what youd do about the light. also an adapter i have no clue about.

just what exactly does the clockspring in the steering wheel do. so u are saying when i get the bag out dont move the wheel period.

just what exactly does the clockspring in the steering wheel do. so u are saying when i get the bag out dont move the wheel period.

you can move the wheel just dont get lost as to what position the wheel was in when you took it off. the clock spring keeps the airbag connected so you can turn the wheel back and forth and it can go off when it needs to, its like a tape that is loosely turned around the steering shaft and if you turn it too far you can snap the tape. anyway i dont know if you need the clock spring after you put the billet wheel on anyway because youre definitely not going to put teh airbag back on so you might get all the info you can before you start on it just in case. and without the airbag on the steering wheel, if you dont do anything about it the airbag light will come on.

its keyed, you cant mess it up... untill you put aftermarket on, you have to turn the wheel, i beleve there are two torx holding the air bag/horn part of the wheel on, turn right get the one on the bottum, then left, as stated disconect the air bag and treat is as though its a bomb, because it is, and if it goes off, it can kill you sitting there, anywayse, once bag is out, copper connector should be there, get a pen magnet and remove it, then the wheel bolt itslefe, then take the wheel off WITH THE PULLER, and reverse to reinstall a stock wheel, but ive never done an aftermarket wheel so i canno't help ya... adapters are around 100 bucks last time i checked,

When dm said a bomb, he ment it. A airbag has the equivelent of 1/2 stick of dynamite in there... No joke.

Don't do anything to damage the air bag.
The last time that I heard (which I admit was years ago) they were worth a pretty penny, and you might be able to sell it.

um little under a grand EACH from the only place you can get them (dealership, i dont reccoment a salvage yard bag because most likely the damn thing was already crashed, and a thousand what if's come up with that one) and bttw, thanks for helping prove my point, i was not being a smartass for once, I think it was on TV, a firefighter got the jaws of life out and peeled a women out of her car, and leaned over to get something ( a cellphone, her purse, something for some id or an emergency number) the bag went off, and he was back in the car, almost back seat, the bag cought him behind the ear, he is now a quadraplegic... disconnect the battery, pull the fuse to the bags, then wait 15 min. b4 you even think about going back out there

I hate air bags. I thnk that they're unsafe, that they cause more injuries and deaths than they save.

In my opinion they should not be allowed to stick these items in our vehicles without first sticking in a shut off switch.

At least with a seat belt we are given the option of not wearing it.

But then again if I had an air bag in my car I would just snip the wire or bypass it somehow else.

ok dmbrisket, you mentioned a copper connector, what exactly is it connected to and how do i disconnect it. is it just a slide over connection. thanks for the help by the way to all.

its just there, its the connection for your horn contact... not attached, but be carefu with it, bend it wrong and make a constent contact...

i agree airbags are dangerous but people dont regard them as dangerous. for an airbag to work effectively you have to be at least a foot away from the airbag, you need your seat belt on and have nothing around your face that could impale you (cell phone, makeup, etc). we fired one off in school and it was in a table vice that was locked down as hard as humanly possible. when it went off it pulled itself to within a 1/16 of an inch out of the vice. it pulled a steel workbench a foot away from the wall and it rattled the dust off of the rafters. we set it off with a 9v battery. and trust me, when it goes off its scary. when it goes off in an accident you thank your lucky stars. i know i did, i got lucky all i got were 2 cuts and a nasty bruise and i can thank the airbag for that.

u guys said that if i took the airbag to a local GM dealership, i could maybe get a pretty good deal for it. so im guessing they do this regularly?

let me tell u guys a story, when i just had my license for 2 months i had a wreck, i ran my truck into a light pole at 65 mph and the damn air bag DID NOT go off. so what is the point of having one if it wont go off. and that is the same truck that i got pics of on here. So in my opinion airbags suck.

no, youd have to ebay the thing. and your airbag not going of sucks, hard to say why it didnt.

the squib sencor needs to detect a reson to go off, it must not have had a reading too... and the dealership will NEVER EVER EVER buy a used airbag or sell a used one... to much of a liability, only place to get used ones are, 1 salvage yards, and most make you sign a liability waver b4 you leave the proporty, and E bay it, thats what i suggest

Ok not to try and show anybody up but you were all wrong on how to take the air bag off of a 97 S-10. not a 98 or up. First you break the cover piece behind the wheel, this is the only way to get to the back of the wheel. and there are 2 retaining clips that come off 4 pointy little studs and that is what holds the bag on. Just remove the clips and the thing will fall in your lap.

it comes off without breaking it

it comes off without breaking it

me and my friend found no other way of doing it.

i beleve in 97 its a quick connect and requires special tools and the knowing of where to use the tools and how, it comes off without breaking it, otherwise every time anything in the colum needed changed you would need a new cover

i beleve in 97 its a quick connect and requires special tools and the knowing of where to use the tools and how, it comes off without breaking it, otherwise every time anything in the colum needed changed you would need a new cover

Maybe but really what purpose does the cover serve. IT DOESNT COVER ANYTHING UP NOT EVEN THE BACK OF THE STEERING WHEEL. We just broke it to make quick work of getting the steering wheel off.
Another question how would you get the thing off without breaking it. There was a torque on the bottom of my steering column that held the damn thing on. you take that off and explain to me how the cover will slide over the STEERING WHEEL if you come up with this one without having to break it tell me. I'm pretty sure the cover is not tall enough to clear the steering wheel