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Steering wheel conversion
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M_atthewanderson
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:42 am    Post subject: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

So I am a pretty tall guy and all legs, my problem is that my 80 vanagon with its huge steering wheel is sometimes difficult to drive with my legs spread around it. I know that I will have to turn the wheel a lot more I don’t care. But I want a smaller stearing wheel and wanted to know what the rest of you have done. I want to put a vintage style beetle wheel or a wooden one. Have any of you done this and what did you find.
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lovedavdubs
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:02 am    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

mattography wrote:
So I am a pretty tall guy and all legs, my problem is that my 80 vanagon with its huge steering wheel is sometimes difficult to drive with my legs spread around it. I know that I will have to turn the wheel a lot more I don’t care. But I want a smaller stearing wheel and wanted to know what the rest of you have done. I want to put a vintage style beetle wheel or a wooden one. Have any of you done this and what did you find.


I swapped my 82s wheel for a newer and slightly smaller wheel out of an 86. I'd say about 1.5"-2" smaller in diam. The rim of the newer style is thicker also providing a better grip and the horn button is padded. And you can maintain the stock look. I'm about 6'3" and this wheel made the difference for me.

I think there was a thread on this topic not long ago. Try the search and see what it brings up
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TELEK27
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

momo makes an adapter for vanagon then you can use any momo wheel there is also adapter to use with the momo adapter from grant for 5 bolt patterns momo is 6 bolt pattern so you would have a large selection of wheels I went with a apc wheel
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Christopher Schimke
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a MOMO steering wheel in mine. MOMO sells hub extensions. I installed a 1" (25mm) extension on mine. It allows me to see the gauges much better.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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r39o
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many VAG steering wheels of the same vintage will fit. You might have to put the Vanagon horn contact ring in which can be purchased. I have seen some leather steering wheels out of GTIs put in. I have a D&W MOMO from my old Euro 1.6 GTI that I was tkinking of using some day. You just need to cover any leather wheel when the van is parked so it does not get baked. I have had a leather wheel on my Caddy now for over two decades and it looks fine still.
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BenT Syncro
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:16 am    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

mattography wrote:
So I am a pretty tall guy and all legs, my problem is that my 80 vanagon with its huge steering wheel is sometimes difficult to drive with my legs spread around it. I know that I will have to turn the wheel a lot more I don’t care. But I want a smaller stearing wheel and wanted to know what the rest of you have done. I want to put a vintage style beetle wheel or a wooden one. Have any of you done this and what did you find.


The only way I can think of accomplish what you are asking is by using an aftermarket wheel such as Momo, Nardi, Grant etc. The Momo part number is 8012. The Golf/Jetta part though it looks similar (8010) will not sit right over the bigger Vanagon shaft. You will also need to add the spacer that "loogy" has.

The later Vanagon steering wheels on powersteering vans are about an inch smaller and have soft grips. PS vans allowed a mechanical advantage so the smaller wheel was fine. VW also drilled the steering knuckles in a different spot to reduce the number of turns from lock-to-lock on PS vans. You will notice greater steering effort with the smaller wheel. You can also use one of the VW and Audi older wheels w/o airbags. GTI's an Audi 4000's make great donors.

I set-up a page on How To Install one of these wheels at:

http://hometown.aol.com/realsf/howtopage2.html

It's below the 2nd propane tank article. Just scroll down.

Some people avoided doing these mods by hogging out the steering wheel so it can sit lower on the column instead. I would think moving the turn signal stalks would be better in your case. You'd also better start doing some arm exercises as these wheels are even smaller than the PS van wheels. Maneuvering into a parking space will likely be a chore.

BenT
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lilweasel
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My van doesn't have PS, and I put seats from an 86 into it. It seems like these seats sit a little higher than the seats made for my 83. The big steering wheel for my non-PS van is pretty tight to my legs, so I was thinking about putting in a later model steering wheel. The big dilemna though, is that you of course loose the mechanical advantage of a larger steering wheel.

Who's got the later model steering wheel in a non-PS van? Is it pretty hard to park sometimes?
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Christopher Schimke
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

lilweasel wrote:
Who's got the later model steering wheel in a non-PS van? Is it pretty hard to park sometimes?


Mine isn't the later model steering wheel, it's the MOMO pictured above but it is on a non-PS van. It's a 14 1/2" OD wheel. It can be pain int parking lot sometimes but only when sitting stll. Even the slightest movement of the van (rolling slightly) will free it up and then it's just fine. Besides, I figure that it's good for my health to have to "work out" every time I drive my van (everyday).
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WVVWFERG
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have an 84 westy into which I "swaped" the better seats with armrests. They were enough higher that I had the same problem of not enough room between the non-p/s wheel and seat for my legs. I swaped a p/s wheel from my 85 GL (interestingly enough, in a non swivel setup in the GL there is plenty of room for the non-p/s wheel, unlike in the westy). So, I have leg clearance, but have the problem of visability of the top of the gauges. Next, I plan to cut out the swivel mechanism on the driver's seat to drop the seat (using the "original rails that are still under the 'swivels'). That ought to do it (lower seat mounting PLUS smaller diameter wheel). I have not found the steering to be difficult with the smaller wheel IF tire prssures are maintained as they should be. See if you can borrow a smaller p/s wheel and give it a try
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lilweasel
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll go for it.
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BenT Syncro
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lilweasel wrote:
My van doesn't have PS, and I put seats from an 86 into it. It seems like these seats sit a little higher than the seats made for my 83. The big steering wheel for my non-PS van is pretty tight to my legs, so I was thinking about putting in a later model steering wheel. The big dilemna though, is that you of course loose the mechanical advantage of a larger steering wheel.

Who's got the later model steering wheel in a non-PS van? Is it pretty hard to park sometimes?


Parking has always been difficult in manual steering vans. It gets worse as the steering wheel gets smaller. In urban areas, that can be a real PITA. As for seats, the Westy seatbottoms are about an inch lower (thinner) than regular van seats to accommodate the added height caused by the seat swivels. So if you had Westy seats and switched to van seats, that is where you are picking up the extra height. You can switch the foam underneath and retighten if you need the extra space.

You can always add powersteering. I did. Very Happy

BenT
http://vanagoncafe.com
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ron3865
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 12:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

I was thinking of using a Eurovan steering in my '88 Vanagon, if I can find one, but I read somewhere that some EV sterring wheels won't cancel the turn indicators. I'm sure someone here has done it or knows what year EV wheel i should look for.
Thanks
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bobbyblack Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 12:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

From memory, its the Early EV's. like 93-95? you've got to shave a bit of the plastic/foam from the column end. you make a bit of a shim to move the wheel out from the column to be able to get hi/lo beam selector to operate.

There's a good thread, can't remember the title. Will edit this when I find it.

EDIT:

Here it is:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668091
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Timwhy
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I have put two of this Jetta wheel in both my vans. The cancel tab for the directional works on one and not the other.
Maybe has something to do with the blinker column switch being closer to the top of the column.

Lots of leg room and having driven my Tintop with a missing PS belt, it's not hard to steer. Longer legs usually equals longer arms....more torque.
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mtnride1
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 6:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Steering wheel conversion Reply with quote

I'm 6'3 and put the South African wheel on. I love it.
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