Horn wire / Outer Steering Column

[Rooikop]

Rewired the horn last week - PO had bodged a dashboard switch instead of using the horn button. So new wheel (very nice), new horn button and new horn. Worked a treat, with new wiring from the horn to the tab in the bottom if the steering column. Wife drove off and returned saying horn not working. The steering joint had caught on the wire and ripped it off the tab. Rewired it all today, but this time tested to see if catching. Sure enough, the joint caught on the wire again (even though I thought I had carefully routed it well out of the way) and pulled it off the tab. Is there a trick to this? Some special way to keep the wire safe,? Both times I was able to feed the wire through the metal safety loop next to the tab but it seems that this is not enough - even with some additional carefully placed zip ties. Ideas welcomed! There's not a lot of room down there!

[kreemoweet]

It's odd, because the stock wiring was routed as you describe, and has no problems. Is there something non-stock about your steering that might place the coupler joint or fasteners closer to the body/cover plate? Is the steering column clamped firmly as far down as possible on the steering box input shaft?
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'67 bug: seized by the authorities
'68 bug: seized by the authorities
'71 kombi: not yet seized by the authorities

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[SGKent]

year of bus and photos help a lot considering there is more than one configuration on the column.
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[Rooikop]

Stock 71 T2A. Nothing looks out of place around the steering box that I can see. I'll have another go today (it's actually not too bad getting the wheel off and the column up the shaft enough to reattach the wire to the tab - just a pain to be fiddling around with something that should be straightforward). If I fail a 3rd time, I'll look at routing the wire back into the footwell itself and then out again in a place well away from the steering box - unless better suggestions here. Thanks for your time, guys.

[kreemoweet]

I guess you could have one of those bogus aftermarket rubber coupling disks that flex way too much and allow the steering column to rise up. Even a little upward movement of the column could easily snag the wire. The stock disks were quite stiff and allowed very little vertical movement.
_________________
'67 bug: seized by the authorities
'68 bug: seized by the authorities
'71 kombi: not yet seized by the authorities

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Rooikop]

So, another afternoon on the horn wiring. On closer inspection, looks like a PO broke off the tab and so just screwed the horn wire into the column inside the footwell - a screw hole is clearly visible. But also seems a 2nd PO has had a go at repairing the tab, which looks suspiciously new. His/ her efforts have resulted in a slightly melted bottom insulating ring but at least a tab is present: 2nd order issue is that the tab itself seems to come a bit too far into the space above the steering box. Thus means the tab and connector are perilously close to the top of the bolt heads on the coupling disk - and it was these catching on the wire that caused me the headache in the first (and 2nd!) place. So it's all back together and fingers crossed the present minimal clearance remains enough. It works (fir now)!

However, on the plus side: I briefly rested my torch on the accelerator cable this afternoon while working on all the above - and the hook eye end promptly parted company with the wire. Clearly just waiting to happen - new cable is on order, and I will also install a Butty's Bits linkage that's been rattling around in my spares drawer for the last year. Better today than while on the road (or with the wife at the wheel in her own........)