How To: Remove and Install New Steering Wheel

I recently replaced my steering wheel and thought I would share some steps and hints I learned along the way.

1. Disconnect the battery
2. Release the airbag by inserting a small screwdriver in the two tiny holes in the shroud behind the wheel and pressing the release. It will release very easily.
3. Disconnect the two airbag wires by pressing in on either side of the connector.

Here is what you see:


4. Disconnect the steering wheel control connector at the top of the wheel if you have them.
5. Remove the horn switch which has a plastic shield and two red wires from either side of the wheel. Press the switch in until it bottoms out and rotate it counter clockwise 90 degrees and it should pull out. The new wheel came with a steering wheel switch so you don't have to bother removing the four torx screws for the horn switch.
6. Remove the steering wheel retainer nut in the center of the wheel.
7. You will need a steering wheel puller for the next part. I went to autozone and they gave me one that required the steering wheel to have two threaded holes on either side of the shaft. Our wheels do not have that and you need to get something similar to a pulley puller and set it up for a two-jaw operation rather than three jaw. I put the jaws on the top and bottom of the wheel.
8. Make sure you note the arrow on the wheel and the alignment hash mark on the shaft. You will have the same alignment arrow on the new wheel.
9. Remove and steering wheel and feed the wires through as you remove the wheel.
10. Remove the shroud on the back of the wheel which is held on by two torx screws.
11. Remove the steering wheel buttons by pressing firmly on the switches from the back of the wheel. They are basically just held in there by friction and are not clipped in. They just need a firm push.

Here are the buttons once I pushed them out:


12. Disconnect the switches once clear of the wheel.
13. Remove the wiring harness and put it on the new wheel.

This is how the harness is routed on the back of the wheel:


14. Connect the switches to the harness on the new wheel and push the switches into the wheel.
15. Put the shroud on the backside of the wheel on the new wheel
16. Press the wheel into the spline on the shaft and make sure to align the arrow on the wheel with the alignment mark on the shaft.
17. Torque the retainer nut to 29 ft lb
18. Connect the steering wheel button harness
19. Push the horn switch back into its hole and rotate 90 degrees clockwise to secure it in the wheel.
20. Connect the airbag wires to the airbag
21. Insert the airbag into the wheel.

Here is the finished product

Where exactly did you place the puller so that you didn't damage the plastic trim?

Danzigman said:

Where exactly did you place the puller so that you didn't damage the plastic trim?

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Put it at 12 and 6 o'clock. You will flex the trim quite a bit but I didn't do any permanent damage. Things will get a bit sketchy because I was pulling with the puller for a while then the wheel just launched off the spline of the shaft pretty suddenly. You may want to keep the nut from the shaft on the last few threads of the shaft to keep the wheel from flying.

You also might be able to wiggle it back and fourth to get it off. I put my hands at 3 and 9 and wiggled(pushed with my left while pulling with my right and visa versa) and it came off without too much trouble.

Yeah, you don't really need a puller for these steering wheels. They come off easily.

Man I'd shore like to swap out my 01 steering wheel I think is the only year it had different style than the next few years.

Has anyone with a 01 steering wheel swap to a later year OEM steering wheel. Grant steering wheels makes a few nice ones except for 2001.

When adding steering wheel controls to a Tahoe, could I use a clockspring for a single stage air bag on my dual stage air bag? I assume only having one wire connector to hook up instead of both.

kses123 said:

Yeah, you don't really need a puller for these steering wheels. They come off easily.

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Indeed, they do. I just spent about two days between trying to get the terrible "puller" that Grant recommended with the purchase of the new wheel. Completely wrong type of puller. No threaded holes on the back side of the wheel. Then tried a clamp version from Advanced Auto, and it was too big to get behind the clock spring. Finally read your post, and gave it a forward and backwards wiggle at 9 and 3 o'clock. Slid of gently and with no drama!

Here's a Grant Revolution airbag steering wheel replacement in a 2004 Tahoe Z71. Install was relatively easy with the YouTube video that Grant has online. Pulling the wheel was made a little more complicated than it needed to be. Also replaced the steering wheel control buttons since the old ones were beaten up and three out of four had burned out lights. Very happy with the new product and new look.

Z71Tahoe2004 said:

Here's a Grant Revolution airbag steering wheel replacement in a 2004 Tahoe Z71. Install was relatively easy with the YouTube video that Grant has online. Pulling the wheel was made a little more complicated than it needed to be. Also replaced the steering wheel control buttons since the old ones were beaten up and three out of four had burned out lights. Very happy with the new product and new look.View attachment 58149

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How do you like that steering wheel. Looks different but nice. Does it feel of sound quality?

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