Steering wheel bulbs, why did GM do this?

[ktmhans]

What is a "hemostat"????

KTMHans, are you Austrian???? If so, where from?

Ha, i stink at spelling, hemostat's are thosereally small pliers with pretty long handles, usually havefinger loops and when you tighten them down they lock. There handy little tools.
I have a lot of German in me. And live in CT.

 

[JochenWoern]

Ha, i stink at spelling, hemostat's are thosereally small pliers with pretty long handles, usually havefinger loops and when you tighten them down they lock. There handy little tools.
I have a lot of German in me. And live in CT.

Thanks very much Hans. I am from Germany!

So, are you saying one can tackle this job from the front of the wheel WITHOUT removing it, changing a complete switch (no soldering?)

 

[lil754boy]

So how hard is it to remove the steering wheel?

 

[yargnits]

No fat fingers allowed. LoL

That leaves me out.

 

[Mrhug3]

Anyone have any luck doing this on an 02' Denali?

 

[kses123]

Taking the steering wheel off is really is. You don't need a puller or anything. Just pop the airbag off (after leaving the battery off for 30mins to be safe) by the two holes on each side. You just stick something in there long and narrow (small screwdriver perhaps) and it will release the airbag.

Unplug the connectors for the airbag and the horn. Then unhook the black connector for the buttons. All you have to do is take that nut off holding the wheel on. Grab the wheel and pull it toward you. Wiggle it a little while pulling if it is stuck. Comes off very easily. There are even little arrows to line up so you can't put the steering wheel back on the wrong way.

 

[DanangMarine68]

I have an '06 Chevy Z71 Tahoe. Three of the 4 lower button lamps are out, are these incandescent or LED. I thought they were LED. If not, I missed any reference to any LED replacement.

TIA

 

[Mr.Joshua]

I just finished replacing all of the bulbs in these as well in my Wife's 2004 Tahoe.

1)Removal of the switches was a piece of cake.
2)Changing out the bulbs was a piece of cake.
3)Installing the top switches was a piece of cake
4) installing the bottom switches was a PITA!
5) removing the airbag was a piece of cake. lol
What I ended up doing was cutting the end of the connector off! I then made a nice little splice, added a few inches of wire and re-attached the connector. After this I simply plugged in the switch (just like you should be able to anyway)

As i was installing the airbag I got to wondering if they didn't want the risk of extra wire around the airbag. Who knows though?!

 

[Reaper414]

Gm likes to make things difficult.

 

[Goodinblack]

Gm likes to make things difficult.

GM seems easy after owning a Benz.