steering wheel spacer?

[Jam]

Hello,

Being a tall chap i can't actually fit my hand between the steering wheel and my leg. Is there some way of moving the wheel further away from the dash towards me, perhaps by using some kind of spacer?

Or perhaps moving the whole column up would be possible. Has anyone tried this sort of thing before?

Thanks.

[thos]

I got a 60mm space from Demon Tweeks, but might depend on what boss you are using.

[adhawkins]

There was a guy on here making them too (Dasamdy was it?).

An alternative (that worked for me) was a different shaped (and slightly smaller) wheel.

Depending on the type of car (narrow or wide), putting a spacer in the top steering column mount can also help I think.

Andy

[Jam]

Andy, as far as putting a spacer in the top steering column mount goes, i have a wide body. Is that good or bad?

60mm might just be enough (fnar, fnar). What sort of boss do i need?

[adhawkins]

Sorry, the spacer in the column mount will move the steering wheel up slightly.

To move the wheel towards you, you'll need a spacer between the wheel and the mounting boss.

I'm afraid I don't know which model it's easier on, I think that an SEiW is Ok, cos the top of the column isn't welded to the chassis, as it is on the earlier SEs (can anyone confirm this?).

Andy

[hilux]

I think that an SEiW is Ok, cos the top of the column isn't welded to the chassis

Was on my old westy so I made a spacer and extending bracket as the wheel was too low and actually set to the right so that my knuckles scraped the sidescreen when on the car

[JonnyBoy]

one approach... not sure i'd do it this way though..

I tried out my theory about mounting the steering wheel further away from the dash. I got some longer bolts and used some thick-wall steel tubing to make some 3cm long spacers.

It made a huge difference and I went for a trickle round the car park again. (At night, using the cars own lights! Another couple of centimetres and it will be perfect. The only issue is whether it would get through an SVA like this, or whether I should submit it to the test with just the standard wheel.

The modified wheel actually made the car easier to steer as by being a bit closer one can put a bit more "shoulder" into steering it. (If you watch the BTCC cars on the television you'll see that the drivers have the wheel very close to them, I suspect for this reason.)

I would much prefer to use an aluminium spacer, or possibly, as has been suggested by the cam7 bods, a hardwood/ply/mdf spacer. I can't see that it would be hard to find something that would do the job well.

[hilux]

I accept that a spacer will bring wheel nearer and raise it marginally (mm`s) however you stand behind standard Westies and look properly, I mean properly............. the wheel/column aint straight on most of `em....believe me  

You also need to enlarge hole in front scuttle and on top mounted pedals mess around with the ally cover....which is why Westfield havent re-jigged it IMHO and a spacer is invariably a compromise for people that cant be arsed

The difference in access to the car, instrument positioning/visibility and driver comfort is noticeable....try it in one thats done you`ll be surprised.

[brianm]

It also depends on the chassis year. The early SEIW cars had the top column bearing sleeve welded to the cross member. At 6ft 3" I had now clearance between knee and wheel. I had to grind the weld off and add a spacer to lift the column by about 3/4" and offset it by the same. This gave a lift and offset at the wheel of about 1". It made all the difference

B.

[geelhoed]

Did the same thing last weekend, took some 50mm 8.8 M5 allenhead bolts and made 39mm (don't ask) spacers from a stainlesssteel pipe (6mm inner 8mm outer diameter)

Now my arms aren't straight out anymore and my knees don't touch the wheel.

[Matt Seabrook]

Not sure I would be happy with this on my car. A solid spacer would be fine but this looks suspect to me. The other thing you could do is fit a quick release boss which will bring the wheel closer.

[Mark B]

I have a quick release steering wheel with a very small momo wheel, it's perfect.

The q release boss means it spaces the wheel further back, the small wheel allows greater un restricted movement and helps you when getting in and out of the car, although I can even get in and out with the wheel on, plus it's a good anti theft deterrent.

The other thing that helps is having shoes with a thin sole so that your feet are as far down the tunnel as possible, keeping them just that bit further from the steering wheel and making your legs straighter.

As a guide to see if it would help you, I'm 6'3", with long legs, arms and large hands, the bloke I had the car off was 6'5" & didn't have problems either.

HTH,

Mark.  

[7SE]

Andy, as far as putting a spacer in the top steering column mount goes, i have a wide body. Is that good or bad?

60mm might just be enough (fnar, fnar). What sort of boss do i need?

The Sparco spacer, as sold by DT [and others] is for their steering wheel PCD.  I think that this is the same as Momo and many others.  It is NOT the same as the larger [older?] Mountney steering wheel PCD  

Have a look in a car accessory shop and measure sizes of steering wheel PCDs before ordering, or alternatively incur the cost of return postage to try one for size.  Like I did ...    

[hilux]

Not sure I would be happy with this on my car

Mmmmmmmmm........I know what you mean, there is clearly going to be very little resistance to shear/twist in a `big` situation. I`d recommend something solid in the long term.  

[7SE]

When I spoke to DT about my requirements, having discovered the Sparco one to be too small a diameter, they suggested taking a paper pattern of the PCD to a machine shop and getting one made out of a solid billet of aluminium.  Suggested cost £20-£30, i.e. cheaper than their 'off the shelf' item