[AT] IHC Grain Truck Steering Wheel

[szabelski at wildblue.net]

Cecil,

Be thinking of how to determine if a parts truck steering wheel will fit your truck without having to pull multiple steering wheels and doing a bunch of trial fits.

Removing the center of the steering wheel should expose the nut (and possibly a washer) that hold the wheel on the steering shaft, should expose the splines. Count the splines, data point #1.

Measure the diameter of the threaded portion of the steering shaft (I believe you’ll find it to be 13/16). Measure from the threaded portion of the shaft to the tip of one of the splines, multiply by two and and to the diameter of the threaded portion of the shaft. That will give you the diameter of the splined area, data point #2.

Pop the hood and measure the diameter of the steering shaft, hopefully it’s not in some type of sleeve, data point #3.

The difference between data point #2 and #3 is the shoulder that the steering wheel sits on.

Repeat the above for any steering wheel that you plan on using to determine if it’s a good candidate.

One thing you won’t be able to determine is the depth of the spines, you’ll have to pull the steering wheels in order to determine that. If the spline depth on your truck is deeper than that on the parts vehicle, you’ll have to add shims behind the replacement steering wheel in order to get the nut to properly seat. If the your truck has a spline depth that is shallower than that on the parts vehicle, you’ll have to bore out the replacement steering to the proper depth, assuming there’s enough material to start with. 

Hopefully both steering wheels sit flush on the steering shaft shoulder, otherwise the diameter of the steering shaft becomes an important factor.

Of course this will only save you a lot of work if pulling the center of the steering off isn’t 50% or more of the job.

Carl