Steering wheels

[dubie]

I'm looking to see what you guys run for steering wheels when you use the stock column. I have one on my column now that has a 4" recess in the middle and it damn near puts the edge of the wheel at my chin. The factory wheel I have sits nice and flush but it's got a huge diameter on it. What I'm looking for is something close to being flush but a bit smaller diameter than stock. Again, this is mounted on a stock column

[NEWFISHER]

http://www.southernrods.com/steering...ing-wheel.html

spendy, but classic looks, flatter approach and smaller diameter. There are a few threads on cutting the center from your OE one, re-sizing the outer ring and welding your center back into it. JB weld the material areas and paint it.

[OrrieG]

55-57 had flat wheels, 58-59 they shortened the column and dished them. I used a flat 48 wheel on my eldo column, wanted it to look like a large radius truck wheel. The stock 59 would have been the chin scratcher you described.

[magicoolbus]

57 has a shortened steering column I believe as well. The 55 and 56 columns were longer and as stated before had a flat steering wheel. I am 6'5" and in my 57 I tried a flat wheel from a 55. It gave me the room I needed between my belly and the wheel, but created another more dangerous problem: As I have a 4 speed on the floor, I had great difficulty raising my foot off of the gas and applying brake as the shifter prevented my knee from angling away from the steering wheel.
Soooo, I went back to the 57 wheel and just deal with it being close to my breakfast. Oh, I still have manual steering and need a bigger wheel diameter to facilitate turning and parking.

[mr48chev]

These guys aren't even cheap but build really nice steering wheels and each one is made the way you order it within the parameters of the basic design of the wheel. They resemble something that might have come out of a high end luxury car in the 50's but have the smaller fatter rim that feels a lot better in most hands. http://www.con2r.com/products-steering-wheels/
My wife and I talked to them at the Portland Roadster show a couple of years ago when they had just brought the wheels out and the finish is show quality along with being able to pick your color (s) and trim.

For a bit less money but still not cheap The SoCal sprint car style wheel is always a classic https://socalsac.com/parts-accessori...steering-wheel

Still the wheel and gauges have to be exactly what you want in your rig as you handle the wheel and look at both the wheel and gauges every time you drive the truck and settling for less than you really want will always eat at you later.

I drove my 48 for 15 years with a wheel sitting up like yours does Dubie and it isn't even close to comfortable. And that is with the seat sitting somewhat lower than a stock seat because of the chopped top.

[roger55]

Originally Posted by magicoolbus

57 has a shortened steering column I believe as well. ...

Correct. The '57 had a dish wheel.

[OrrieG]

I think that is the second time I have learned that on this board, maybe it will stick this time!

[Rude Dude]

The 55-56 column is longer than 57-59 did you ever consider swapping a cloumn. If not on my 56 I cut the coulmn down, first I cut to the length that I liked and beveled the cuts, next placed in some angle iron tig welded back together then I sleeved the weld area after grinding the weld with another tube with an inside diameter of 3/4 as best as I can remember and welded that tube past the joint weld for safety reason's. You can shorten outer tube at the base with hack saw. If you look at my build I did the same on a Van Column I shorten.

Originally Posted by dubie

I'm looking to see what you guys run for steering wheels when you use the stock column. I have one on my column now that has a 4" recess in the middle and it damn near puts the edge of the wheel at my chin. The factory wheel I have sits nice and flush but it's got a huge diameter on it. What I'm looking for is something close to being flush but a bit smaller diameter than stock. Again, this is mounted on a stock column

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

55-57 had flat wheels, 58-59 they shortened the column and dished them.

did not know this, orrieg
maybe due to the fact that i've had many 58 & 59 chevys and one 57 gmc
your my tf guru orrieg, fast approaching a tf god

[dubie]

would anyone know off hand what a good donor vehicle would be to swap out the steering wheel with? I may just drop the huge stock one back on until I find something else. The one I just mounted doesn't feel right to me

[NEWFISHER]

Any Chevy cars and trucks from the 40's through 70's had the same splines.

[OrrieG]

my 82 eldo column has the same spines too, so that gives you another decade of options. Most wheels before the 70's will be 16" because of the manual steering. After that they were 15" diameter and started getting fatter in the center to match the larger column housing. Over on HAMB there are a number of threads on using a vintage center and trim with a later 15" wheel.

[_Ogre]

you can also reduce the diameter of your stock wheel
custom classic trucks ran a write up on shrinking a stock wheel
look at their website for more info
i'd like to try this on truk