Replacing a Grant steering wheel

[EagleChief]

I scored a couple of GM steering wheels at a swap meet today. My truck has a Grant steering wheel on it. I want to pull off the Grant wheel and put on a GM steering wheel. How hard/easy is it to do? I've never messed with changing a steering wheel before.

Currently, the horn doesn't work, but I'd like it to. I think it is wired up to a button under the dash. I can push the button and hear the horn trying to honk, but nothing really happens. So, I'd prefer to hook it up to the steering wheel like it should be.

I'm guessing I'll need help identifying the column as well, as it's not the original column. I'll post some pictures to help.

Thanks in advance!

[EagleChief]

Pics...

[EagleChief]

More pics...

[EagleChief]

...

[dmjlambert]

You need a steering wheel puller tool to remove steering wheels easily. They cost about $15 at car parts stores. Most car parts stores will "rent" you one, but what they do around here is just collect a deposit equal to the sale price and if you never bring it back they don't care, and if you bring it back you can get a refund. I just bought mine and I'm glad I have it because I've needed it several times. You'll need it if you want to pull the steering wheel and re-center it.

Remove your steering wheel and lets see if you have a cancelling cam under there. You will need one for your GM wheel and for the horn to work. This is what they look like (from another thread)


Under that horn hardware that came with your GM wheels is the threaded holes you'll use with the steering wheel puller. It's good that your new wheels came with that hardware. Remove the 3 screws that hold the horn hardware in, and remove the items and set them aside in an orderly fashion, so you can know how to put them back in. When storing the GM wheels, I recommend putting the horn hardware back in place.

I don't know much about the Grant wheels. I think they may use an adapter of some sort, and that adapter may need to be pulled off with the steering wheel puller. Take off the horn button and see what's under there.

I recommend don't throw out the Grant wheel. Somebody will want to buy that from you, and it will probably get more than enough to pay for a premium membership here on the forum. Some people like that style of wheel.

[EagleChief]

Thank you so much! I do have a puller, already. I have been anticipating replacing the wheel with another aftermarket version. But, I got lucky today and found these two wheels.

I'm planning on putting the truck in the garage tomorrow, so hopefully I can start on on it. One I start pulling things out, I'll take pictures and post them up here.

Thanks again!

[EagleChief]

Alright... I got a few minutes to get in the garage after I got everyone in bed. I was able to remove the Grant wheel with ease. With that, I found the cancelling cam under the adapter. Yay!

So, now the question is, installing the new wheel. The one thing I'm concerned about is getting the horn to work. Can you tell in these pictures if I'm missing anything?

[EagleChief]

A couple of "better" pictures, hopefully.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by EagleChief

A couple of "better" pictures, hopefully.

Looks like all of those parts are there. If everything is hooked up as far as the horn circuit is concerned you should be able to touch a jumper wire to the spring loaded pin on the cancel cam and touch it to the steering column shaft and the horn should honk. If you hear the horn relay click but the horn doesn't honk it may be unplugged under the hood.

LockDoc

[dmjlambert]

The horn button's function is to short the metal post that is sticking out of the plastic tower on the cancelling cam to the steering column center hub. So, short the metal post to the steering column center with a screwdriver and you should get some sparks and the horn will blare. If you don't get that, slide the cancelling cam off and under it you will see a metal post sticking up from the turn signal area, and that would normally contact the bottom of the cancelling cam. Short that to the steering column center and see if that honks the horn.
If that also does not blare the horn, look up under your dash and see how that extra under-dash horn button is hooked up. It could be the wire going between the steering column wiring and the horn relay was disconnected from the steering column (to connect it to the under dash horn button instead).

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

Looks like all of those parts are there. If everything is hooked up as far as the horn circuit is concerned you should be able to touch a jumper wire to the spring loaded pin on the cancel cam and touch it to the steering column shaft and the horn should honk. If you hear the horn relay click but the horn doesn't honk it may be unplugged under the hood.

LockDoc

Awesome! Thanks Doc! I'll check it out and see what happens.

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

The horn button's function is to short the metal post that is sticking out of the plastic tower on the cancelling cam to the steering column center hub. So, short the metal post to the steering column center with a screwdriver and you should get some sparks and the horn will blare. If you don't get that, slide the cancelling cam off and under it you will see a metal post sticking up from the turn signal area, and that would normally contact the bottom of the cancelling cam. Short that to the steering column center and see if that honks the horn.
If that also does not blare the horn, look up under your dash and see how that extra under-dash horn button is hooked up. It could be the wire going between the steering column wiring and the horn relay was disconnected from the steering column (to connect it to the under dash horn button instead).

Thank you. I'm going to check out the wiring situation under the dash. I'm going to try and short the post as well and see what happens.

[EagleChief]

Well, I got the new steering wheel on late last night. I chased down some wires. According to the schematic that I have, the horn wire coming from the firewall is green. It follows several others down the driver side fender. I followed that up to the front of the truck and found that it was cut at the horn. The little push button is wired up to the horn in it's place. So, I unplugged the "fake horn" wire (that's what I'm calling it) as the splice was done with spade connectors. I put a connector on the end of the green wire that was cut, and hooked it up. I tried it this evening and, nothing.

Now, do our trucks have 1 horn, or 2 that are hooked up? My truck has 2 - one mounted at the top of the front core support, and one about 4-6 inches below it.

[Thealien]

Two horns was an option

[dmjlambert]

There is the wiring diagram:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...27#post9186727

I highlighted the horn wiring in blue here.



I have these recommendations:
Find the wires I highlighted on the wiring diagram, and make sure it is set up like stock.
Test your horn relay to make sure it works. It is on the firewall inside the cab to the right of the fuse panel. If it is not working, get a fresh one from a 67-72 Chevy trucks parts vendor.
Test the horns by connecting them briefly to your battery with some jumper wires.
Get any Packard 56 terminals you need, and any replacement plastic terminal housings you need.
Make any spices to wires that you need with solder connections and heat shrink tubing, and if putting terminal connectors on the wires crimp and solder them.
If you need to unwrap and re-wrap any wire bundles you will notice they are wrapped in non-adhesive vinyl tape. That stuff is available from vendors and I recommend it. I got mine from amazon.com. It makes for a neat job.

[EagleChief]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

There is the wiring diagram:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...49#post7809749

I highlighted the horn wiring in blue here.
Attachment 2054124


I have these recommendations:
Find the wires I highlighted on the wiring diagram, and make sure it is set up like stock.
Test your horn relay to make sure it works. It is on the firewall inside the cab to the right of the fuse panel. If it is not working, get a fresh one from a 67-72 Chevy trucks parts vendor.
Test the horns by connecting them briefly to your battery with some jumper wires.
Get any Packard 56 terminals you need, and any replacement plastic terminal housings you need.
Make any spices to wires that you need with solder connections and heat shrink tubing, and if putting terminal connectors on the wires crimp and solder them.
If you need to unwrap and re-wrap any wire bundles you will notice they are wrapped in non-adhesive vinyl tape. That stuff is available from vendors and I recommend it. I got mine from amazon.com. It makes for a neat job.

I appreciate it. I do have the wiring diagram saved. That's how I knew to look for the green wire going to the horn. 😉 I didn't give much time to diagnose the issue. Just hooked up my battery, turned the key on, and tried the horn button on the steering wheel. As of right now, it isn't on the top of my list of things to fix, but now I know what to look for. I'm starting the long process of pulling the motor and doing an LS swap. So, I have a feeling that a lot of the wiring is going to pulled and redone. Under my dash, it looks like a spaghetti bowl, because someone in the past went through and just started splicing into wires and adding stuff to bypass something, and they did a horrible job at keeping anything tidy.