I installed it. Pretty straight forward except that a standard steering wheel puller wont work, as GM no longer uses threaded holes to mount the puller with. There are special "GM Steering Wheel Puller Legs" that you need, and the chain stores don't seem to carry them. I ended up making my own using two of the bolts that came with the standard puller. Basically, I bent the last half inch of the bolts 90° using a vise, torch, and grinder. Without a torch, they snapped at about 60°.
This is what the intent is:
Airbag: I disconnected the battery, pulled the airbag fuse ( under passenger toeboard), and let it sit a half hour. To release the assembly from the steering wheel, there are two small holes on the back /side of the steering wheel. Stick something that will fit into the hole (I used a large jewelers screwdriver) to push the metal rod inward to release the airbag. It can be done one side at a time. I practiced using the new wheel to get a feel for what to do:
To unplug the airbag, there was two plugs that had a locking mechanism on them. Basically, the orange locks are pulled straight out, and then the latches on the sides of the plugs are pressed in to release the plug.
The steering wheel nut was then be removed, followed by using the steering wheel removal tool with my custom feet. After the wheel is broken free, the plug for the controls was unplugged from the steering column by lift a tab at the top of the jack to release the plug:
The new wheel's plug was plugged into the column, airbag wires fed thru the new wheel, and the wheel was installed on the column with nut. The splines on the mounting hole/shaft are keyed, so you cant get it on off center. There is an arrow on the wheel and a line on the tip of the shaft that line up to help get the keying right.
The airbag plugs were attached to the airbag, orange plug locks re-installed, and the airbag assembly was lined up and pushed home, locking into place. The design of the locking pins allowed it to be installed without having to push the release rods for installation; it just pushed into place.
I then re-inserted the airbag fuse, and re-connected the battery.
Then, from outside the car (
to stay clear of the airbag) , I reached behind the steering wheel to insert the ignition key, and turned it to the "run" position, and watched for the airbag light to go out through the back window. Once it was out, I put the car in neutral, pushed the clutch, and started the car, all while still outside the car,
staying clear of the airbag.
After a half a minute or so, I turned it off, picked up my tools, and called it done.
Linear Mode
