can i change steering wheel spline fitment?

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hawky666

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,653
Location
Calllington, Cornwall
Everything steering wheel i see that i like.. is 48 spline, yet mine is 36 spline (well 30 something) so, what can i do to be able to get a 48 spline steering wheel to fit my defender?? any ideas!! hopefully easy ones :confused:
 
Everything steering wheel i see that i like.. is 48 spline, yet mine is 36 spline (well 30 something) so, what can i do to be able to get a 48 spline steering wheel to fit my defender?? any ideas!! hopefully easy ones :confused:
Change the boss;)
 
Agreed.
Are you looking at LR wheels that have no boss or are these aftermarket wheels in which case just use the correct boss for your column?
 
a 4lb lump hammer a welder and some chemical metal........ come to think of it i wonder how the subsequent owners of my bobtail ever did get the mg montego steering wheel back off ;) ooops i was a lot younger n rasher back then......

cheers steve
 
I picked up an astrali leather sport wheel and boss , brand new for early 110 for £30 at sortout, will take a pic tomoz, you could probably change the upper column if worse came to worse and u saw a 48 spline u really liked

cheers steve
 
I might have a 48spline shaft you can have, you can drop the bearing, pull the shaft and swap it.
 
That listing does specify the splines and makes no mention of a separate boss so not really of any use to you.
Just search around until you find an aftermarket wheel you like and then buy the correct boss to fit your existing column, easy really.
 
I've been looking for a new steering wheel and mine too is the big 4 spoke 36 spline and the 36 spline land rover one (air bag type) are rare and so go for a lot of money. So looked at some other makes but it looks like the boss sticks out quite abit bringing the wheel closer to you and further from the indicator stork ect!
I'm interested by the earlier post about changing the column (although I've just put new uj's on mine) ha. Has anyone got a link to doing this? Is it a straight swap to a 48 spline?
 
I had my boss cut & re-welded to bring the wheel as close to the stalks as the original wheel, very simple and effective. Depending on the type of boss (some are all alloy which can't be modified whereas others are a steel frame bolted to an alloy spine adaptor which can) it gives you the widest range of wheels to choose from while keeping the controls within easy reach.
 
I had my boss cut & re-welded to bring the wheel as close to the stalks as the original wheel, very simple and effective. Depending on the type of boss (some are all alloy which can't be modified whereas others are a steel frame bolted to an alloy spine adaptor which can) it gives you the widest range of wheels to choose from while keeping the controls within easy reach.

Which make/model of boss do you have litch? Or ones you know can be cut down?
 
Bought them years ago but they were both supplied by Mountney however I think that several firms market the same boss under their own name.

The all alloy boss was for the Mountney "Classic" range of wheels. They are a functional and reasonably priced wheel with limited range of size & finish however the boss fitting is unique to that wheel and you can't fit a different wheel to the same boss.
Then changed to a industry standard "6-hole pattern" boss (still supplied by Mountney) which allowed me to choose a wheel from a wide range of suppliers. Settled for a Raid 12-inch wheel with "Snap-Off" adpator but after many years use I decided to get rid of the adaptor and have the boss re-welded to bring the wheel up against the stalks which was done last year. Took some getting used to after all those years of having the stalks just out of reach!
 
Bought them years ago but they were both supplied by Mountney however I think that several firms market the same boss under their own name.

The all alloy boss was for the Mountney "Classic" range of wheels. They are a functional and reasonably priced wheel with limited range of size & finish however the boss fitting is unique to that wheel and you can't fit a different wheel to the same boss.
Then changed to a industry standard "6-hole pattern" boss (still supplied by Mountney) which allowed me to choose a wheel from a wide range of suppliers. Settled for a Raid 12-inch wheel with "Snap-Off" adpator but after many years use I decided to get rid of the adaptor and have the boss re-welded to bring the wheel up against the stalks which was done last year. Took some getting used to after all those years of having the stalks just out of reach!

I just bent the stalks closer to the wheel:)
 
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