Steering

Add a 14" Steering Wheel: 1 hour. You get some choice in color and style. I prefer the thick padded grip of a Formuling France wheel, but that's a personal thing. The smaller the steering wheel, the more difficult the steering effort! I don't recommend trying this modification on Busses, since steering effort becomes too difficult, especially in parking lots!

Our original steering wheel and horn mechanism are shot, and my son wants to buy one of these Formuling jobbers that John Connolly recommends. Any experience?

I've got a '72 Ghia with an aftermarket Formuling steering wheel. I'm not too fond of it but I'm especially irritated that it won't cancel the turns signals automatically. I took it apart and it appears to be missing that thingamajig that cancels the turn signal. Is this a fatal flaw of the design or was the guy who put this on an idiot? I've damn near killed myself on numerous occasions by driving blissfully through intersections with my turn signal on. People think I'm an idiot on the freeway.

We have this situation with the left signal in our van, and it bugs my son something fierce -- to the point that he's almost willing to sacrifice the "cool" steering wheel for the properly functioning switch.

I called RMMW and talked to a technician. He assure med that if the hub adaptor is installed correctly and the proper pins are used (some measuring is necessary), the directional signals will work just fine. He is going to fax me some more information.

The main reason we're changing out our steering wheel is because the old one is really shot. The plastic cover over the horn mechanism won't stay on any more (my son has it taped on), and the steering wheel itself is cracked in several places. It looks pretty shabby and I'm sure it's a safety hazard.

One problem I have which you will probably never have is the turn signal relay. On our Beetles it is a square shaped box with two relays and a 'flip/flop' electronic circuit. My West Coast Metric catalogue shows the US cars with a cylindrical relay -- much different. Anyway, a part of the circuit which drives the indicator light in the speedo in mine has gone belly up, and I only get a single flash from the indicator bulb when I turn, though the indicators work fine. Trouble is, it's over $50 to replace, so I've just got used to listening for the rather faint clicking to make sure they are on or off.

The other semi-success was the steering wheel. I borrowed a puller from a friend, but it was only his 27mm socket that I needed. Once I had the nut off the steering wheel came off without much effort. So I went ahead and put the new Formuling steering wheel on. It's really nice, but now the turn signals will not cancel automatically. My son’s not going to be happy! I'm waiting for a fax from the technician at RMMW on how to fix this problem. In the meantime, the smaller (36cm diameter) steering wheel is sure nice -- it doesn't rest on my knees anymore, but it makes it difficult for both my son and I to see the speed on the highway (top of the dial).

I have installed many Formuling steering wheels. With most of them there are problems with turning signals off takers and many times must have built the home made system for it. Very often by taking the original system from the cars own steering wheel and installing it to the formuling problems are over.

I know exactly what the problem is, but I've yet to figure out how to resolve it. Screwed on the bottom of the old steering wheel assembly was a brass contact ring with a wire attached that runs to the horn. On the right side of this contact ring was a tab that stuck down into the turn signal switch. This tab would release the switch to return to the center position when the steering wheel was turned. The new contact ring with the Formuling steering wheel does not have this tab, and the old one can't be used with the new hub adaptor.

But the steering is a bit heavier with the small wheel, right?

Yes, and the car turns even quicker than before -- it’s very maneuverable really fun to drive.

VWs did have cancelling indicators for '71, they have fitted them since the '61 models (in Europe anyway). There's probably a bit missing from your steering wheel; it's normally a ring with a tang on it, and it can be removed (3 screws). Maybe it could be fixed to the back of a custom wheel, on the adaptor perhaps? You must put the wheel back straight, with the indicator switch central, or it smashes up the mechanism and then doesn't self-cancel.

The old wheel should come off by hitting it with a rubber mallet from 'behind' the wheel.

I didn't have to resort to that -- a little back-and-forth movement and it came right off. Very easy job; poor design with regard to the turn signal interface.

My '71 Super does not have automatically cancelling turn signals -- that's the way it was in '71, I guess. My old '72 standard (RIP) cancelled. It didn't take long to get used to turning them off by hand. All I do is after I make the turn, on the last turn of the wheel back to center, I stick out a finger (ahem) and knock the stick home.

I talked to another technician at Rocky Mountain Motor Works him about the situation with the new steering wheel and the turn signals not canceling. He said here is a little hole in the hub adapter that a pin fits into (I wondered what that pin was for!); this pin then simply acts as a lever to cancel the turn signals. There's nothing exotic about this pin; I think you ought to be able to come up with something that will work and not have to buy a new hub adapter.

I've installed a new Formuling steering wheel in my '73 SB put can't figure how the little pin goes in the hub adapter to make the turn signals cancel. Can anyone help?

It taps straight into that little hole! It IS a tight fit, but it will go with a small hammer. Tap slowly at first, and also pinch the end a little with something so it "starts" into the hole.

I'm still not clear on how this turn signal cancellation pin works. I was working from memory when I wrote to you before, and I thought I understood the configuration of things, but I don't.

This pin needs to extend down into the turn signal switch at the same location where the little plastic tang was on the original contact ring, right? So where exactly is this hole that the pin fits into? Is the hole in the contact ring?

The sketch provided with the hub adapter is not clear at all with regard to the turn signal mechanism -- it doesn't show the cancellation pin at all.

It sounds to me as if you do NOT have the WHEEL ADAPTER you need to install the wheel you bought! You need the adapter, AND the wheel.

The adapter has a gold colored ring (with a black, rubber center) that comes in the box. Install this "wire side up", and slide it on. On the adapter (the part the horn ring slid onto), there is the center with the splines to slide onto your steering shaft. The hole for the pin is right next to the shaft on a little outcropping of metal. It IS in the same place that you deduced by looking at the stock wheel. They used a pin instead of that longer thingy.

I pulled the steering wheel yesterday, turned the hub adapter over, and there, sure enough, was the little hole for the turn signal cancellation pin -- totally ignored in the installation instructions. I tapped in the pin, carefully aligned the hub on the spline, and put it all back together. And it works great, thanks to your most helpful advice.

That pin will go into the adapter that you purchased to mount the new wheel. I put a Formuling France 13" on my 74 Super. But beware! There was not enough space between my windshield wiper switch and the steering wheel. My ex company (Fiest Engineering) manufactured a billet aluminum spacer that moved out the wheel an extra 1". The kit included the billet spacer and 9 longer hex screws to bolt the wheel, spacer, and adapter together. We would reuse the nuts from the original kit. With that problem fixed, I love the wheel! It feels really beefy when I drive!

If it's not one thing it's another! Now the horn doesn't work. My son reports that it gave off kind of doleful sound right after I reinstalled the steering wheel, but now it doesn't work at all and I have no voltage at the horn wire. I greased the spline fairly liberally before putting the hub adapter on it; could I have gotten grease between the contact ring and its contact?

Here's the deal.. they NEVER tell you this, and I have never seen anyone else that knew of this problem either!

The brass contacts on your steering column are dirty/greasy, and probably ALSO do NOT contact the gold ring you installed on the horn adapter. What you need to do is BEND the brass tabs carefully so it contacts the gold ring. I put TWO bends in it, one to bring it up, and one to "level it off". Make sure it doesn't rub TOO hard, or it will wear through quickly!

What exactly does this pin look like and what are it's dimensions?

Not much to say about the pin. It's a cylinder about 3mm in diameter and about 15 -16mm long. The one that came in the hub adapter kit was open all the way down along one side (that is, the cross section looks like a "C"), but I don't think that's important. Maybe just so it could be crimped a little on the end to get it started into the hole, as it fits very snugly (as it needs to considering its function).

You might be able to make your own out of a nail or something similar -- there's certainly nothing exotic or special about it, as long as you can get a good tight fit so it won't come loose and fall out.

It's amazing what the Haynes and Bentley books DON'T tell you. This weekend I'm going to be pulling the steering wheel for the third time. The first time was to install the new Formuling wheel; the second time wasn't Haynes or Bentley's fault but the fault of very poor installation instructions with regard to the turn signal cancellation mechanism. I finally got that figured out and fixed (with great help from John Connolly on the Newsgroup), only to have the horn cease to work. Here's where Haynes and Bentley have let me down -- they say absolutely nothing (that I can find) about how the horn wiring works. Tearing into that is next on my list.

The problem with the horn could just be a poor contact between the brass ring on the back of the steering wheel and the springy contact behind it. My Squareback was about to go for its annual test, and the horn was feeble, then stopped altogether. Turned out the brass ring and contacts needed cleaning (fine sandpaper). Sometimes you can get away with turning the wheel while sounding the horn; easier than taking off the wheel, but that's not hard with a 27mm socket.

I don't think there is a wire on later VWs; it uses the switch wiring and the steering column. You must make sure the wire connecting across the rubber steering coupling for the earth is OK.

The horn does NOT necessarily "always work whether the key is in the ignition or not". It may depend on the country of destination, but all the VWs I've had need the ignition on for the horn to work.

Today I pulled steering wheel again to fix the horn. I found the brass contact tab that impinges on the contact ring worn through in one spot. I cleaned up the tab with emory cloth and bent it so a different part of it would touch the contact ring on the hub adapter. The horn works now!

Yes, I've had to do this too. As far as I understand it, the horn itself has a 'hot wire' to one contact (has 12+ to it), and the other wire goes through the horn contacts for the grounding. That is, the horn ring/button grounds the circuit, rather than being the more usual active lead switch.

I guess it's easier to do the 'ground switch' arrangement through the steering column, as any rubbed leads here will simply activate the horn, rather than shorting an active lead. A blip...blip on the horn as you turn the wheel would forecast a problem-- like a self-diagnosis.

Our work on the VW has slowed somewhat, now that we've gotten over some of the major hurdles. I did pull the steering wheel again on Saturday (getting really good at that! Done it so many times I've invested in a 27mm socket) and found something that I should have noticed before -- the brass contact tab (for want of a better term) that impinges on the contact ring to pass juice on up to the horn button was worn completely through in one spot. I couldn't see an easy fix, so I just polished all the brass with emory cloth and bent the tab so that a different part of it would touch the contact ring. Works! Someday when I don't have anything else to do (ha!) I'll see if I can find a replacement tab at a junk yard or someplace (that's a discouraging front the junk yards around here turn up their noses at Volkswagens).

Latest chapter in this tale of woe: Last night my son informed me that the turn signals were no longer canceling. Oh, joy! So this afternoon I pulled the steering wheel for the FOURTH time (that 27mm socket is sure paying for itself!), and sure enough, the cancelling pin had fallen out and was nowhere to be found. So I got myself a nail, cut it to the right length with a hacksaw, and hammered it into the hole in the hub assembly. Then for good measure I put a ring of JB Weld around the joint. So we'll see how long this fix lasts. I've come to the conclusion that the Formuling steering wheels are really nice, but the associated stuff (like the hub assembly, contact ring, cancelling mechanism, etc.) are junque.