• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

TR2/3/3A The Steering Wheel Nut

Share this page

K

karls59tr

Obi Wan
Country flag
Offline
Not the one on the box but the one that holds the steering wheel down. What size is it? It's not 1&1/4" the largest one i have. Hope it's not a British oddball. I'm going to have to borrow a socket. Also ....does the nut have a torque value? Thanks Karl:encouragement:
 
I couldn't find a socket in my toolbox to fit that nut so I filed the nut down to fit one of my sockets?

Graham
 
Mine measures 1 5/16 exactly. The nut is usually easy to remove as there is not much force on it. I think I've used an open end wrench vertically and also a punch to get them off. I've never torqued it back on either. "Good and snug" has always worked for me.
Tom
 
This week, I just happened to be playing with the steering wheel nut on my TR2. The hex is a for a 3/4" diameter Whitworth-thread bolt (1.30" across the flats of the nut). The thread is a weird one, at least in the USA. It seems to be from the "BSCY" (British Cycle) series, and it's 11/16" x 26 tpi. Looked on ebay and most of the taps and dies for this thread seem to come from India. The thread series may also be referred to as "BSB".

The other thing to be aware of is that the nut may have been "staked" at the factory by deforming the threads using a pin punch or pointed marking punch. This is to keep the nut from accidentally coming loose. Look for three punch marks on the face of the nut that faces the driver. Not having the correct tap or die, I wound up manually cleaning up the threads on the steering column shaft with a very small file.
 
Last edited:
Good call on those 3 punch marks groupdeville; the last time I put a steering wheel on the nut had those punches , and they can effect the torque because I was not sure what I was feeling, the wheel snug or the punch marks maybe stripping the threads. The shaft has a taper fit to match the wheel and the splines, so clean everything up good and then tighten the nut with maybe someone holding the wheel to help. I do not know of a torque, maybe 25.

After you get the wheel tight enough for you--- work the wheel some back and forth then push it in and pull back a little in and out or maybe drive the car some before you put the stator tube back. I put the stator back in once right away then in a couple of days I could feel a little back and forth click with the wheel. What happened was I did not get the wheel nut tight enough by about a ÂĽ turn or the shaft taper was dirty or whatever, but I had to pull it all apart to tight that ÂĽ turn to stop the click.

steve
 
I had Steve’s experience too. The nut does not “feel” hardened, so I was afraid to crank on it. The wheel later loosened a bit after use. I then snugged the nut back down and all is tight 3 years later.
 
Well the hex nut on my steering column also had the 3 punch marks so staking the nut must be a factory thing. I'm going to clean up the threads on the column shaft with a small file like groupdeville suggested. :encouragement:
 
I used a flat distributor point file and a triangular file on the shaft threads. A small round file worked fine at removing most of the distortion on the threads inside the nut, though it's a crude approach. If one wants to be proper about it, here are a couple of ebay links to the tap and die needed to clean up the threads. The ones I found seem to all come from Australia or India.

Die: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RDGTOOLS-B...var=591156844330&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Tap: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RDGTOOLS-B...var=591156829213&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
 
I am having a very hard time getting this nut off. I have tried using a machinist chisel to tap it, and various other wrenches, etc. Cannot budget. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
I am having a very hard time getting this nut off. I have tried using a machinist chisel to tap it, and various other wrenches, etc. Cannot budget. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
I would not use a chisel unless you don't have the correct size wrench. The next option is to use an impact wrench...but make sure the wheel is not against a stop and hold the outter rim firmly. That will minimize the chance of damaging the worm and bearings.
 
Most that I have seen have been treated with a punch to make sure the wheel does not work its way off. So you likely really need a socket if it has not recently been removed. If you see the punch mark maybe a dremel tool or a small drill will remove the punch mark.
Charley
 
CJD said:
I would not use a chisel unless you don't have the correct size wrench. The next option is to use an impact wrench...but make sure the wheel is not against a stop and hold the outter rim firmly. That will minimize the chance of damaging the worm and bearings.
Click to expand...
I did try an impact wrench, but it was just wouldn't budge. there's heavy grease around it so it's not rust or anything like that. I am being told about these punch marks that I may have to remove that w/dremel. This is turning out to be a lot more challenging than I imagined!
 
charleyf said:
Most that I have seen have been treated with a punch to make sure the wheel does not work its way off. So you likely really need a socket if it has not recently been removed. If you see the punch mark maybe a dremel tool or a small drill will remove the punch mark.
Charley
Click to expand...
Thank you for the suggestion Charley. Using a socket is a possibility, but only if I completely remove the horn wire at the core which would allow me to use a socket. I am looking into the possibility of an offset wrench, which will allow me to get an open face wrench around the nut with a crescent wrench attachment. Don't know if I can get the torque that way, but just looking for different options....
 
I am referring to an impact wrench that uses a socket (not sure of any other kind). Yes, you will have to pull the wiring in enough to get the socket on, but no need to pull it all the way out.
 
CJD said:
I am referring to an impact wrench that uses a socket (not sure of any other kind). Yes, you will have to pull the wiring in enough to get the socket on, but no need to pull it all the way out.
Click to expand...
I see – that's a great idea. I didn't realize that you could do that but now that makes sense. I just have to disconnect at the horn side. Is that correct?
 
You MUST pull the wires to remove the nut and steering wheel ,use an impact and the mentioned 1&5/16 inch socket.
Surprised no one mentioned the real NUT behind the wheel (owner)
Mad dog
 
You can straighten the wires and then pull carefully at the olive on the front of the steering gear. Just pull the wires down enough so you can fit the socket. If you go too far it could be difficult to get them back through. If they are frozen stuck, you may be able to roll them into a deep socket.
 
Back
Top