The steering wheel is a grand paradox of an automobile necessity. Without it, how would we steer our cars? But, it's always in the way! Until someone invents a steer-by-wire control system for automobiles we are forced to slide our legs under the big round wheel. It's not a particularly difficult maneuver to accomplish in normal cars, but the steering wheel sure gets in the way once you add a rollcage to the mix. What's a clever car guy to do? The answer has come to us from Grant Products in the form of its new quick-release steering wheel adapter kit.
Grant engineered its quick-release kit to work with most of its automotive steering wheels, and designed it as a replacement for the cast-aluminum wheel adapter commonly used to mount all Grant steering wheels on the factory column. The old cast-aluminum adapter and its related hardware are not used with the quick-release kit. The new kit instead uses a splined tubular steel coupling that slips onto the factory steering shaft. The quick-release wheel adapter is machined from aluminum and features a mechanism that allows you to slip the wheel on and off the column in an instant. To remove the wheel you simply pull up on the black steel release ring in the back of the adapter and the wheel will pull right off in your hands. To reinstall the wheel you just push it back down over the column and it automatically locks in place. There's nothing slicker or more convenient to get the wheel out of the way when you're climbing in and around the rollcage of your race or Pro-Street car. Removing the steering wheel and taking it with you when you leave the car unattended also makes a terrific theft deterrent! How can the car be stolen without a wheel in it to steer with? The only drawback to Grant's quick-release wheel adapter is its lack of a horn mechanism. But, most cars that can make use of a removable steering wheel usually don't have much use for a horn.