Pulling the steering wheel on a 2000 XJ - Need help

MoFo · Aug 13, 2004

I have the new clock spring from jeepsareus. It cost me less than half the best price I could find at a dealer and it is genuine Mopar.

Now I need to pull the wheel. I got the old puller out which only has SAE bolts with it. None of the bolts would thread into the wheel by hand, although the 3/8 bolts were close. So I assumed it was metric. I went to the hardware store and bought 2 each M8x1.0, M8x1.25, M10x1.0 and M10x1.25. I got back and the M8s were too small, the M10s too big. The holes are in aluminum, so I hesitate to wrench the 3/8 bolts in and mess it up.

What size are these bolt holes in the wheel?
Could these possibly be 9 micky meter bolts?

TIA

Kejtar · Aug 14, 2004

MoFo said:
I have the new clock spring from jeepsareus. It cost me less than half the best price I could find at a dealer and it is genuine Mopar.

Now I need to pull the wheel. I got the old puller out which only has SAE bolts with it. None of the bolts would thread into the wheel by hand, although the 3/8 bolts were close. So I assumed it was metric. I went to the hardware store and bought 2 each M8x1.0, M8x1.25, M10x1.0 and M10x1.25. I got back and the M8s were too small, the M10s too big. The holes are in aluminum, so I hesitate to wrench the 3/8 bolts in and mess it up.

What size are these bolt holes in the wheel?
Could these possibly be 9 micky meter bolts?

TIA

Hmmm I' not sure what is the size of the bolts but I went to AutoZone and whatever puller they had worked on my 98 which seems to have same style steering wheel as the 2000.

MoFo · Aug 14, 2004

They won't loan a tool if you didn't buy the part there, will they?

Kejtar · Aug 14, 2004

MoFo said:
They won't loan a tool if you didn't buy the part there, will they?

Yes they will. The way this works is you loan the tool, they charge you a full price (Or near full price) and depending how long you had it they might refunt you like $5 less when you return it. Also sometimes they never charge anything for the rental and you get full amount back (never could figure out how it works).

jneary · Aug 14, 2004

it should be 3/8ths bolts. just make sure the bolts go through the steering wheel all of the way or it will pull the threads out of the steering wheel.

MoFo · Aug 16, 2004

Thanks, jneary.

You are right the threads are 3/8 NC. However, the holes do not go all the way through. They are only drilled 7/16" deep. So I ran the bolts to the bottom and the wheel pulled just fine.

jneary · Aug 16, 2004

make sure the front wheels are straight when installing, or you will snap the new clockspring on a full turn

Jeepn4life · Aug 16, 2004

I have the factory manual on cd. I could email you that section in pdf format if you need it.

Pulling the steering wheel on a 2000 XJ - Need help

MoFo

NAXJA Forum User

Kejtar

PostMaster General

MoFo

NAXJA Forum User

Kejtar

PostMaster General

jneary

NAXJA Forum User

MoFo

NAXJA Forum User

jneary

NAXJA Forum User

Jeepn4life

NAXJA Forum User

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