Removable Steering Wheel

[J M Stott]

Hi all,

 

Sure this will have been discussed somewhere but couldn't find anything myself, i am wanting to put a removable steering wheel in my Elise s2 and have come across these two kits

 

https://www.eliseparts.com/products/show/49/520/removable-steering-wheel-kit/

 

and

 

http://www.elise-shop.com/removable-steeringwheel-kit-all-elise-and-vx220-platform-cars-p-502699.html

 

Obviously an incredable difference in money, but does anybody have experience of either of these, which one should i get?

 

Thanks

[scatty]

I had the elise parts one on my old exige...

 

It was a good bit of kit along with a momo 320 mm steering wheel...

 

The only thing I would say is I didn't find it particularly easy and quick to put the wheel back on...

 

Probably just me, wonky eye and just a general retard...

[Legacystorm]

I have fitted a lot and would also go with Elise parts , better to pay little more for better kit it is your steering wheel after all . Probably an hour to fit from start to finish

 

Jon

[Dennis]

Seriously lotus do a good one (same as lotus oe one)

 

http://www.seriouslylotus.com/miscellaneous/interior/steering-wheel-quick-release-coupling

[chumaxa]

Can you fit the standard steering wheel on it ? Could be a good anti thief system ...

[hartleyj]

I've got the elise parts one. Its a good piece of kit. Can be fiddly to remove the wheel until you get the hang of it. Best advice is not to leave it too long before removing the wheel. You can fit the original wheel but I've gone for a momo race one. Great piece of mind when you go away and have to leave the car outside. 

[Christopher Lawless]

I'd love to get one of these but I keep reading that they are designed for aftermarket steering wheels only and really I want to keep my original wheel.

[kieranexige]

Yeah would love this but always thought that you had to put a aftermarket wheel on which I didn't want.

[scatty]

Elise parts quick release, 320mm momo wheel, 20mm spacer...

 

 

If you a lanky streak like me, it's the perfect combination...

[Dr H]

I've got one on the S2. Not sure what make the quick release is but the wheel is a Momo Corse. Nice extra security.

[J M Stott]

Thanks for the reply's i have spoken to both and thought i would put the responses up here;

 

This is from the Elise Shop

 

Seriously, I have never tried the EP kit but we've gone through a lot of different versions ourselves before getting to this one.

The main thing we've seen with all kits which use balls to lock the mechanism is the balls will wear in the aluminium (balls are hardened steel) so they will develop play.

That's why we got rid of the complete concept of locking balls and all that and tried something completely now which means there's no real moving parts /  springs / balls etc left. 

What happens when you push the steeringwheel part on the receiving part is both parts will lock into each other and a flange which sits on the outside will lock both together.

 

The system wears slightly from new which is purely the castings running in, but we provide the kit with small buffers which you can use to remove all play once it's ran in and it'll be working for a long time

 

 

And the response from Elise parts, which doesn't say much is

 

I believe the ES one is one were offered by the UK importer Brown and Geeson  ( they are made in the far east) .

 

I was not happy with the quality of threads etc. , it was not a great fit and the one I had became loose ( side to side) after a few months so we decided to make our own.

We looked at what was available and took the best bits from several and removed the “worst” and came up with what I believe to be the best available.

We have sold in excess of 1000 to date , no issues reported

 

Just a note, Brown and Geeson (the elise shop part) are the MOMO UK distributor, does this change anybody's mind?

[Christopher Lawless]

You would expect them both to say that theirs is better than the competitors version though. Think you can only really go off the experiences of people that have used them and then make your own mind up depending on your budget etc.

[Dr H]

I can confirm that the stye that use balls to look do eventually develop play. It's only a tiny amount on mine and you only notice it when the car is stationary and you have to pull the wheel to try and make it do it - but it is there.