I just rolled 150K on my truck and the only thing other than my driver's seat that is showing wear is the steering wheel - basically the grey is coming off of the leather. How hard is it to change out the steering wheel?? Do I run a major risk of deploying the air bag if I try to change out the wheel?? What other options do I have??

 

Swapping the wheel is not hard. You have to pull the airbag fuse before messing with it. There are bolts that go in the back side (may have covers over the holes) to remove the air bag. Becareful as you unhook it's wire and the horn wire as not to damage them. Store it away from you while working.

The wheel will be held on with one nut. It is pressed on a tapered splined shaft. There is a puller you can buy/rent from from most auto parts stores. I have also used a brass (soft) pin against the shaft. You hit the brass while pushing up with your knees on the back of the wheel. Sometimes it works, but the puller with do it with no risk of damage.

Just a thought, there are several covers that will slip over the wheel and dress it up with no work. Check these out:
http://www.stylinconcepts.com/parts....rtfamilyid/463

 

LightningCrew,

Be careful hitting the upper steering shaft I have seen people hit them too hard and cause the shaft to collapse a little (the column is designed to collapse in the event of a crash) this will casr the shaft to be too short and it will cause binding on the steering column.

 

probally best advice, puller price much less than new column if you hit too hard

 

The only thing I can add to that is to be extra careful and totally disconnect the battery. Just to be safe on the airbag issue.