Anybody replace the clockspring in the steering wheel?

don philipe

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Toyota Tacoma 2012,horn went south and I have determined it's the clockspring in the steering wheel.
Local garages and dealers want over $200 to replace.I've seen the units on e-bay but it's unclear which one will work with my model. Just wondering if anybody here has had experience with this.
 
I did it in my '07 VW. It's not hard. Just work methodically and there are youtube vids on it to preview.
 
plus its a great way to start fires when you mess up! there are toyota how to youtubes everywhere....none cropped up?
 
They are not hard. Remove the air bag (recommend disconnect the engine battery 30 minutes before the job to let capacitors discharge)....this is not a must since the bag connector contains a "shorting bar", just my preference of extra safety. Pull the airbag, steering wheel and old spring. Many of the springs are under spring pressure and also indexed. The new part usually has a plastic pin to pull once you have it all installed and indexed. Then reverse your steps and you are all set.
 
What they all said, not a big deal once you disarm the bomb in the steering wheel. Some things need a steering wheel puller as well, but its not that big of a deal.
 
Getting the steering wheel off is usually th hardest part.

I know it’ll be expensive but I recommend getting an OEM part, some of the aftermarket clocksprings are junk.
 
I concur - piece of cake - I swapped out the wheel and clockspring on my 1991 MR2 and it's all plug n' play.
 
As gadget73 says, think about a steering wheel puller, you don't want to have to hammer the steering wheel off. I did this a while back and was sure glad I had one.
Your steering wheel should also be indexed with a wide space so be sure and keep track of the splines.:thumbsup:
 
Autozone has steering wheel pullers that they loan out and you get your money back when you return it. But they are dirt cheap anyways, so I just bought one.
 
depending on the design you can probably knock one together too but they aren't real expensive. All depends what your time is worth, and pullers are useful tools anyway.
 
They are not hard. Remove the air bag (recommend disconnect the engine battery 30 minutes before the job to let capacitors discharge)....this is not a must since the bag connector contains a "shorting bar", just my preference of extra safety. Pull the airbag, steering wheel and old spring. Many of the springs are under spring pressure and also indexed. The new part usually has a plastic pin to pull once you have it all installed and indexed. Then reverse your steps and you are all set.
You don't need the half hour. Disconnect BOTH battery terminals and then short the cables (NOT the battery) for 2-3 mins for a cap discharge. I do it all the time when I feel a reset is needed.

Note: ANYTIME you are working on a modern, computer car, the battery should be disconnected. It's not happened to me but a buddy fried a module by not having done this step. Besides, at least with my car, if you disconnect anything relating to the airbag system with the batt connected, you'll have the airbag warning light on to look at until you get it cleared.
 
I just wouldn't dare work on the bomb system while its powered just in case something went wrong. Ever see what those things do when deploying? I've seen enough videos of people blowing up refrigerators and washing machines with air bags to not want that going off in my face unless it was actually going to save my life. Leaning over the wheel while working on the car is not that situation.
 
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