Steering Wheels/Hubs
06-18-2012, 08:40 AM
#81
I have the exact same wheel and adapter. I have had it on the car for over a year now and its pretty damn good. I got mine from TacoTaco at the time. It appeared the same as one Brain had successfully used a while back. My only complaint is that the padding on the wheel is a little thin and makes the wheel feel hard on long road trips. It does feel great on track and spirited driving, with little flex. The spokes are made out of much thicker material than the “flat” cheapo ebay wheels that flex like a paper doughnut. The wheel is not as stiff as the OEM wheel, but worked for me, I am still running a powered rack. On a manual rack, this might not be the case. While doing my alignment last week, turning the wheel on the concrete floor to do the caster readings I did notice some flexing in the wheel, but that’s power steering with the engine not running which is even worse than manual.
When mounting the wheel to the ebay NRG knockoff quick release I had to add a very thin spacer between the wheel and the quick release in order to get the quick release ring to move back far enough to full disengage and come off. This drove me nuts for a week. I had the wheel on and off 3 times. With everything installed, it was hard as hell to get on and off and no where near a “quick” release! When I took the parts off I could get the quick release to work perfectly with little pressure required to pull on the release ring and separate the two parts. I finally figured the release ring was not moving back as far with the wheel installed and did not allow the ball bearings to move all the way out.
I gave up on the horn, that stupid quick release connection and wiring just did not want to work for me. This is the cheapest crappiest part and both ebay wheels had the same horn setup. I’m eventually just gonna add a horn button on my dash. My clock spring is bad on my steering wheel in any case.
That stupid accordion plastic piece that connects to the adapter is crap. I could not get mine to stay on there. Every time I would leave the car sitting in the sun, it fell off. I finally just glued it on there with a mess of epoxy. Works fine now.
Originally I bought the adapter, quick release and wheel together. With the quick release and the deep dish wheel you end up with the steering wheel in your chest and having to take your hand off the wheel to reach the wipers and indicators. I tried one of the cheapo flat wheels to place the wheel a little further back. DON’T GET A FLAT EBAY WHEEL, EVER!!!! Even though I could now reach the indicators and wipers, that was the worst POS wheel ever. You can bend it and it would permanently deform where the deep dish might flex a little, but you are not going to bend it permanently.
I ended up sticking the deep dish wheel back in, mounted directly to the adapter. I will keep the other wheel for a kids go cart or something like that. The flat wheel was a 300mm which is just too small, the slightly larger 330mm or 360mm wheel works much better. With the deep dish wheel I can’t see the top of the speedo, I rotated my tach to put the redline closer to 1’o clock so I have no issues there. On track, my Kirkey seat sits much lower so I can see everything.
I am sure that a $200++ wheel will beat this $47 wheel all day long, but I would give it a 90% score compared to the real thing. I am confident that it will do what I need it to do and hold up. That flat flimsy wheel felt like it would bend at any point in time, I would not feel safe at all. If you have the money, get what you can afford. If you are cheap like me, don’t spend any less than this setup, especially if you do track/autocross driving.
Next time I am over at panicmotorsports I need to get in one of the cars and see how their wheels feel. Usually all the spec cars they have in the shop are all manual racks and would be a good worst case comparison.
mgeoffriau, not knocking your review. I just didn’t think it was quite that bad. You get what you pay for and that’s the usual case with these Chinese knockoffs.
When mounting the wheel to the ebay NRG knockoff quick release I had to add a very thin spacer between the wheel and the quick release in order to get the quick release ring to move back far enough to full disengage and come off. This drove me nuts for a week. I had the wheel on and off 3 times. With everything installed, it was hard as hell to get on and off and no where near a “quick” release! When I took the parts off I could get the quick release to work perfectly with little pressure required to pull on the release ring and separate the two parts. I finally figured the release ring was not moving back as far with the wheel installed and did not allow the ball bearings to move all the way out.
I gave up on the horn, that stupid quick release connection and wiring just did not want to work for me. This is the cheapest crappiest part and both ebay wheels had the same horn setup. I’m eventually just gonna add a horn button on my dash. My clock spring is bad on my steering wheel in any case.
That stupid accordion plastic piece that connects to the adapter is crap. I could not get mine to stay on there. Every time I would leave the car sitting in the sun, it fell off. I finally just glued it on there with a mess of epoxy. Works fine now.
Originally I bought the adapter, quick release and wheel together. With the quick release and the deep dish wheel you end up with the steering wheel in your chest and having to take your hand off the wheel to reach the wipers and indicators. I tried one of the cheapo flat wheels to place the wheel a little further back. DON’T GET A FLAT EBAY WHEEL, EVER!!!! Even though I could now reach the indicators and wipers, that was the worst POS wheel ever. You can bend it and it would permanently deform where the deep dish might flex a little, but you are not going to bend it permanently.
I ended up sticking the deep dish wheel back in, mounted directly to the adapter. I will keep the other wheel for a kids go cart or something like that. The flat wheel was a 300mm which is just too small, the slightly larger 330mm or 360mm wheel works much better. With the deep dish wheel I can’t see the top of the speedo, I rotated my tach to put the redline closer to 1’o clock so I have no issues there. On track, my Kirkey seat sits much lower so I can see everything.
I am sure that a $200++ wheel will beat this $47 wheel all day long, but I would give it a 90% score compared to the real thing. I am confident that it will do what I need it to do and hold up. That flat flimsy wheel felt like it would bend at any point in time, I would not feel safe at all. If you have the money, get what you can afford. If you are cheap like me, don’t spend any less than this setup, especially if you do track/autocross driving.
Next time I am over at panicmotorsports I need to get in one of the cars and see how their wheels feel. Usually all the spec cars they have in the shop are all manual racks and would be a good worst case comparison.
mgeoffriau, not knocking your review. I just didn’t think it was quite that bad. You get what you pay for and that’s the usual case with these Chinese knockoffs.
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06-18-2012, 09:41 AM
#82
And that's probably a fair counterpoint to my review. Honestly, in 98% of actual driving, you won't notice any flex at all. But if you are approaching the purchase from the perspective of pusha (eg, personal status wrapped up in "baller" watches, guns, etc.), you're likely to be disappointed with the ebay wheel if you're expecting a MOMO, Nardi, etc.
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06-18-2012, 02:00 PM
#84
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Wow, thanks for the reviews guys. mgeoffriau, relte - thanks! I will not purchase one of these based on your guy's reviews. I've learned long ago that if i just cheap out and buy something like this I will be replacing it soon enough that it was just wasted money.
Now, anyone have any input on those NRG wheels?
Now, anyone have any input on those NRG wheels?
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06-18-2012, 02:40 PM
#85
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And that's probably a fair counterpoint to my review. Honestly, in 98% of actual driving, you won't notice any flex at all. But if you are approaching the purchase from the perspective of pusha (eg, personal status wrapped up in "baller" watches, guns, etc.), you're likely to be disappointed with the ebay wheel if you're expecting a MOMO, Nardi, etc.
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06-18-2012, 03:39 PM
#86
Ugh, my ebay cheap hub adapter didn't come with the 6 bolts. Anyone know the correct size and pitch they normally come with?
EDIT: M5 x 0.8 x 10mm. I just ordered 6 titanium bolts that cost $20 for a $7 ebay hub, awww yeah! Love being ripped off.
http://torontocycles.com/Selling/Bla...ium_Bolts.html
EDIT: M5 x 0.8 x 10mm. I just ordered 6 titanium bolts that cost $20 for a $7 ebay hub, awww yeah! Love being ripped off.
http://torontocycles.com/Selling/Bla...ium_Bolts.html
Last edited by dgmorr; 06-18-2012 at 04:14 PM.
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06-20-2012, 04:20 PM
#89
I just got my steering wheel adapters in the mail today. I'm not so sure about the quick release. The quick release feels solid on it's own with no play, but once everything is mounted and I try to rip the wheel off, I can feel some slop. In the normal steering plane, left to right, I feel 0 play. Definitely would use it on the street (why use a QR hub for street, no idea), but is this acceptable for the track?
Also, I have a legit Momo wheel and when trying to rip it off holding the 12 and 6 o'clock positions I see quite a bit of flex. Nowhere near as stiff as a stocker.
I don't know if I'm just expecting too much.
This is the QR hub
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STEERING-WHE...0e&vxp=mtr
Also, I have a legit Momo wheel and when trying to rip it off holding the 12 and 6 o'clock positions I see quite a bit of flex. Nowhere near as stiff as a stocker.
I don't know if I'm just expecting too much.
This is the QR hub
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STEERING-WHE...0e&vxp=mtr
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06-25-2012, 05:40 PM
#95
I just bought and installed the extension, quick release and adapter from miatacage.com. Was recommended by SM racers.
Feel really good, still have to try it on the track with my small sparco D wheel (310mm).
It gives good clearance and a better driving position with the Sparco Pro Adv seat.
Feel really good, still have to try it on the track with my small sparco D wheel (310mm).
It gives good clearance and a better driving position with the Sparco Pro Adv seat.
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06-25-2012, 06:01 PM
#96
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I finally gave in and bought an older used MoMo with hub from a member here. I'll report how I like it once i get it in.
As for the NRG, i'm still curious so keep us in the loop.
As for the NRG, i'm still curious so keep us in the loop.
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06-25-2012, 07:05 PM
#97
Cpt. Slow
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LTB hub play. I showed you the up close shot of the spline so you can see it rocking back and forth. Aka, there's really no radial play, only rocking it toward and away from you at the ends.
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