Steering Wheel

I know this subject has had many posts over the years but I have been looking for wheel that might be a good alternative to the original for a 72 CJ. I can't use the 17 inch as my seat is to high and is to comfortable to cut padding, so hoping some people might have run across something that looks reasonably close at 15 inches or smaller. Thanks

 

Do you have power steering? If so then Grant makes (made?) an adapter to run one of their smaller wheels. If you have manual steering a smaller wheel can be a problem.

Solutions may be upgrade to PS and use smaller wheel, or change to a tilt-wheel column, or both.

I dont know if the tilt wheel joints are durable enough for the higher torque applied to manual steering assemblies. Maybe, I just dont know. Would seem uncommon for vehicles to be equipped with tilt wheel without also having PS so I doubt if the steering shadts were designed for the extra load.

 

In this respect, the intermediates are the same, and different. The seating position in an intermediate Jeep is further to the left, so it's different in this way. However, the distance from the dash to the wheel house is the same, so the seat will not go back any further. Because the seating position is further outboard, the notch must be wider and will be more visible from the street side. However, the notch need not be any deeper than when used on an early Jeep.

I too would be concerned that for a Jeep with manual steering, using a smaller wheel will make slow-speed maneuvers difficult. However, Jeep ended the bus wheel in 1976 and went with a generic GM column, with a smaller wheel. So there is some precedent for a smaller wheel. For me, I fit in the CJ seating position just fine, and I like the bus wheel. But I was 5' 9" at my tallest (I am shrinking with age) with short legs ... if I were taller or longer, I would first consider an aftermarket tilt column with a similar tube diameter to the original column (see IDidIt or Flaming River, and many generics on Summit and Jegs). Then I could pick any steering wheel that I wanted.

Another option is to get some seats with a thinner bottom cushion. The original factory seats are quite comfortable (to me) and designed to work well with the seating position in the CJ. If you have junkyard or aftermarket seats, it may be the seats that are at fault, not the wheel.

 

Relatively new here, but I can comment on my situation. I'm 5'11, 200lbs. I bought mine with what appears to be a 13in grant steering wheel of some older vintage with about a 4in offset. Original steering column as far as I can tell. I have the original seat brackets as well as risers. Seats are from a late 70's 5 or 7 in pretty good shape. Non tilt, non-reclining. I have the seat in the rear most position. Driving is comfortable, albeit a little close to the body. I do not have power steering and have 32in street tires. I don't really struggle to maneuver the steering {I do stay fairly active with raising some livestock and splitting my own firewood, so everything is relative. I'm not freakishly strong but I'm no wimp . } Most of my driving is low speed around the farm on grassy and gravel/rocky surfaces. Here are some photos of where stuff might end up based on my setup.