Merry Christmas everyone, I recently installed a 15 inch wooden steering wheel in my plus 8. It’s a beautiful wheel but I have a hard time getting into the car plus the actual wheel is small diameter and I have large hands. It makes it hard to grasp tightly. I’m considering replacing it with a smaller 14” leather steering wheel. Have any of you guys gone to a smaller diameter wheel? Did it make it easier to get in. The wheel I have now is a dish style. Will the flat style give more room to get my legs in? Richard
This is a really difficult question to answer as it’s such a personal choice and significantly affected by your body shape/size. I bought my current Morgan from a guy who was 6ft 4in and had a tiny wood rim wheel fitted so he could get in and out. At 5ft 9in I couldn’t see the instruments clearly and have fitted an offset flat 14 inch wooden Moto Lita wheel with the thicker grip for more comfort. Being offset it supposedly provides more leg room and makes it easier to get in and out but can’t say I really notice any difference. I had a thinner rim Moto Lita on my first car that looked great but I found uncomfortable and the most comfortable was a leather Moto Lita 14 inch leather rim. Personally I find 15 inch to be too big but others like them. I can only suggest that you also need to consider whether you can actually see the instruments clearly as well as the rim size/thickness/material. Then there is the option of a quick release wheel which I like the sound of but have no experience. Good luck. The great think about a traditional Morgan is that you have an almost unlimited choice of wheel, the bad thing is that you have an almost unlimited choice of wheels…
I fitted a 13” Moto Lita wooden rim steering wheel which is 1 1/4” thick/deep in my Plus 4 when I bought it ten years ago. I’m 6’2”” tall and it gives me plenty of room getting in and out, and when driving and with the increased depth has proven to be very comfortable over the years.
Morgan Plus 4 Royal Enfield Classic 350 Brompton M6L Giant TCX Advanced
Hey guys, Thanks for the response. I’m not familiar with the terms “offset”/offcentre”. Is this the same as “dish”? Richard
Hi Richard Off set means it's off center, but only by about one inch. Imagine the hole not being in the center of a record lol The steering wheel is higher by an inch when pointing in the straight forward direction. It makes getting in and out of the car easier and yet you don't even notice the difference while driving. It works for me,
Paul
2009 4/4 Sport in Red 2022 Harley Davidson FXLRS Low Rider S 1977 Triumph Stag
I fitted a 13” Moto Lita wooden rim steering wheel which is 1 1/4” thick/deep in my Plus 4 when I bought it ten years ago. I’m 6’2”” tall and it gives me plenty of room getting in and out, and when driving and with the increased depth has proven to be very comfortable over the years.
I did the same
Going down from the original 15" Moto Lita wood wheel to their thick rim 13" wheel is definitely the way forward in my opinion
I swopped my 15" woodrim for a 14" leather as the woodrim was giving me cramp in my hands.
Richard, I looked into this when I first got my car. Others I'm sure can correct me if I'm wrong, but a "dished" steering wheel such as yours pushes the wheel a bit closer to your chest (the wheel spokes are therefore kind of cone shaped), allowing for more room underneath it for your thighs. To me this is not a good solution as the standard wheel feels pretty close to my chest as it is. Moving from a dished to a non-dish wheel of the same diameter will consequently give you less room.
An "off-center" wheel is not round, but rather is a bit rounded off/squished upward/"shorter" (closer to the hub) at the bottom when the front wheels are pointed straight ahead, thus giving you a little more room to slide your legs underneath, making ingress/egress a little bit easier. It does kind of "wobble" a bit when you turn the wheel, though.
The advantage of a larger wheel (leaving aside site lines to the instruments) is that it gives you more leverage, thereby reducing the steering effort needed. If I were you I would consider moving to a smaller, thick-rimmed wheel, 14 or even 13. You can check these out on the Motolita web site. If you find steering difficult as a result, you could consider installing a power steering system (such as made by EZ), but then you're starting to talk a lot of money. Note that steering effort is mostly an issue while the car is completely stationary -- once you're rolling even just a little bit the steering lightens up considerably.
Well for me the 15” rim is just too big in anything but the much older cars. I have a plus 4 registered in 2010 and originally I had a 14” wooden rim motolita wheel. I found it punishingly hard on my hands and way too thin in the rims thickness. I toyed with the thicker wooden rim but wasn’t sure if it would make it more comfortable to use and in the end not sure if it would still be too hard for me even if I could grip it better I decided to go with the leather option. For me it was the best decision I could have made, it revolutionised the drive of the car and has almost totally removed the fatigue I got from the wooden wheel. Again I stuck with the 14” size as this it seems by recommendation from those who have gone before is the smallest comfortable size without power steering where 13” would be better. I am totally happy with this choice for me, although my son is 6’4” and just about to start driving the car, I’m pleased to see that Motolita now makes a flat bottomed version of my leather wheel and that I think will suit us both! Yes the wood rim looks great and if I ever sell I’d put it on as it’s the look they all want but oh the joy of that grippy leather chunky wheel is in my opinion unbeatable. At first, and having a leather interior of magnolia I wasn’t in love with the black leather but I’ve got used to it however Motolita will make you a wheel to match your colour interior or in a contrasting colour say to match your piping colour. So after all that waffle……. I’d say go with the leather!
