My '77 shipped with and carried it's well known all black OEM steering wheel ... until a day in 2014 when I bought aGrant #332 steering wheel and adapter kit with horn button, etc. I had already made a puller just for the two bolt puller holes to fit with the OEM wheel. I had one years ago on a Dart 340 Swinger, I loved its looks and feel.

Maybe It was my screw up, but the very next day it seemed, the self-cancel feature was broke. I pulled the wheel a couple times to replace the TS cam with springy fingers, and finally I just cut them off and just put a loud flasher in to remind me to cancel signals.

Then, after a period of time putting up with what felt like a loose wheel, I found the Grant adapter was loose on the shaft splines, I had several times pulled it just by yanking it. I peined it to tighten it, soon it was loose again. (Looking back, is a good chance the aluminum adapter was cracked?)

Soon, I put the OEM wheel back on, and as always it was tight, just had a few cracks in the plastic that is molded around it's steel frame.

January 10, 2023 I had bought a new Grant adapter and reinstalled theGrant wheel, I also made a puller just fore the Grant that uses three 1/4-28 bolts to attach, the adapter worked perfect.

October 02, 2023 I was investigating why my wheel again felt loose, tried a thicker washer stack under the nut thinking maybe was just not clamping tight enough. Found that that second adapter was cracked. I reinstalled myOEM wheel with some dressing up and new cover (and made a change on my door handle to stop my elbow hitting it.). Looked great, tight fit as always.

October 10 - 11, 2024, my third Grant adapter kit in hand, I attacked my steering wheel again. I had stubbornly decided to try that Grant wheel one more time as I installed a NOS Ford turn signal switch in total. The one that I had fixed some several times was messing up. I made sure the horn had a contact plate of stainless steel, got it all together, triple checking the self cancel fit / function too. Things looked good.

January 19, 2026 ... The OEM wheel is back in place in the truck. It just takes a light press either of three places, left thumb pad / center palm pad / right thumb pad. The Grant wheel is now was hung up there in between the floor joist in my basement, adapter and all. That third adapter is not cracked, but the horn was only working reliably if one pressed it solidly dead center, a tap on one side of the maybe 3" OD center horn button was not always enough. It is a Grant #332 wheel, it is 14-1/2" OD & 4" deep while the OEM is 16-1/2" OD & is ~ same depth. I might adapt it to put on my Wheel Horse, using the puller I had made of steel as it doesn't even have a horn and the fat grip might feel good on a hot sweaty Summer day.


A few well placed, well trimmed black zip ties keep the covers from slipping, feels "secure-er".


Bright trim covered the deep cracks. Cover covers minor cracks and just feels good.

To update, 01-23-2026 ... I put the Grant wheel back on today after working on the horn button area to get a reliable- consistent activation .... was the chrome cap needed a little finessing where the curvature of the spokes caught it before the contact plate could contact the plate on the wheel itself. Also checked and I found that I do have a spare "still new in box" adapter kit.

So now, the OEM wheel is hung up there.

 

Wonder what happened there?

 

Same steering wheel fits a Corvette Camaro or mustang, that's the problem, has been forever
The hub adapters are pot metal and the horn pads suck even worse
Best spot for one is on the wall or a go cart
Replace your turn signal switch before you can't get a Ford one anymore

 

Oh, it now is a whole new switch, not just the cancel cam.. Closest thing I have to a go cart is my Wheel Horse.

For the first near 30 years I owned this truck, the steering wheel was off a few splines so the when going straight, the wheel was turned maybe 15-20 degrees left which meant my left arm resting flat on the arm rest put those left fingers resting at the left spoke / rim and my right fingers just resting on the right spoke was very comfortable and steady. It was comfortable enough I never even thought to straighten it, not even when I put the Red Head steering box in. I only made that two bolt puller to pull the wheel to replace the cracked automatic shift collar. Was after buying that Grant wheel when "it" (swapping wheels, broken signal switch cancel cams, loose steering hubs, etc) all started.

 

Bummer. Mines not too bad, but same thing with the cancel.
I even replaced the entire turn switch (twice actually; expensive way to find out I’ve got a tilt column, that doesn’t even tilt) after my youngest was reefing on the turn switch lever.

I ended up having to make a spacer to keep the adapter hub from grinding into the face of the switch, and be able to get the wheel snugged down and not lift.

My right turn dash indicator is still not working, even after a cluster rebuild (circuit board and poor contact I suspect).

Mostly worth it though, and probably the nicest part in the whole truck:

 

If you have ever replaced a cancel cam and had it work for more than a month raise your hand and be counted
Anybody?

 

That is a mighty nice truck from what I can see.

I once bought a little '72 Chevy step side from my step brother in May. Drove it to town in mid summer to meet some shift partners for lunch, it was a scorching hot day, I was due for work at 4pm, my truck had ice cold AC, so off I went. Met the guys at the restaurant , parked, was there awhile even after they went back on the road as another off duty came in, and I stayed to chat while he ate. I guess I was there an hour. I went out, and as I got into the truck that had been parked over an hour facing into the sun, I reached in and grabbed that wheel (looked like yours, was maybe same even) on the far side with my right hand wrapped firmly around it.

Mistake. That exposed chrome between the wood was some awful kind of hot.

I kid you not, it blistered my palm all the way across, and soon it started to hurt. I drove home in agony. Come near 4pm, I went out and got into my car to mark on for my shift, was all dressed, ready to go, but I knew better. I looked at the schedule up over the sun visor to check manpower, was several scheduled to work so I went back in the house, called dispatch & marked out on sick leave, and one of my Sgts. called to ask what happened since lunch when he ate with us.

He actually laughed when told, and that just ticked me off. I told him that no way could I see me handling a weapon, and he laughed again. Then I was pi55ed. I explained to him that if I was going to work in an AC office with two secretaries to type and answer phones, I'd work, but that unlike him I might have to draw and even fire a weapon or otherwise defend myself or some member of the public. He was new as a Sgt. and it wasn't long he got a transfer (for the good of .... ) after a complaint from a waitress' husband hit headquarters. Once before he left from here, he was meeting us on evening shift for supper, was three of us road units and him. They all got there before I did and they chose to sit at a square table with 4 chairs. He hung his hat on a rack, but he laid his $$$ designer sunglasses in that 4th chair which was scooted under the table. I get there, greeting, etc, he saw me pull the chair out and set down. Never said a word about sun glasses. Dark sunglasses, dark chair cushion, blinds pulled against the evening sun. Perfect storm. Crunch.

I mostly had some mighty fine Sgts over the years, but there were a couple, maybe three even, that would have been challenged to pour water out of a boot if you had told them the instructions were wrote on the heel.

I found a nice stock black plastic Impala steering wheel for my truck at a local JY (Birdie kept a few already pulled and labeled hanging on a wall), until then I covered it with a towel if parked.

 

Right, looks real nice and makes the truck nicer to drive maybe
Now, if you can just make that horn pad work for more than a year
Love the feel of those wood ones

 

Well, you're right ... and I love the thick rimmed Grant wheel's feel.

I have the one adapter that's on the wheel now as it hangs. I have a new spare alloy adapter that came when I found the smooth chrome horn button with chrome skirt NOS set. Knowing me as I do, is a good chance I'll revisit it, maybe create a steel girdle to keep the adapter from cracking (though the SS screw drive hose clamp seemed to stay tight, I can weld up a fixed press fit one), and I had massaged the "ramps" on the springy arms of the cancel cam to get them to easier engage the roll pins, so that it really worked good,

I noted how the OEM wheel uses a tight fitted ring with smoothly formed ramps, not sudden roll pins to tickle the springy arms to cancel. Maybe some carefully sculptured JBWeld would make smooth ramps?

Latest "downer" was the "iffy" horn operation, even with the extra contact plate needed because my Grant wheel spoke set is painted or powder coated black, not chrome. Maybe a thicker or second plate** (in place of... or ... with ... the metal foil they use) for the horn contact ring to contact before the chrome cap contacts the coated black spokes where they bend as they create dish.

Yeah, I can see me trying it again.
To update, 01-23-2026 ... I put the Grant wheel back on today after working on the horn button area to get a reliable- consistent activation .... was the chrome cap needed a little finessing where the curvature of the spokes caught it before the contact plate could contact the plate on the wheel itself. Also checked and I found that I do have a spare "still new in box" adapter kit. So now, the OEM wheel is hung up there on a nail.

01-24-2026: Pretty cold out, but I did cut and drill a piece of nice stainless steel sheet to get a 3" OD extra plate mentioned above (**), I am sure it will work.

 

Snap some pictures and write down some specs; you may be creating the silver bullet for all we know.

Thank you fellas for the compliments, but that is probably the nicest angle that truck will look good from until I can get paint on it. Surprisingly all the interior paint and finishes are in pretty good shape; exterior not so much.

I’ve been lucky to not burn my hand yet, but I always use a sun shade in the windscreen during the summer. It’d probably be different if there was A/C in there, but til there is it’s already a struggle to keep the interior tolerable above 90*.

Funny how some of the seemingly small minor “trespasses” against us can stick with us for so long, even after the big ones fade away. I still have a few I’m carrying around all the way from teen years.
Also interesting how some folks get into command positions/structure and somehow stay there in-spite of their negative affect on unit cohesion. And the rest of command usually pins it on us, not them. At least on the public safety and enlisted side most folks are better about cutting through the BS. Construction was so so, and public side is atrocious.

Anyway…. Keep us posted.

 

Oh no doubt just shading it was the trick. Just lay a chrome plated Snap-On tool on the inner fender in the hot sun for a spell.

I used this, and it matched my new adapter really well. The stainless sheet I used was some bought 30-40 years ago, is at least as thick as aftermarket body panels, my biggest snips didn't want much of it, so I cut close, then used a disc sander to fine tune my cut for the larger OD. A step drill did the center 3/4" hole, titanium bit did the 17/64" holes where is marked 1/4", and used a 3/8" bit for wire. The stainless will ground through the bolt shanks and center big nut. The 3 bolts need to pull the plate down snug. I also have some longer 1/4-28 bolts with heads cut off to loosely thread into adapter to alighn it all, then replace with the correct kit bolts.

It'll reduce travel the horn button has to go to contact and cause the beep beeps.

Looks like my drawing has the vertical center line a little right, but numbers are right. One can trace it by using the lower beauty skirt flipped over.

Next time I'm there, I'll get a picture.

 

I did use an easy to clean sharpie to mark the chrome center cap where it was in line with the three spokes where the bend limited the cap. I found that the left spoke was touching or stopping it in the area of the retention dimple, so I didn't take much off there, so I took just a little off all three places holding it on my belt sander. It helped a little, but I have a spare.

 

The gyrations we go thru to drive something "a Little Different" will keep our brain-gears churning. _ _ LoL
So, I completed the build-up of my '77 F350 longbed Crew Cab pickup in 1998 mid-year.
I accepted a State job with the Dept of Transportation mid-year too, so never really did FINISH the paint-job (the hood).
Later that year, I did get the hood painted. The State job was more important than the pickup.
I had been self-employed for 12-years prior, and decided the agency pension was worth more that self-employment joy.

Ok, fast forward to 2017 mid-year, and I retired out with 19-years agency service, and with a pension, at age 65-1/2. _ _ yeay.
Now being retired, I had some time to tinker on wild ideas. The skinny stock steering wheel in my pickup was about to get the Ax.
I guess I just got tired of looking at the skinny wheel, and decided to go Fat-Bob wheel (one out of an '80's E-series Ford Van.

I've the '78 Ford E250 Chateau wagon that i had converted to 4x4 back in 1993, and had installed an '80's E-series fat-bob wheel, and really liked it over the years.
One day while prospecting our local Pick-n-Pull yard, Voila, there was an 80's vintage Ford Van with a OEM Fat-Bob wheel.
I drove home 15-miles to get my universal puller an PLUCKED the puppy.

Ok, the tilt column in my '77 Crew was sourced from a '79 full sized Bronco. Ya just don't see Tilts in pickups, right !
Well, seems I had to file out one of the splines in the Fat-Bob wheel to get it rotated for alignment. That was easier than disconnecting the steering shaft at the PS box (sourced from a '93 Ford F150 2wd pickup for $40), to rotate the shaft as needed.
Yessir, one of the signal cancellation cams was broke, so I purchased a Dorman replacement, and installed it while the wheel was removed for the new Fat-Bob gripper wheel. The horn assembly interchanges just so ya know.


Photo above - my "new / used" Fat-Bob grip steering wheel sourced from an '80's vintage for E-series Van for my '77 F350 Crew Cabber.


Above photo - skinny-gripper OEM pickup wheel top. Bottom is the new Fab-Bob grip wheel from a '80's E-series Ford Van.

Ok, below shows the Full-Sized Bronco TILT COLUMN and the turn-signal mechanism.
I replaced the broken turn-signal cancellation piece with a Dorman part from Napa.


Above photo - showing the Tilt Column from a Full-Sized BRONCO.
Like mentioned above, the Turn Signal cancellation cam pieces were replaced with a Dorman unit from Napa.