Steering wheel logo and other questions
 

Hello all,

I just bought a new Pro5, my first new car ever. I never cared about the Ford Taurus which I drove for 10 years, but now I actually worry about my car. Case in point, I spent hours just looking at license plate frames the other day (wanted one of those red reflector ones).

Anyway, I use the Club on my steering wheel, and supposedly it should be placed horizontally on cars with airbags. But as a result the metal scratched the Mazda logo on my steering wheel. Anyone know if I can get that replaced? I'll be putting the Club on diagonally from now on, even if it does beep the horn 30% of the time.

Also, my brakes squeal. I have about 2000 miles on the car, and the brakes work great. But they squeal almost as loud as my old 89 Taurus. The dealer said this is normal, because the brake pads have metal instead of asbestos. Have I done something with my braking technique?

Otherwise, no problems. Any advice or info? Thanks!

brahms117

Not to bash you or anything, but The Club doesn't work. All the theif has to do is cut the steering wheel and slip it right off. It's a deterrent, that's all.

LOL A deterrent is better than nothing IMO lol

Something is better than nothing with all these haters around.

A club and an audible alarm would get me a 5% insurance discount. Not the either of those really work.

I am thinking that the logo is integrated into the airbag cover ... so you might need to order a whole new airbag unit. Not positive though, hopefully you can get it separately ... most little things do have their own part number.

Thanks for the replies. I too have heard about thieves getting around The Club, but I got it as a gift so I use it. Every car in my lot uses one, so I don't want to stand out.

Even if I got a new logo piece I'd be worried about replacing it. I can just imagine the airbag exploding in my face as I'm trying to install it. But I'll keep asking around. Thanks again!

brahms117

Hello Brahms and Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

As for a deturant.....thats all the club really is....it is truely NON functional as far as a car theif is concerned...it slows them down a total of about 10 seconds.....if you want a mechanism to attach to your car that is not only a deturant...but works....get one of those locks that goes on the brake peddle......MUCH better protection.

I too believe that the cover may be apart of the airbag...and do NOT ever try to replace one of those things by yourself....definately have a dealer do it.

Live with the scratch. I was an airbag cover engineer (really!!!), the cover would need to be removed from the airbag module (after the module was removed from the wheel), something you should never do yourself. The emblem is held in by metal tabs that are bent over. You don't want the cover or emblem to fly off (at your face) during deployment,. Did you know they open at a speed of 200MPH in .03 of a second, not something to play with.

Thanks for the replies and welcomes. I guess I will live with the scratches, though it's the first thing I notice when I sit down.

Now I'm curious about the airbag, and where it comes out, and what happens to the steering wheel when it does... But I guess I shouldn't complain if I never find out!

brahms117

There are pre made slits that tear away leaving a flap for the airbag to escape from. Take a look at this guy's wrecked Protege:

http://timsride.s5.com/photo3.html

If you're looking to remove the scratch, search for Novus Scratch Remover. It's basically an acrylic polish.

You might wanna test a little before going all out because the badge may be soft clear plastic.

Also, here's a tip for the CLUB (which as everyone says is nothing more than a deterrent.

TIP: Go to Home Depot and buy one of those adhesive felt pads you stick on furniture edges and legs. Stick that where the CLUB makes contact with the steering wheel. My badge is scratch-free as a result of this little mod to the Club.