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<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Someone just hit my truck last week down near MIA airport and of course didn't leave a note or anything. I park miles away from everyone too. Really pisses me off. The truck was basically scratch free and had just been zaino'd. On the bright side, they hit my rear bumper leaving some good scratches on the corner, which may give me a great excuse to install the rollpan!

OK...go to this link: Steering Wheel Installation for SSS It walks you through step for step. They show the part numbers for the puller for the sears and napa I believe. The napa part has hooks which is the way our wheel is designed. The sears just has bolts that self tap when you screw them into the holes they fit into. Hard to explain...however easy to do. Good luck!

That is what happened to me...my puller didn't have the hooks either, but all I did was put the outer bolts of the puller in the holes, and let them self-tap by turning them in, and then wrench down the middle puller bolt and it worked great.

Autoguy...that wheel in your SS is awesome! I would've gone with the CF look, but I'm going to add the molded dark cherry trim as well. I guess I liked the wood so much in my last car (CL600--bought by a forum member) that I'm in wood withdrawal!! Here is a pic of that interior.... You're right on the install....now that I've done it once, it will be a very quick changeover in the future. How hard did you yank your wheel to get it out without the puller? I gave a slight tug, but figured I'd better follow the instructions.

I'd rate it pretty easy....but slightly time consuming if you are being overly careful like I was. They key is to have the right tools. The steering wheel puller works if you get the one at Sears (my Discount Auto Parts one didn't work). I had never used one before but it was very simple to figure out. Trust me, if there was a way to screw this up, I would've done it...but it went smoothly (other than the scratches). It was enlightening how easy the airbag is to come off. No wonder they get stolen from cars so much!

OK, here are some pics of the final look. Bear in mind, the color DIDN'T come out right in the pics. It is actually a darker wood in real life, which matches the interior like a factory look. It adds a bit of class to a somewhat dour interior....but, I bet my wife will get in the truck, and not even notice the mod!

I ordered the wheel via one of the site sponsers. It is a black cherry autowoods wheel. I was a bit intimidated by the instructions (wheel puller and airbag removal) considering I can screw up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich , but the install instructions were great. Here is a pic of the old and new wheel: Here is a pic of the job halfway through... It all went ok, but during the testdrive I decided to go ahead and remove the plastic covering from the wood, and found a few small scratches. They look small in the pic, but they are deep and do catch your eye when you are driving. I felt like an idiot for not checking for them first before the install, but the wheel was wrapped so nicely I thought it would be perfect. Autowoods was very apologetic and are sending another wheel right out. I still give them great marks for customer service. They said this can happen rarely during the making of the wheel. Lesson learned for me: Check everything prior to install! Overall, I think the wheel is a cool new look for the interior and it feels great. I give the mod a thumbs up.

You read my mind! Thanks for the info!

Tony, Can you post a pic of your combo? I'm debating between the denali dash bezel, or doing this wood kit to match the steering wheel I purchased: Kit The company said it would be an extremely close match to the steering wheel wood.

Terrible news! I can't believe a Stingray got him. I just swam with and fed Stingrays on my vacation in the Bahamas. They were non-venomous, but hard to believe one of those things killed him. They would pretty much swim right past you and were cool as long as you didn't step on them or make any sudden movements. I really feel for his family....what a loss!

No kidding...after all this drama....I'm not EVEN going to post the fact that I bought a new 2006 Kia Spectra 5 today to get me back and forth to work (I often travel 110 miles each way to the office and the SS is too thirsty). Well, I guess I am posting it... ... 10yr/100k mile warranty, 140hp, 5-spd, decent room for an econobox (I'm 6'7" tall), 33mpg highway for 14,500 after bargaining/rebate. I'm trying to get a black one but they would have to truck it in from GA, so I may have to settle on the silver...here is a crappy web pic. Let the flames begin!!!

Like our Silv SS's don't have A/C issues?? Congrats on the new ride! I considered one of those myself a while back. Haven't seen many on the road yet. How does it feel in comparison to the SS?

Well, I feel much better knowing the cold bog is a common problem and doesn't seem to hurt anything. It seemed like it was getting worse, but that must be my imagination at work. I guess I'll let the truck idle a bit before first driving it if I can. Thanks for the input guys!

I am taking the plunge and getting the autowoods wheel. They use real wood and have a good instruction manual. The only problem is that it may not exactly match the denali trim kit since it is plastic painted to look like wood, but it should be close. I will post pics when I get it installed! This will be much cheaper than the original route I was going to go. THANKS FOR THE INFO!

Yeah...I may have to play off the Blackwood as an early X-mas present. I will check out the Autowood stuff...thanks for the heads up. If it weren't such a PITA to fit, I'd even consider doing another painted dash cover. It really added a great custom look to my 99!

I believe I do know all about trannies slipping....I thoroughly researched the vehicle prior to buying it and I already know it went through 2 trannies (1 stock, 1 due to install) before they got it right if that is what you are getting at. In any event, this one is built with very quality parts to ensure it can take serious horsepower and is warrantied to boot.

There are quite a few of us south Florida SS's on here! Thank God I got gas for the truck early yesterday morning! The line was building just while I was at the pump! I didn't get gas for the generator though and I don't have the shutters up....basically rolling the dice that this one will just be tropical storm type of conditions. Let us know how it goes down there in Homestead....I'm up in Pembroke Pines!

Dash kit I was looking at the blackwood kit for my charcoal interior. I've ordered stuff from JP before and they seem to sell quality stuff (definetly not cheap either! ) Not sure how hard the steering wheel swap would be though. I'm thinking it could add a little color to a very bland/dark interior. What do you think??

That's not even funny!

That was a great article! Makes me want to get that 2.75 pulley!

There is one draw-back to having a mid-year changeover vehicle.....it can get confusing when you are ordering parts, getting work done, or modding the truck. I had a new body style 99 Silverado that came out half-way through the model year, and you always had to specify OBS vs NBS when doing anything.

Interesting...glad to hear I'm not the only one that has the "morning bog". Within about 2 minutes it is gone. If I have any luck finding a good tuner down here, I'll mention it to him and see if we can get it solved!

Hey all! I've got an 05 SS w/ the Radix, 2.9" pulley, long-tubes, corsa, NGKTR6's, and a dyno tune. The truck was bought here from a forum member...and overall I'm very happy with it. The truck pulls like a freight train and I love the stealth factor of the exhaust....it really gets peoples attention when you want it to! However, I've noticed more and more lately that when I first start the truck up and I'm driving around, it seems to be hesitating to accelerate unless I really get on it. Once it is warmed up, it runs fine. I'm trying to find a good South Florida tuner to take a look at it as the truck was originally dyno-tuned in North Carolina by the original owner. Also, I'm noticing I'm only getting 11-12 mpg in mostly highway driving even staying out of the boost....so I'm wondering if I'm overly-rich or something? Just curious if anyone else has experienced this?

Chrome? My wheels and exhaust you mean? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My guess is he is talking about the chrome on the interior pieces....but if you like it that is all that matters! Overall, I think your truck looks great......