Steering wheel table
My first foray into the mods, so be gentle.....haha
I built a table to make some use of the steering wheel area. It was a pretty simple project and I thought I would share. Unlike most of my DIY projects, I think that this one may have actually been cheaper to make than to buy. It gives you an adjustable table that will work without regard to how your steering wheel aligns, or the angle that it stows at.
Short version:
• Get a board, 2 hooks, pipe
• Attach 2 hooks to board
• Attach pipe to other end of the board
• Use hooks on the top of the board to loop over the top of the steering wheel, and the pipe supports the other end of the board on the wheel.
• Use bungee to secure the bottom side of the board to the wheel.
You need:
• a board of the size you want for the table
o We used a tv tray from Bed Bath & Beyond. The kind that folds has 4 legs, is a few feet tall and folds up flat. Took all of the screws out of it to get the top board only. It was about the right size, the right color, and had rounded corners already. It a bit easier to just get it this way, and it was a clearance item……aka, cheap.
• a round PVC pipe
o We got a small 4 inch diamter piece from Lowes. I painted it black to make it fit better with our interior color. It needs to be longer than your steering wheel’s diameter. The tube can be used as a storage spot for something. Like an umbrella, remote, or whatever. You could use a board or pretty much anything for this piece. I liked the round tube because it will contact the steering wheel better than a board due to the angles involved. It also makes adjusting the height on the back of the board a breeze. Just roll the pipe in or out a bit to adjust it.
• 2 hooks
o They need to be big enough to loop over the steering wheel. I think our hooks were some kind of a hook used on roofing. Just a plastic hook with about a 2 inch opening.
• a small bungee
o Used to secure the back side of the table to keep it from sliding around.
• some adhesive Velcro
o Used to connect the PVC pipe to the table. It was easier to do this than to screw it on. It also has the benefit of making the table adjustable. By rolling the pvc pipe in our out, you can adjust the height on the back side of the table to make it level for however your steering wheel fits. I used wide Velcro (3 or 4 inches wide) for 2 reasons. The first is that it gives me more contact surface to roll in or out for adjusting the height. The second reason is that I had some in a drawer already.
• about 5 screws.
o Used to secure the 2 hooks to the bottom of the board, and to secure the one end of the bungee.
Directions:
• Note: Consider drilling small pilot holes any screws. I know that the board I used would probably split from just sticking a screw into the edge of it. Up to you (I drilled).
• On the bottom of your board, attach the two hooks. Angle the hooks inward so that they will contact the steering wheel on the flat instead of on an edge. You are ‘hooking’ onto a wheel, so if you just put them on squared up to the board, the hooks would contact the wheel on the edge and might crease your wheel over time. I eyeballed mine, but if you are a perfectionist, there are all sorts of higher math functions to help you align it perfectly.
• Put a strip of Velcro on the bottom of the board and on the PVC pipe.
• Stick a small eye hook or screw into the edge or top of the board. You will hook the bungee to this and loop it around the bottom of the steering wheel to hold it secure.
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