95, US spec, 2+2, 4.0. I upgraded and slightly upsized my seats and now I'm looking to downsize my steering wheel. I believe my car has the 48 spline shaft, correct me if I'm wrong. Now are the 48 spline hubs made for the LR defender interchangeable with the XJS 48 spline shafts? Anyone? I can find Defender hubs for 1/6th the price of the XJS specific Nardi hub... End result I'd like to have a 74mm PCD mounting plate. Anyone gone this route?

 

I replaced the steering wheel on my 95. This post on the Jag-lovers forum tells how I did it. My posts start at #2.
https://forums.jag-lovers.com/t/xjs-...istance/440743
Basically, the steering shaft itself is the same size and spline count as the early XJS. The 95 stock steering wheels use an adapter from the shaft splines up to the larger steering wheel splines. It easily pulls off. There is a picture of the adapter further down in the thread.
I tried a 350mm wheel initially, but went to a 360mm wheel, as the 350mm wheel just felt too small.
Jon

 

Thanks, I had not come across that yet in my research. I like how you spaced the wheel 2.5 inches out towards you, that exactly what I was thinking to do myself, well 2".

 

I'm 6'4", so the steering wheel was way too close to the dash for me, and I needed more thigh clearance. I started at about 1.5" spacers, but increased after trying it. I could probably add another 1/2" of spacers to help even more.
The hardest part of the mod was cutting off the back part of the Momo wheel adapter. The adapter is coned shaped, so it's difficult to hold. If you have access to a metal lathe, it would be a piece of cake. You'll also need to make a hollow D shaped tool to disarm the mechanical airbag. You can't remove the airbag or wheel without doing it.
I also was able to move the seat tracks back about an inch which helped even more with thigh room.

Jon

 

To follow up, all the parts arrived and bolted together nicely. I scribed a circle around the hub and cut the offending back collar off easily with a hack saw. Not the highest of precision, but it worked. The thing about the cheaper hub I bought is that the horn ring doesn't bolt to the backside of it... For anyone in the future reading this they may want to opt for the more expensive Momo hub that has the bolt holes for the horn ring. I think I'll just run a couple wires from the horn relay to a temporary button switch installed somewhere on the center console. The D shaped screw head that needs to be backed out to access the final nut holding the airbag in the wheel can be backed out with a needle nose pliers, so no special socket needed in my case. For anyone curious the seats are out of an Audi TT Mk1. Very easy swap. They don't bolt in, but you can add holes where they are needed easily. All manual adjust. They do sit a little taller than the stock seats, so tall folk be warned. ! I'm 5'10" and I just fit. Adjustable head restraints, glorious!

 

AndyBoBandy,

If you fancy selling me the little splined collar that was originally on the top of the steering column, then please drop me a line.

Tks

Paul

 

Thanks for the offer, I hold onto all the bits I remove in case I or the future owner wants to put the car back to stock form.