Is this dangerous to use in our trucks?

[OldMan2]

We also called them "necker knobs" because you would drive with one hand and hold your gal with the other.

+1 I had one on my 1952 Pontiac in high school, along with a wolf whistle.

 

[Uncle Gump]

+1 I had one on my 1952 Pontiac in high school, along with a wolf whistle.

OK... now we need to know what a wolf whistle is?

 

[91stranger]

It's like a horn dog horn lol

 

[Bracket racer]

It was a horn you plumb into intake manifold vacuum. Mine had a string so you could make it sound like a train whistle or whatever. I also ran the horn wire through a dimmer switch for your dash lights. Honk the horn and twist the knob and it would sound like herby the love bug. BeeEEEeeep BEEeeeeEEEEP. Lol, the stuff you do when your a kid.
As far as the knob goes, drove for 25+ years with ones in my various one tons. I had a slide in camper and an open trailer to pull the mustang to the track. Excellent for backing the trailer up. Also had one in my last off road truck and will again. No airbags, but more importantly, palming it and you hit something it just kicks the ball away. Get into deep mud though and you can swing the front wheels rather quickly which is a great help.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

The old chrome ones had to be mounted to the INSIDE of the steering wheel.

Mounted to the outside, first time you made a turn. Yeah. You would get yourself right in the balls. Hard way to learn a lesson.

 

[OldMan2]

OK... now we need to know what a wolf whistle is?

I bought my wolf whistle from JC Whitney. I was all metal with a valve/lever that mounted to the intake manifold. Opening and closing the valve with a pull string/wire made anything from a purr to a loud whistle. It took a little practice. I sold it with my car thinking I would buy another but they were no longer "legal". Load up the car with a bunch of crazy high school boys, ride downtown, and when a pretty girl crossed the street in front of you, start the purr. If a beauty was walking down the side walk you combine a purr followed by a loud whistle. We found it to be great fun, but the ladies didn't take to it.

 

[Bill]

They are definitely illegal in PA. It's not in the motor vehicle code, it's in the inspection book. The police can't ticket you if they find one, but unless the vehicle is set up for hand controls of the pedals (paralyzed driver) a tractor ball on the steering wheel is a hard fail on the safety inspection.

Now that said, in 10 years of doing inspections I only ran across one vehicle with one, and it was setup for hand controls. Good Lord was that thing a pain to drive with your feet.

I couldn't a reference to it in the PDOT inspection book.

Many people here will insist they are illegal. I don't know where that comes from. The highway patrol here just tells people to be aware that there may be an interference issue with air bags.

 

[Bracket racer]

The only issue I ever had with a spinner ball was wearing a jean jacket with the buttons on the cuff. Couple time I started turning the wheel and then everything would jam up and wrap the sleeve around my wrist. Very scary the first five or six times it happened! Lol! I learned to not drive with my jacket on.


I always mounted mine outside of the wheel. Just, because.

 

[Dirtman]

The only issue I ever had with a spinner ball was wearing a jean jacket with the buttons on the cuff.

Please tell me this happened in 1992...

 

[adsm08]

I couldn't a reference to it in the PDOT inspection book.

When I initially took the course it was in Subchapter E, Section 175.80 (b), item VIII. In the most current version of the manual from the website E 175.80(b) VIII does not exist, so the rules must have been revised sometime in between then and now.

 

[Dirtman]

 

[Bracket racer]

Please tell me this happened in 1992...

Lol! More like 1982-83

 

[Ranger850]

I was told by every adult in my life, that they were illegal on anything with less than 8 tires on the ground, so duallies were OK, Pulling certain trailers were OK, Semi-Trucks were OK, 4 wheeled passenger vehicles were NOT OK, unless you had a handicap that required it.

 

[sgtsandman]

Don’t you mean 6 tires? Duallies only have six. 7 if you count the spare.

 

[Grumpaw]

Had one on my first new car, a 64 Ford Falcon Sprint. Had a reverb speaker in back deck, graduation tassel hanging from rear view mirror. Cherry Bombs and cheater slicks, mounted on Cragar Super Sports.
With no power steering, you needed a knob, especially if your right arm was around your girlfriend. Knob was the ONLY way to turn that wheel.
Filled up with Sunoco 260 Super High Test for 27 cents a gallon, kicked on radio to 560 AM, WQAM, Miami. Went cruisn listening to Rick Shaw and Chickenman...
He's everywhere, he's everywhere.
LIFE WAS GOOD!!!
Grumpaw