Why are suicide knobs called so?

my great uncle had on on his 48 john deere a he sometimes called it a knee knocker

 

Actually I think that's a recent nick-name. Don't recall hearing them called anything but 'spinner' or 'necker' or 'donut' or 'stink finger' knobs up into the nineties anyhow.

 

A friend of mine was badly injured by one of these. He was driving an old 50's Chevy truck on a rough dirt surface at a construction site. He was backing up the truck and was turned around looking out the back window, left hand on the wheel. He was going very slow, and one of the front wheels rolled into a hole, causing the steering wheel to abruptly spin counter clockwise. IIRC, he had about 6 breaks in his hand, wrist and forearm. I've been afraid of them since.

 

Aw..you watched "Rebel Without a Cause didn't ya?

 

Where can I get the good quality ones that won't bust off when your driving? I just want one that I can use while I'm backing up.

 

The cheap ones are the suicide knobs. As they have a bolt with a sharp washer in the plastic and when it breaks you'll slit your wrist. Thats why.

 

Actually, he didn't because the guys jacket sleeve caught on the door or window handle in "Rebel..." and over he went.


We always called them "spinner", "necker", or "donut" knobs when I was young. My cousins in OH called them "Brodie" knobs. I like the "stinkfinger" one because that was more likely than necking while heading down the hiway!

I like to use the old plastic-windowed knobs with girls inside for shift knobs.

You can buy these knobs at most auto parts stores as "steering assist knobs" with heavy wooden or cast aluminum knobs. Very industrial looking and "meant" for sale to tractor and other equipemnt owners.

 

I haven't seen them in any store I've been at. I'd like to get a JD one as I like the sound of having bearings in it, but I don't want a green tractor logo in my truck, although I may...

I haven't seen one. Would a Peterbilt dealer have one?

 

Obscure fact. Ever wondered Sammie Davis Jr. lost his eye? It was a car accident involving, yep, you guessed it, a brodie knob. Evidently, it was the high profile nature of his injury that led to the brodie knob being outlawed.

 

My dad always called them suicide knobs back in the 70's an old friend of his had one on his 58 apache. when I was growing up a brody was the same as doing donuts... "lets whip a few brodies"

 

I drove a 65 ton ore truck in AZ many years ago. Large rocks in the road were common and would cause the steering wheel to whip severely if you hit one at speed. We were taught to keep our left palm on the knob rather than grip with our fingers and thumb to avoid broken digits. We also kept our thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel rather than looping them over to the inside of the wheel so the spokes wouldn't break them. And yes, there have been deaths due to the knobs in head on collisions.

 

I've got them on 3 of my farm tractors, you'll also find them stock on wheeled heavy equipment like wheel loaders and backhoe-loaders

 

all the above reasons plus I had a friend of mine was an old school paramedic, hr remembers prying dead people off of those knobs. they were probably fine in the horizontal wheels and heavy equipment, but when steering wheels started facing the driver, they got a lot more dangerous.

 

I guess different names are given to things, depending on what area you come from (East, Mid-West, etc.). The thing that always amazes me when I go to car shows, are the number of cars/trucks with Necker Knobs mounted on the outside of the steering wheel... That would spell suicide to me.

 

I had one on my 55 Stude Champion when I was in high school in the 60's. There was a curve on a gravel road where we used to do power slides. I know, its one of those oxymorons, doing a power slide with a flat six. Any way the stude must have had lots of positive camber as the wheel had a strong tendency to return to center. While doing a power slide I lost my grip on the spinner and the wheel immediatly started spinning, it went lock to lock while the car started fish tailing the other way. WHen it reached its limit it started spinning the opposite direction causing the car to fishtail the other way in the process. It went on like this for about 4 or 5 cycles while my hands were getting pounded by the knob. Amazingly I didn't suffer any broken bones but as soon as I got home off came the knob. Hey, this may belong on the old fart thread!

 

I dont like'm. They look like. "Hey I cant think of anymore bolt on stuff, xcept a knob on my wheel".

 

i wonder how much more dangerous they are on modern cars with airbags? I saw one of those stupid donks with the giant wheels and he had about six of them.

 

One of my best friends has one on his mini van. He is paralized from the belly button down and uses had controls for gas and brake. So to make it eaiser to steer he has a suicide knob on his wheel. But its not a cheap one from ebay its a super nice one. Tell you what he sure can drive that car better than just about anyone haha

 

Knew that..Just sounded very similar. Really happen??

 

I think they are legal for people with disabilities. something about the hand controls or something.

 

They are not illegal in Iraq.

I had my parents send me a John Deere one when I was over there. I put it on a new 7ton helped a lot. Very nice.

And it wasn't green and yellow!

 

Moon sells a pretty decent one. All metal with ball bearings. I've had one on my wagon for about 9 years without a major problem. I just know to be careful when using it so my shirt sleeve doesn't get caught in it. And I usually use mine when maneuvering into parking spots, although, it does make driving with one arm around the misses a lot easier.

 

This is before and after restoration photos of my "1940 chevy accessory spinner steering wheel " This wheel is original to my 39 chevy . I am the third owner of this car and know the original owners son. Apparantly this car was still on the lot when the new models came out and the dealer installed this wheel to sell the car. Which was normal for accessorys , paint or wheels in the 30's- 50's

 

some called them suicide knobs, if you took a corner real fast and let go the wheel it would spin back hard and fast and if you didn't know what you were doing it could cause a wreck. what you do is hold your hand flat under the wheel when it is coming back fast and keep a grip on it. using the spinner, suicide, knobby, whatever a person chose to call it allowed free use of your right hand to do something useful with the beauty sitting very close to you kind of straddling your toploader shifter. shifting with her sitting there was also an art and if she was not your steady you could miss a downshift and "accidentally" cop a feel. that might get you a slap or it might get you a green light. the good old days, before the chicks started putting out in 8th grade.

 

If you are in an accident, more than likely the insurance people will deny anything. Happened to my mother when she wrecked the wagon. They also made sure that we knew that was the reason for the denials.

Also they were for farm tractors originally, IF I remember correctly.

 

A tractor supply place.

 

Stink finger knob- that is priceless.
They are legal in Oklahoma with an endorsement on your license.

 

Made a left turn one time with me driving, my girl next to me and her mother next to her and the door. My "spinner" knob caught in the front of my raincoat while the wheel was trying to return. We continued left into a filling station in front of another car. He got stopped and I eventually did too. I don't think I made a good impression on her mom though. This had to be in '56

Funny thing was my girls brother was into hot rods and the dad too. Brother had a '50 model Frazur with a full flatty in it. He was a sherrifs deputy and did a lot of conning of drag racers. Like run the quarter and at the end was another deputy waiting to write the ticket.

 

C9 has a good story about them in 'Californian Hot Rodder', causing the crash of an A coupe.
I had only ever heard of themas Suicide Knobs, I guess its a locality thing.
Doc.

 

I was at my Grandmothers funeral 8 years ago and a fella walked up and introduced himself. He then proceeded to pop out his upper and lower partial plates to show me and then asked if I knew why he had them. I did. He and my Dad had been racing on a country blacktop road back in the late 50's. The road has a two mile jog in it and there are a pair of nice sweeping banked curves at either end. Dad made the curve, but his buddy didn't. The spinner wiped out 6 teeth on top and 6 teeth on bottom. Love spinners on my tractors, forklifts and mowers, but I'll never have one on a road vehicle. Luke.