Newer Steering Wheel Swap...96+ possible?

[Notime2d8]

Hey, I have a 85 Blazer, i'm wanting to swap in a newer steering wheel maybe from a 2002 Sierra. I'm wanting to add steering wheel controls for my radio. I know 96 bonnevilles and 99-02 Firebirds came with radio controls too. I'm worried about the splines not matching.

I know it's kinda messing up a classic, but i'm trying to limit glancing away with my bump steer and lift kit....

 

[beags86]

Looking to add air bags too?

 

[ZooMad75]

Personally, airbag wheels are fugly. I'd never even think of swapping one on an older truck. But I feel your pain about trying to reach for puny buttons on an aftermarket stereo in the dash. My Kenwood is a giant pain in the ass to fiddle with while driving on or off road. Little buttons with big fingers and a bumpy ride don't mix. My solution is to get the remote control for my Kenwood. I thought it was nuts to need a remote when the radio is within reach, but now that I'm driving mine more I can see the need.

Now my 75 I had the radio mounted into the stock console. That was a GM Din sized Pioneer unit with big buttons. I could change channels or skip by feel alone. Since it was right at my side I got spoiled by it.

 

[rpcraft]

The problem with the newer steering wheels that have steering wheel controls is they have the airbag and they just are not as slim as the older units. I think up until about 92 or 93 you could get one of those steering wheels like the one I have pictured below and it would cross over nice but anything after that started to bloat up with air bags. Personally FWIW, when I had my 77 I had a Clarion head unit that had a remote that I used to set in the console. Back then the volume up and down was a rocker type push button and after experiencing that and remembering the bounce and jiggle of the Jimmy I learned I won't go that route. When I finished my new setup I'll just have a head unit that has a round volume knob (Pioneer still makes some great head units with round knobs. It solves the problem of what to grab on to and what it does while not looking as far as I am concerned. It's easier for me to remember what a big round knob does than which button to push on the steering wheel to be honest. I think when I do my head unit I am essentially going to be running a cross of XM and my iphone and I don't answer the phone when I am driving so if it rings it just goes to voice mail anyways. Even on my 2013 Frontier I usually use the knob on the dash to control the volume because it's just far quicker and more direct.

FWIW if you are concerned about controlling your phone or tablet through the radio then what I would suggest is there is a bluetooth remote you can get off Amazon and it will allow you to control your phone stuff (such as iheart, pandora, and loaded music and you could just have it stuck to your console in a handy place.

Here is a link to it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RM75NL...lid=339TEJL4FCC8B&coliid=I286JZT8AZAQJT&psc=1

There is another one that is cheaper on ebay that actually has a holder that clips on the steering wheel. Not perfectly OEM looking but still, pretty handy and keeps it somewhat where you want it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/182194517670?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

I hope that helps give you some idea's beyond the OEM stuff.

Photo of my favorite steering wheel. pardon the floor board mess and the dirtiness, It's all in the middle of an LS swap and interior restoration.

 

[Blue85]

I have the GMC version of that wheel. If you found an aftermarket button unit that fits next to the horn cap, it could simply attach with 2-sided tape. That seems safer than putting inside the wheel.

Or is there another slimmer option out there?

 

[rpcraft]

Im curious how you program that remote to work with other branded products???? I saw them but just wasn't thinking they would work well st the time. Ur if they can be programmed easy enough it's viable.

 

[Blue85]

Pretty sure you need the original remote to teach it commands.

 

[rpcraft]

Just think how nicely that would fit in between the spokes on that 4 spoke wheel, lol!!!

 

[Notime2d8]

I didn't think about this as my truck PO swapped in a Grant steering wheel. But I may be able to fit the newer GM buttons into the original 4-spoke style steering wheel....a little cutting....little gluing... and some paint. I can try this out for $20. The radio that I'm using (not installed yet) can take any wired input from steering controls.

 

[Blue85]

How will the wiring go?

 

[Notime2d8]

How will the wiring go?

If this was to me. My radio takes a 4 wire hookup power, 2 grounds, and voltage reference. If I mod the factory wheel, I'll run the wires through the padding and the same route as the horn.

 

[rpcraft]

I think there is going to be some spot where their won't be anything to cover your wires, plus you're forgetting about the clockwork under the OEM steering wheel to help with the problem of rotating wires, unless you are planning on just driving in a straight line. I'd just stick with a wireless remote of some type and find an asthetic method to implement that into your setup. It's not perfect but its not going to leave sketchy wiring hanging on something that needs to spin 360 degrees multiple times until it shorts out or breaks. The remote on my Clarion was slightly less than the size of a credit card and nice and thin. It easily sat in the little square of my center console (77 Jimmy at the time). If you don't have something like that then stick some velcro tape to the back and stick it on the dash for when you need to find it (or maybe even the back of the steering wheel). I use to one hand the steering wheel because it was so effortless to steer and use the remote with my free hand all the time unless I was going over bumps and doing random offroad stuff.

• dimensions: 1-3/8"W x 4-3/8"H x 3/8"D - Not my picture I would throw a banana in for scale

 

[Blue85]

I think that's why a later factory wheel swap was proposed. They have multiple circuits running through clock-spring wires.

It seems like steering wheel radio controls are newer than standard drivers airbags are. I remember some Ford wheels with cruise control buttons on them but no airbag. Maybe GM had some? If you could interface those buttons with your remote module you could also do some creative re-labeling.

I expect that gaining the clock spring would require swapping the whole column. Slip rings are OK for horns, but may be too noisy for resistive type buttons. Also, aren't the car wheels smaller diameter than truck ones?

The typical "handwheel" radio controls use a single signal wire. Each button creates a different resistance. It's probably possible to use the 1 horn wire in a similar fashion with the supply voltage leaking through the horn and the ground already available in the column. You would probably have to build your own interface to a remote module.

 

[rpcraft]

Well, post pictures when it's finished is all I can say. I'd be curious how it looks. I know what route I am going already. Volume knobs are plenty easy to find and I don't really care about pause or next track functions too much because I am already listening to a mix of music I want (or radio or XM). Not sure if many have noticed but the industry trend has gone back to larger knobs on the head units rather than push buttons (for direct volume adjustments).

 

[Notime2d8]

What got me thinking about this was this build thread for a Fiero. It didn't look that bad in an older car. I did get a Sierra steering wheel with buttons and wiring for $18 should be here in a week, but I'm also in between a tbi swap so it'll be a while before I can work on this. Will also look for early 90's before airbags to see if any had buttons, I can re-label them.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000114-2.html - on this he actually swapped the steering shaft back. I don't think I want to do that much.

 

[ZooMad75]

What got me thinking about this was this build thread for a Fiero. It didn't look that bad in an older car. I did get a Sierra steering wheel with buttons and wiring for $18 should be here in a week, but I'm also in between a tbi swap so it'll be a while before I can work on this. Will also look for early 90's before airbags to see if any had buttons, I can re-label them.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000114-2.html - on this he actually swapped the steering shaft back. I don't think I want to do that much.

That's just the problem, the guy with the Fiero swapped in the entire malibu steering column to make the conversion happen.

The standard Saginaw steering column in our squares never got an air bag, so there is no direct fit solution for the clockspring (airbag coil) for the wires to pass through from the steering wheel to the column and still alow it to turn. The Saginaw style column did get used with an air bag in other models though. The Caprice used the Saginaw column as did the Camaro and Firebird and they all had airbags.

The issue I would expect to run into is the difference of the upper column area so there is enough room to house the clockspring. You might be able mix up parts between the two, but it's a crapshoot that mashup would work.

The other option is to do something similar to what the Fiero guy did by swapping an entire dash from a later truck, steering column and all. I'd rather just get a remote and be done with it.

 

[rpcraft]

That is a good point but one thing to consider is the enclosure around the stock fiero steering column. It is a lot different than your run of the mill ck5/10 truck so once you figure out a way to enclose all the extra gizmos that go along with the kind of columns these steering wheels match up to I'd say you are probably a lot closer to solving the problem.

That's just the problem, the guy with the Fiero swapped in the entire malibu steering column to make the conversion happen.

The standard Saginaw steering column in our squares never got an air bag, so there is no direct fit solution for the clockspring (airbag coil) for the wires to pass through from the steering wheel to the column and still alow it to turn. The Saginaw style column did get used with an air bag in other models though. The Caprice used the Saginaw column as did the Camaro and Firebird and they all had airbags.

The issue I would expect to run into is the difference of the upper column area so there is enough room to house the clockspring. You might be able mix up parts between the two, but it's a crapshoot that mashup would work.

The other option is to do something similar to what the Fiero guy did by swapping an entire dash from a later truck, steering column and all. I'd rather just get a remote and be done with it.

Some folks just prefer to ice skate up hill.... I decided all the logic in the world won't help say nope, lol