Steering Wheel Swap For Radio Controls And Leather

miramballer · August 16, 2008

Ok I'm bout to head to the Saints game, WHO DAT?! figured I would ask this question before I head out .. I just bought, off of ebay, a leather steering wheel, with the radio and cruise control .. my current steering wheel is not leather and only has the cruise .. I read some of the other threads and pm'ed a few people but I figured I would post this question on the forum .. Is swapping out the steering wheels something that any of you would recommend me doing on my own or should I contact the dealer?? From what some of the other posts were saying, I know some people did there own swap .. Any input would help .. Thanks guys

davzog · August 17, 2008

The biggest issue is the air bag...don't want it blowing up in your face. As I recall, you need to disconnect the batery and let the truck set about 20 minutes to bleed off the backup power.

The other issue is that you probably will not be able to activate the radio coontrols since your truck was not wired for it from the factory. I am sure it could be wired up, but it would be a lot of work getting that engineering degree...

tobias · August 17, 2008

You'll be fine and it should hook right up and work without problem. I forgot to reply to your PM, sorry. Make sure to disconnect the battery whil working on the wheel but you definitely DO NOT need to take your truck to the dealer for this. There are two holes in the shroud behind the cruise controls and where the radio controls will be. Use a small driver or coat hanger or something similar in those holes while pulling gently on the airbag to release the airbag retention clips. Once you have the airbag off, unhook the wiring harness for the airbag and the harness for the wheel. Next, remove the center nut and bang the wheel all around with the heel of your hand to loosen it and then pull. It should pop right off. Replace with the new wheel and work in reverse. Done!

nbscanuck · August 17, 2008

Can you add just the volume pod to the existing wheel or do you have to change the wheel? Or just too much PITA to add the pod?

tobias · August 17, 2008

Can you add just the volume pod to the existing wheel or do you have to change the wheel? Or just too much PITA to add the pod?

The problem with that is that GM, nor anyone else, sells the harness you need to plug into the controls. It comes in the OEM wheels but can't be found elsewhere. If you can find one in a salvage yard you could but at that point you might as well just grab the whole wheel. I, unfortunately, learned this the hard way. I have a set of the radio controls here that I'd sell cheap should anyone ever find a harness!

Zembonez · August 17, 2008

I switched mine out for a leather wheel with cruise buttons and all worked perfectly. The leather wheel is worth about forty million dollars. The whole feel of the truck is different. Like others have said, the radio controls are best left off. You can take your wheel apart and combine the two and it will look factory. Easy to do too.

tobias · August 17, 2008

I switched mine out for a leather wheel with cruise buttons and all worked perfectly. The leather wheel is worth about forty million dollars. The whole feel of the truck is different. Like others have said, the radio controls are best left off. You can take your wheel apart and combine the two and it will look factory. Easy to do too.

That confused me a little bit, Jim.

The general rule for radio control addition to the 900's is that if you have cruise, you can add the radio controls without problem. If you don't have cruise then neither cruise or radio controls can be added. I think I recall something about the back lighting not working on the WT but I thought the controls themselves did.

black00chev · August 17, 2008

Well I throw in a stupid question since one hasn't been asked yet... Since my truck is a '00, what can I do as far as new steerting wheels are concerned? Mine is leather but it is a 2000 after all and its starting to get really worn out and kinda want a new steering wheel.

Anyone with a '00 do a newer steering wheel without controls or any other ideas?

ChickenWing · August 17, 2008

Ok I'm bout to head to the Saints game, WHO DAT?! figured I would ask this question before I head out .. I just bought, off of ebay, a leather steering wheel, with the radio and cruise control .. my current steering wheel is not leather and only has the cruise .. I read some of the other threads and pm'ed a few people but I figured I would post this question on the forum .. Is swapping out the steering wheels something that any of you would recommend me doing on my own or should I contact the dealer?? From what some of the other posts were saying, I know some people did there own swap .. Any input would help .. Thanks guys

I agree this is an easy "Do It Yourself". As long as you had the cruise to start with, your radio controls will work just like they should. No need for a dealer, or engineering degree. It doesn't take long to do it, either.

Zembonez · August 17, 2008

I switched mine out for a leather wheel with cruise buttons and all worked perfectly. The leather wheel is worth about forty million dollars. The whole feel of the truck is different. Like others have said, the radio controls are best left off. You can take your wheel apart and combine the two and it will look factory. Easy to do too.

That confused me a little bit, Jim.

The general rule for radio control addition to the 900's is that if you have cruise, you can add the radio controls without problem. If you don't have cruise then neither cruise or radio controls can be added. I think I recall something about the back lighting not working on the WT but I thought the controls themselves did.

Didn't mean to mislead. Mine had cruise buttons on it so I added a leather wheel with cruise buttons. Straight swap. I didn't try adding radio controls. I had read in here that it wasn't really possible because the harness for them isn't there, was hard to get, etc. I was just saying he could delete the radio controls from the wheel he bought by using the trim pieces and cruise buttons from his original wheel and it would look factory. They would be black instead of silver to match his truck too.

miramballer · August 17, 2008

Thanks to all for your responses .. this is great news too .. i will be installing next weekend .. but it all sounds pretty basic .. i guess the biggest part that scares me is the airbag .. as long as the battery has been disconnected for 20 plus minutes then i dont risk messing that up right? thanks again guys

tobias · August 17, 2008

I switched mine out for a leather wheel with cruise buttons and all worked perfectly. The leather wheel is worth about forty million dollars. The whole feel of the truck is different. Like others have said, the radio controls are best left off. You can take your wheel apart and combine the two and it will look factory. Easy to do too.

That confused me a little bit, Jim.

The general rule for radio control addition to the 900's is that if you have cruise, you can add the radio controls without problem. If you don't have cruise then neither cruise or radio controls can be added. I think I recall something about the back lighting not working on the WT but I thought the controls themselves did.

Didn't mean to mislead. Mine had cruise buttons on it so I added a leather wheel with cruise buttons. Straight swap. I didn't try adding radio controls. I had read in here that it wasn't really possible because the harness for them isn't there, was hard to get, etc. I was just saying he could delete the radio controls from the wheel he bought by using the trim pieces and cruise buttons from his original wheel and it would look factory. They would be black instead of silver to match his truck too.

Gotcha. It's only hard to add controls if you don't have a wheel that already has the arness, which he now has. If you only have the wheel without the controls and try to add the pod to that wheel, that is where the problems arise. So... If you ever come across a wheel with both, you should snag it because it will have everything you need to have the redundant radio controls working!

tobias · August 17, 2008

Thanks to all for your responses .. this is great news too .. i will be installing next weekend .. but it all sounds pretty basic .. i guess the biggest part that scares me is the airbag .. as long as the battery has been disconnected for 20 plus minutes then i dont risk messing that up right? thanks again guys

No, you should be fine. Be very careful when disconnecting the harnesses not to break any of them, especially the airbag because those things are expensive to replace.

Zembonez · August 17, 2008

The wheel he bought off of FeeBay was probably a take off when somebody upgraded to a wood wheel. (not sure why anybody would) They may have used the harness in the new wheel. We'll have to see when the wheel gets there I guess.

tobias · August 17, 2008

The wheel he bought off of FeeBay was probably a take off when somebody upgraded to a wood wheel. (not sure why anybody would) They may have used the harness in the new wheel. We'll have to see when the wheel gets there I guess.

Most wheels have their own harness. Everyone I have talked to has had the harness come with the wheel, even the guys who bought them new. Hopefully he'll be okay.

Stephen, does the new wheel have the harness inside already?