shelby987

I did a search, but most of them just looked like people looking for aftermarket headunits that will work with steering wheel controls. My question is this, what does it take to put steering wheel controls in a car without it? I have a 91, and would like to keep the airbag system intact, were steering wheel controls available in 91-92 models, can I use a 93+ column and steering wheel? Also, will any factory head unit that came with steering wheel controls work (is it a direct connection from the steering wheel to the radio with regard to wiring?).

Thanks!

champnesupernva

you know, i cant remember who makes it, or made it....i wanna say pioneer made a unit with a wireless remote that would just clamp to your steering wheel. do a search.

hope this helps!

shelby987

As stated, I am not looking for an aftermarket unit, I would like to use a factory unit and factory steeringwheel controls. My question was can I swap these parts from a 93-02 camaro into a 91 camaro.

Jeffrey Fontaine

I'd like to add this as well... Bump!

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

I think the steering wheel controls were replaced by the airbag.

I know there are some cars out there that have both, like my mom 06 Trailblazer, but no F-bodies that I know of. I don't recall seeig a 4th gen with radio controls o the steering wheel. So I don't see how you could incorporate both, unless you found a steering column & wheel that came OEM with both, and figured out how to wire it all in.

Then there would be issues to deal with.....like the PassKey....The radio from the SAME VEHICLE as the steering wheel came from (I'm sure there is some sort of anti-theft coding to prevent radio theft)......

And then, there is the radio sized issue. Ours is a 1.5 DIN. Even if you got a steering column, wheel & radio from a newer car, it's probably a double DIN, or a funky size to fit THAT dash it came in.

shelby987

The 4th gens DID come with airbags and radio controls, I believe after 95 or 96 it was relatively standard on ALL GM vehicles.

Since I was unable to get any responses from anyone in this forum, I opted to just buy the parts and figure it all out. The anti-theft code on the radio can be reflashed, but I purchased the radio and column from the same car. All the wires and connections on the donor column are identical with the exception of the leads that hook the buttons to the radio, this appears to be a seperate section of the harness, I was unable to purchase this from the seller, as he was unwilling to cut into the harness in hopes of selling it hole (NOT PART OF OUR ORIGINAL AGREEMENT) but I guess this is just the joy of dealing with people online.

The only other hick-up is that the gen 4 column hooks to a rack and pinion, so the column is longer, thus the steering intermediate shaft from a 4th gen will need to be used to bridge the gap. Other than that, the column is in place with no clearance issues between it and the dash.

More info to come when I get the wires and intermediate shaft.

Jeffrey Fontaine

Great, would love to see the results!

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

My wife's 2000 grand prix gt had steering wheel controls and airbag...she bought it brand new. Within the first three months her radio crapped out and they put in one that supposedly came out of a trans am....it had all the steering wheel functions incorporated in this unit.

shelby987

Also, I missed the last bit in the previous post, the radios from the 4th gen's fit in the 3rd gens with relative ease, the duct work for the vents that run underneath the radio (vents on the side of the center console) need to be trimmed slightly, other than that it looks like a stock unit (I personally HATE the looks of aftermarket radios).

cyberleader

Are you still working on this shelby? i also am trying to get steering wheel controls working... and bought a 4th gen steering column and dash harness. I was under the impression the radio controls harness from the column connects to the long secondary slot on the back of the radio... but apparently not, according to the wiring diagram... the yellow and blue wires go to the main radio harness and the grey goes to interior lights... the black gorund of course... so what is that seconary slot for?

You say you got the 4th gen column in place... so the high beams, turn signals, cruise etc all work fine? The only issue is the length of the steering shaft?

Do you think that the steering shaft from the 3rd gen could be removed and installed in the 4th gen column??? How is this mod progessing for you? cheers Tom

rjdavis2001

iTrader: (1)

Just and FYI, I put steering wheel controls, leather wheel and matching airbag from a 97 Grand Prix, same color of firebird grey, get the harness from under the column to the radio and the airbag clock, its all plug and play, hardest part is fitting the wiring down the coulmn, the radio harness from the grand prix, just connects to the stock car harness, then go's to the stock radio, the grand prix harness is all fused for the steering wheel controls, and the wheel controls light up red

Ward

iTrader: (1)

The easiest way would be to get the whole column from a donor car. My car originally came with them, and when I had the column apart I noticed that the horn contact ring is slightly different. There are extra rings on it for the steering wheel buttons to pass through, then extra wires coming off the back of it, to go to the radio.

cyberleader

that's the part i wouldn't mind you explaining in a little more detail, rjdavis. as far as i can tell there are only four wires involved, the yellow goes to second pin from the left in the bottom row of the radio plug, the blue goes to the fourth pin from the right in the top row if the plug, the orange wire goes to 25 amps in the fusebox and the grey wire goes to 1 amp in the fusebox.

I'm still a noob and on top of that have never had to make adjust ments to the fusebox, so any thoughts or suggestions you could throw my way rjdavis would be greatly appreciated!!!

rjdavis2001

iTrader: (1)

Hey Cyberleader,

I have gathered some schematics, you are correct, if you did not get a harness from a 97 GrandPrix like I did then you will have to spice into your harness, and the way you did discribed is correct, but rather then spice into the harness, look at the junkyard for that grandprix, as it does have the harness that plugs under the column for the steerining wheel controls direct to your factory radio harness then to the factory radio, no spiceing involved, or e-mail me and ill send you what I have for the wheel controls. just PM me withyour e-mail??