So, I've been having this crazy idea about getting a steering wheel out of a newer GP and putting it into my car, so I could have wheel-mounted radio controls. Would this work? I'm assuming that the wheel would fit onto the shaft, but would the airbag work correctly?
Thanks for any info
why not use the sunfire controls
yeh my cousins 98 GT Sunfire has a steering wheel with radio controls in it.. should swap directly over..
no @!#$? I didn't even know that Sunfires had radio controls. That's great. But - is it a leather-wrapped wheel?
Yep, mine is atleast, and its got radio controls.
Will the controls still work even if you have an aftermarket head unit, or does it all depend on which head unit you buy? I am interested in this swap because I want steering controls and it looks much better than my stock steering wheel. I have an Alpine CDA-9856 by the way. Thanks
all the s/f wheels ive seen with radio controls are leather
If you want to find pics, the easiest thing to do is go to autotrader.com and search through all the sunfires and look at their interiors.
The airbag will not deploy. I spoke with a GM parts guy this afternoon, and he told me that the airbags are encoded to each vehicle by the VIN number for that car. The wheel will fit, and I believe there are kits or interfacing the steering wheel radio controls, but the airbag will be useless. If I am wrong about the airbags, please correct me, cause I would love to do the same thing.
Gotta keep on livin', L-I-V-I-N
That sounds like typical dealer BS to me. They tried to tell me the same thing about the cluster. Said that each cluster was "coded" to that particular car and that I would need to get a new one "coded" to fit my VIN#.
It should be illegal to BS people like that. I mean, why in the hell would airbags (or clusters) NEED to be produced to only work in ONE car?
If they made stering wheel radio controles in 98, WHY WOULD THEY STOP MAKING THEM??? And for that matter why did they stop leather wrapping the steerign wheels? I know sunfires came with them, but why doesn't my 04 Z24 have leather wrapped wheel to match the leather wrapped shift knob?
CustomBlueCav wrote:That sounds like typical dealer BS to me. They tried to tell me the same thing about the cluster. Said that each cluster was "coded" to that particular car and that I would need to get a new one "coded" to fit my VIN#.
It should be illegal to BS people like that. I mean, why in the hell would airbags (or clusters) NEED to be produced to only work in ONE car?
I agree 100%! When my 2001 Cavalier odometer stopped lighting up they told me the ONLY solution was to buy a new cluster from them at $500+ and then they would have to send both my old cluster and the new one to Transport Canada to have them sign off and transfer the mileage.. :-) Which we all know is bunk since it's not stored in the cluster anyway! I asked them about a junkyard cluster and they told me that it wouldn't work. Shame on them that I fixed my original cluster myself for under 5 bucks.
Honestly the airbag should work.. people sell their old stock airbag on ebay and i have a friend who got on and it works.. well light isnt on anyway..
as for teh radio controls.. they should work even with aftermarket units becuz it should be teh same wires..unless they have more wires but i would think they would be spliced into the same wires that control the power of the buttions and what not.. ill have to ask my cousin if her wheel control work with the new head unit we put in it..
you'd have to buy an interface
like these to make the controls work with an aftermarket unit, but that's no big deal to me.
^^So for the year of the car I would put the year of the steering wheel right?
I thought it may be BS, but didn't know for sure. How is the airbag gonna know what car it is supposed to effin' work in anyway? Anybody know if the 2000-2002 sunfires had a leather wrapped wheel or not?
Gotta keep on livin', L-I-V-I-N
I have seen a 2001 Sunfire GT with factory leather wrapped wheel, shift knob and E-brake handle.
im definately interested to see if anyone can do a successful swap of one of those steering wheels into a cavi!
2002 Cavalier 2200----- Buffalo, NY
Another question, would the controls work on a 00+ radio with the plug in the rear? Or only 95-99
Mr Goodwrench - I really wish I could help you...My gosh...all this time and nobody on the org can help you!
ECOTEC now with Maximum Bolt-Ons!!
My EX crashed her sunfire GT into a pole. The air bag went off! A buddy of mine put his steering wheel from his sunfire into her car, as he had an aftermarket wheel. So the hole "wheel made for the car thing!" NOT TRUE!!!
Play hard, Drive fast, and Be safe...
What year did they stop leather wrapping the Sunfire steering wheels, and did the SE's come with leather, or was it just the rubber wheel?
Gotta keep on livin', L-I-V-I-N
I figured the clock spring would be different, but I was planning on getting it from a junkyard so I could just grab the whole harness from the steering wheel to the radio. I also wanted to go with a 97-03 GP wheel because I like how they are shaped, the button location, and I like that the buttons light up red (the rest of the interior lighting in my car is from a Sunfire, and I hate mismatched lights). I will see what's up... I'll get back to everyone in a few days
I believe the GT's had the leather wrap... at least the 99 vert I found at a j-yard did.
And best of luck too. 
