Steering wheel swap

Apparently mine uses the more rectangular shaped, “multi-purpose” relay. Ordered it online, got it, plugged it in blind and voila, the correct power to the plugs. One step down, many more to go overall (lights still not done/bumper still not on; waiting for some lite body work to be done first)

 

I really need to take my wheel apart and see how the clock spring looks.

 

If it looks like this, something is definitely wrong and I don't think you'll be able to add steering wheel controls.

 

Clock spring?

I still need to pull the bezel/radio out again to snap that pic of the wiring bundles. It’s only been about 2 months I think, so it’s time

-_-

 

OK, so what I know about this is all from Dan @empty_lord but my '02 RC is going to be a bit different from your '04 DC so do not take any of this as "stuff you need to know".

I believe my airbag has a single connector (haven't confirmed visually yet) and my airbag cover is a wider version which would either have to be trimmed to fit the radio controls or replaced with a cover of the proper shape. I assume my wheel has no mounting spots for the radio controls either. And I assume my clock spring may not be pinned through to pass the radio control signals into the steering column where they can be accessed to feed my Pioneer 4660 with a maestro universal module.

My hangup is, I really don't want to replace a perfectly good OEM airbag with one from another vehicle. It's expensive and it's not something I really want to do. I would like to keep the one I have.

Which, if I stick to that plan, forces me to a clock spring with one airbag lead rather than two, which may eliminate the possibility of passing steering wheel controls through the clock spring. But I need to get a look at it and see. There are other options, Dan mentioned sienna radio controls could be mounted, perhaps with my stock wheel or perhaps with a sienna wheel (but then color matching becomes a problem as the sienna didn't come in moon mist AFAIK). I could go to a dark/charcoal wheel which could make sense.

Effectively, I have a few spare parts (two sequoia radio controls and one sienna controls) and no real plan until I take apart things and document where I'm at. Most significantly, I'm likely limited by the clock spring and if it does or does not have a way to pass additional signals through to the steering column. If it's already pinned and I just need to scavenge a connector and terminals, I'm likely going to try to hack up a solution using my factory airbag and clockspring, maybe a new wheel, maybe a new airbag cover (if they all fit the same mounting bolts) or trim my existing one (if not) and a s-ton of time and effort.

In the meantime, I just would use my wireless remote control and keep it in the center console, works ok.

 

This is what the clock spring looks like:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273659863807?fits=Model:Tundra

 

Bravery unlocked by 0.1%



Just gotta figure out what goes where in regards to the circled places

 

The black connector is a plugin for ribbon cable that goes from left controls to right side controls if you had them….for phone on/off hook

 

Other side is just a dummy panel

 

Oooooooh, fancy! And that’s what let’s you answer your phone with the wheel and run the call through the speakers?

hmmm…

 

Yeah but you need a long rope, it’s a deep rabbit hole if you want right side

 

I suspect that I’ll be going to the rope store at some point then… but I’ll hold off for a bit until I get almost anything else actually done.

I already have like 6 things going on at once, most of which are intertwined something else on the list in some way

—__—

 

Get the left hand controls done 1st. Then you'll have the confidence and familiarity needed to do the right-hand controls which, IMO, is a short rope if your truck is pre-wired - just buy the right-hand controls, which come with their own challenges regarding LED color - and the white ribbon cable and pre-wired trucks are plug and play as confirmed by EL here.

I gave the ribbon cable part number over here and also link to another thread off-site that outlines the full process with pictures BUT ... I also posted this information which is a little more catered to our 1GT!

 

Nice post! I wish we had a locked reference guide sticky thread where a mod could aggregate all of these comprehensive guides in one spot.

 

I just finished up my Highlander right side controls this weekend. I have an ASWC that interfaces between my aftermarket radio and I can tell you for certain that PTT, on hook and off hook are resistance based buttons. The forward collision warning and “off” button aren’t since I can’t get the ASWC to recognize them.

If you’re willing to wait a month, they are readily available on alibaba for $40ish.

 

OMG that would be amazing… like, yeah there are a ton of mod’s and upgrades and whatnot, but a searchable database like a parts search progression would be fantastic

select year, then model, then what general thing you’re working on and the you see the relevant threads and can pick the one that matches your need (or at least the closest one)

 

so I have the left side buttons and right dummy panel already but am looking at a set of panels with the features I want for $77 with ribbon and wire on eBay… since I don’t have all the things yet I haven’t taken my actual wheel off to see what’s under… so I don’t know if I’m pre-wired or anything about clock springs…

 

Just be wary with the right-hand controls. Many are coming from cars that have orange backlit buttons. OEM our trucks came with green backlit.

I too bought the right-hand controls on the fleaBay. I haven't had time to swap in and power up yet, so I'm not 100% positive which I got. I think I bought green specifically, but ... won't know until I swap em in.

 

Right side control plugs into left side control via ribbon cable. Left side control plugs into clock spring. If you don’t have the harness behind the radio that @assassin10000 showed in post #4 then truck side of clock spring is not wired for controls. No big deal, just add 3 wires and pins into the plug beneath the steering wheel and run them up to your radio. I can try to take pics this weekend of how I did it or you can search my post history. I know I’ve talked about doing this before.

 

So all clock springs are pinned for radio signals? Just a matter of getting them in and out?

 

I'm unclear on the question but I was able to plug my controls in behind the airbag. Lets call that the "in" side of the clock spring. On the "out" side of the clock spring lies this harness which is beneath the steering column.


The photo above was taken from my donor truck which was wired for SWC but my truck was not. I believe the top 3 wires on the right were empty on mine and I just pinned 3 spare wires in there and ran them to my radio. I referenced the above picture and the wiring diagram to figure out which ones were resistance and which one was the reference ground and then tied them into my ASWC.

This is a pic from my donor truck of the harness behind the radio that does have the steering control wires. Which are the first 3 in the row closest to the camera. Wire colors are gray/red, green/red, brown/white. Reference these to the pic I posted above and you can figure out where they need to be pinned beneath the steering column.

 

so if I’m understanding you correctly, I am looking for the circled 3 wires on each end?


(I circled your photo’s)

so if I take off my column shroud I should have access to the first photo and then it’s just a matter of checking the radio side for the sake of due diligence, correct?

and if I have those 3 then I’m pre-wired for radio controls?

and from there, the right side (Rabbit Hole) is a different side quest, correct?

 

Also dumb question… what does the bottom right button do?

I’m guessing that the right top two are hands free answering/ending buttons for Bluetooth enabled phones that are paired to the radio (they seem pretty straight forward), but what does the bottom right button do?

 

In that first photo, you have the wrong harness circled. The wires listed are in the white harness to the left. Yellow=airbag=not gonna have a good time. Do not meter or test light those wires whatever you do.

The right side controls transmit through the exact same 3 wires so if you have left side controls, right side controls are a breeze.

 

Wrong on the yellow connector. Yellow connectors are often airbag-related in most modern computer-controlled vehicles. Never dick around with those.

 

Damn. @MrDirtjumper and I owe each other two cokes. Posted same comment at same time

 

Bottom button on the right is PTT (push to talk).

 

Bottom button is for voice commands. You press it and tell the system what you want. You can either use it for system configuration, or like, tell the HU "Call your momma" and it'll look for a contact called "your momma" and dial it on the phone.

 

Damn. No jinx on that one.

 

Might go down a little rabbit hole here but a quick lesson on the way these buttons work. They are based on resistance unlike most newer vehicles that use data, or a canbus system.

Let’s say for example you press volume up. That button has a unique resistor between it and ground that is for example sake let say, 1000 ohms. Volume down, 500 ohms. Track up, 760 ohms. Etc… Each button has a unique resistance.

Factory radios are built and programmed to where when they receive those arbitrary resistances, they perform a command associated with each unique resistance.

If you are doing an aftermarket radio you will need some type of interface module, (ASWC, PESWIPS, etc…) that learns these resistances based on button presses and then outputs a different command to whichever radio type you program them to work with.

I don’t understand why Toyota uses 3 wires when they could just use 2 but they do. I used to have this wiring diagram laying around but I am on my phone right now. I think volume up/down and track up/down transmit resistance on one wire and the mode/right side controls transmit on the other wire. The third wire you will connect to chassis ground and that is what completes the circuit and gives you the arbitrary resistances.