Aftermarket Steering Wheel

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I personally am not a fan of airbags and am thinking of swapping to a new wheel sans bag. Tried some searching and could not find much info on such.

This thread is not about if this is a good idea or why I should not remove the airbag/s. If you don't approve, please just do not respond.

It seems pretty simple and I did a swap in my 95 Z28 years ago but figure if I could not find info that either I am missing something or others might benefit from info as well.

?s

...am I am missing something that prevents this

...what adapter is needed

...will there be a light and can it be bypassed

...do both bags need disabled

...I don't have any steering wheel controls so only horn function is needed, right

...any links or pics you can share of something like this on the platform

Thanks!
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I can't answer everything, but the horn is the only thing you need to worry about. There will be an airbag light BUT you could either just cover it up or use a resistor to trick the system into thinking the airbag is still hooked up. It is 2.2 ohm I believe, 1/2 watt is recommended from what I've seen. Note I've not personally done this. If the resistor doesn't work, try 3.3 or 4.7 ohm as alternates.
 
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
You may hit up Ken (eutechnyx), his bagged Voy has an aftermarket no air bag steering wheel in it. Here's a pic I took years back, when the previous owner had it, and we were doing a cluster swap.

IMAG0158.jpg
 

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Thanks! i shot him a message. Surprised there really is no info floating around.
 

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
My airbag light is still on unfortunately, I need to get a resistor to run in line to turn off that light, I assume nobody has any experience with it on these trucks before I take my wheel off?
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
If you still have the air bag, I suppose you could ohm out the connector to determine the resistance value needed, if that is what you are asking?
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I'd be scared of doing that on a live airbag! You may blow it just from the 9V battery in your meter and that wouldn't be a fun time.
 
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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Thats true. I would think that shouldn't happen, but better safe than sorry. Maybe a potentiometer on the leads on the truck and vary the resistance till the light goes out?
 

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
Does anyone know which wires the resistor would be wired to? I have never actually looked behind my wheel.
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
uploadfromtaptalk1428014000921.jpeg

Always thought it was just 2 yellow wires. But it doesn't appear so. What ever wires are in that yellow jacket, I believe it is only 2.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Now I'm wondering if we have dual stage or single stage airbags. If dual stage then you'd put a resistor per wire set.
 

MAY03LT

Member
Nov 18, 2011
3,412
Delmarva
I looked up Kyles and it says that his does have two stage (not sure about early ones like ours). I couldn't find a spec right out in the open so I went through the drivers airbag codes.

It says when diagnosing a B0044 (without the fancy j tool) use a 2 ohm resistor across both connectors.
 
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Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
They're all interchangeable, plus I just looked up a 2002 airbag as well, so yeah our platform has dual stage. So two 2 ohm resistors, one per wire pair. Each pair should be in the yellow sleeves.
 
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eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
So one 2 ohm 1/4 watt going from one wire to the other on each set of wires? Sorry if that sounded confusing lol.
 

MAY03LT

Member
Nov 18, 2011
3,412
Delmarva
Yup one resistor across both wires in each connector.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Great info. Thanks for the research. Hoping to find the right adapter and pick a new wheel asap.

Never did many interior mods and this is one I have wanted for years.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I think it is this adapter




Billet Specialties BLK31126



but it only says non-airbag 02-03 Trailblazers which had airbags and I thought all the steering column were interchangeable.
 

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
I apologize for digging up an older thread but I wanted to confirm, we need 2 ohm resistors not 2K ohm correct? 2ohm resistors are pretty large to handle more power and I wanted to make sure before ordering. Thanks.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Everything I've read says that, yeah. Again, I've "read" - I've never done it personally.
 

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
Gotcha, and does the wattage matter? I know I mentioned 1/4 watt but I don't know where I got that from.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
No...insurance scared me out of it.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Original poster
Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I know I know, but I want my full coverage to count if I roll thing off a cliff in some random state.
 
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Harpo

Member
Dec 4, 2011
411
Sweden
I removed my passenger airbag a few years ago when I put a child's seat up front.
I couldn't find any info about anything at that time and after a long time found a "airbag simulator" thing.
It turned out to be just a tiny resistor with some yellow shrinktubing around it.

What I'm getting at is that it was only ONE resistor for my dual stage airbag, that is apparently enough to fool the bcm to think it still has the airbag.

I don't remember which cables I connected it to but I remember I had to mail them to get it right including pics of my connectors.

"them" is airbagsystems.com.

Edit:
Hey, I've found our mail correspondence from 2012. Here is the final answer, remember this is for the passenger airbag, I would guess that the wireing is the same for the driver airbag but I don't know, I've never seen it.

From mail:


Insert the following together:

Purple and Orange - On one side of your yellow connector we sent you.


Grey and Yellow - On one side of your yellow connector we sent you.


Be sure to skin back some of the insulation on the wire to expose the copper and then snap it shut on the scotch lock connector.

Leave the airbag connector DISCONNECTED when finished.



Chris McNutt
 
Last edited:

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
Do you think if I emailed them or called them they could point me in the right direction to ensure I can get the correct resistor and wires?
 
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Harpo

Member
Dec 4, 2011
411
Sweden
I highly doubt it, they probably want to sell you an overpriced resistor with two "thief's" covered with yellow shrinktubing for $29.

But you can try, costs nothing.

If you buy the airbagsimulator for$29 you'll get all the help you need though.
They ask you to take pics of the wires and connectors if the don't already know the answer.

Great customer service, but if you're not a customer,,, don't know.
 

eutechnyx

Member
Mar 31, 2012
375
sadly, $30 would be worth it to me at this point. I know it can be done for 30 cent instead but I just want to clear my airbag warning and see the mileage on my truck lol.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
So what are you afraid of exactly? There's no airbag to blow up in your face. Test it by touching the leads of the resistor to the connections, and see if the light goes off. If it does, clean up the install and you're done. If it doesn't, try something else.
 

Harpo

Member
Dec 4, 2011
411
Sweden
I have to agree with Blckshdw.
My scotchlocks (is that what's it's called) came loose a few times and I just got a airbag warning light. I don't think anything other than that would happen if you connect the wrong wires.
Do you know how many wires you have?.
 

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