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Aftermarket (quick release) steering wheel (with working cruise control + horn)

Messages
51
Likes
108
Location
Lake City, MI, USA
#1
I don't normally do writeups on things so I will have bad visuals and probably bad writing, so here's my apology in advance :LOL: If you have questions and want to get to me fastest, @pizza_st_ on Instagram is your best bet!

I absolutely had to give a writeup of this to potentially help some people out, because I had a horrible time trying to find ANY information whatsoever on how to do this. Finding a hub took far too long and wiring was a huge pain, especially since I hadn't done something like this before. Hopefully this helps someone who was on the fence about doing a project like this!

Before I start, I want to clarify that I am not encouraging people remove airbags from their cars. You will lose your steering wheel airbag installing any quick release aftermarket wheel. In my car, I have a harness bar + seats + 4pt harnesses installed. The safety concerns of a project like this are for your discretion to figure out whether it's worth it. Do your safety research!

I'm (obviously) not responsible for anything you damage doing something like this, either.

With that out of the way, here's a parts list for the setup I created:

Steering wheel hub: NRG SRK-193 hub (https://www.ebay.com/itm/124785811583)
- Unless someone finds a better option, this is the ONLY wheel hub I could find that had adequate space for cables and allowed use of the factory clock spring.
Cruise control mount: DND 350Z Cruise Control Kit (https://www.dndperformanceinterior....-control-kit/products/350z-cruise-control-kit)
- You could probably find a different mount if you wanted, but I find this mount to look good for this install.
Steering wheel: DND Leather Touring Wheel (red stitching) (https://www.dndperformanceinterior.com/collections/leather/products/leathertouringwheel)
- You can use any 6x70mm bolt pattern steering wheel, but I find this wheel to be a good balance between inexpensive but not garbage.
Quick release: NRG SRK-200BK Quick Release (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZG6TUC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- There are many options out there. These releases are good for a decent amount of time, just don't do the stupid spinning you see on TikTok and these are fine. You can use any 6x70mm quick release that has the contacts for a horn button (or not, if you don't care about the horn).
Turn signal extension:(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MFDRJGH)
- Because of the extra distance this setup adds between the wheel stalks and the new steering wheel, you'll need a turn signal extension to be able to reach/activate your turn signals without taking your hand off of the wheel. I used this one because it was cheap, but many options are out there. This specific one works well for me, though I will note I can only FLASH my high beams; it prevents the stalk from clicking to the second position. This is made more clear in one of my post photos. You may need a different extension if that's a deal breaker, but I don't use HBs often and it's $12.

In my case, the cost of these is $145, $50, $155, $80, and $12. So for a similar setup, you can expect to spend ~$450.

First step is unplugging the battery from your car. Just remove the negative terminal and let it sit for however long you feel necessary. Most people agree 30 minutes is plenty.

Second is taking off the wheel. If you want a video to follow, this one (
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8MuPb8kmzU

) is a decent video. Straighten your steering wheel, and get a long metal device like a long ~3mm hex wrench/key. There are 3 points on the back of the steering wheel that release clips you need to push, using it. These release the airbag unit from the wheel.
A.png
After these clips are released, move the airbag up and release the two clips and one wire from the back. From there, you can take a 24mm socket to remove the OEM wheel. Again, make sure the wheel is straight during this (you'll need it to be straight for installing the hub). I recommend taking this 24mm bolt only halfway off, so you can jerk the steering wheel loose without it potentially smacking you in the face. After you have it loose, remove the bolt the rest of the way and carefully take the wheel off, feeding the airbag wiring through its designated hole. Be careful with the clock spring behind it; you want to avoid having it move/rotate as much as possible so you don't accidently damage it.

Now we remove the wiring harness and cruise control "pod" from the wheel. Take your OEM wheel and find the two T10 torx screws on the back that hold the buttons and trim onto the wheel. Unscrew these, and take it off. Now, there are 3 T8 torx screws that hold each button pod on; in this case I'm just taking the cruise control one off. You could do both if you care that much about your media controls, but seeing as how they're all on the radio I figured I'd be fine without them. Now find the 4(?) thick cable ties that hold the wiring to the steering wheel, and carefully snip 'em. There's one philips-head screw holding a ground point to the wheel, so unscrew that and then the whole wiring harness of the OEM wheel can be removed.
B.png
For reference throughout the rest of this guide, in case it's helpful, here's what these wires are for:
B2.png
Purple is the ground point. Green is the main connector that goes to the clock spring. Blue (mostly off-image) is for the media controls. Yellow is for the cruise control. Red is actually a positive wire for the horn, which would've gone to the OEM airbag unit.

With the harness removed, we work on installing the hub. Plug the harness from the OEM wheel into the clock spring (again, be careful with it and avoid rotating it as much as possible), then take your hub (with the logo and small white dot-label on top) and slide it onto the steering column, carefully feeding the wires for the airbag and wheel functions through the large space in the top of the hub. Keep the wiring out of the way and reinstall and tighten the 24mm bolt that'll hold the hub to the column. NOTE: A non-permanent threadlocker (ex. blue loctite) should be used on this bolt, and if you want to go to spec, the torque spec I found for this bolt is 30ft/lbs.

Now, all the wiring.. yay. Take some electrical tape and cover up the connector for the media control button pod (labeled blue in the reference image above); it won't be used here (unless you want to, in which case you'll have to duplicate all the steps involving the cruise control pod in this writeup). Take the philips screw holding the grounding wire to the hub and unscrew it. Now re-add that screw with that grounding wire, but underneath it add the purple wire (labeled purple in the reference image above) that was being used as a grounding point previously on the OEM wheel. Now, there are two connectors (with two wires each) that go to the back of the OEM wheel's airbag. Find the two 2A (at least, that's what they were labeled in mine) resistors/fuses in the box for your steering wheel hub (the SRK-193H). Plug the two ends of each resistor/fuse into each connector. To specify, DO NOT bridge across the two different airbag connectors with these! Simply plug the two ends of the resistor/fuse into the two ends of one connector, and repeat for the other (as shown in this below reference image).
C.png
Now secure them how you see fit; I just wrapped each one up with some electrical tape. Now, all that's left for new connections to make is the two (positive and negative) for the horn. Read the rest of this paragraph before following it; you need to run some wires through the cruise control mount or you'll have to do it twice. Go get your quick release (the side that goes to the car; not the side that attaches to your new steering wheel) and connect its positive lead to the positive horn connector (labeled in red in the earlier reference image) in some way; you might have to get an extra piece of wire and figure something out to securely connect this. Secure it with electrical tape or something else. Now take the other (negative) lead from your quick release, and connect it to the wire that's coming off of the hub as a ground point. Both of these wires will have to be routed through the middle of the cruise control bracket.

Now, the "fun" and fumbly part. You need to manage the earlier wiring that isn't going to the cruise control or the horn, and manage it into the hub. Best of luck. Now, keep the cruise control connector (and as much wiring from it as you can) sticking out from in-between the hub and the quick release where the cruise control bracket makes a hole for that wire. Take the screws that are used to mount the quick release to your hub, and put them on most of the way so that the quick release is held in place, but nothing is tight and you can move the cruise control wire (that's dangling out) around. You need to drill a single hole through the cruise control bracket; I don't have an exact position to tell you; line up the cruise control pod to the mount and figure out a good spot. You are reusing the factory T10 screw that used to hold the pod to the OEM wheel for this. Once you've drilled your hole, it's time to mount the cruise control pod. IMPORTANT: If you are reusing the screw that used to hold the pod in, you WILL need a few mm's worth of washers. If you don't do this, the screw will be too long and penetrate the back of the housing, likely breaking your cruise control pod. I had to crack mine open to fix this mistake, so don't do the same. Once it's mounted to the bracket, click the connector in. You can now tighten the 6 quick release screws, being cautious of the cruise control wire (making sure it stays in the gap the cruise control bracket adds). Do your tightening in a star pattern like you're putting on wheels, for equal pressure.

Now take a sigh of release, because most of the work is done!

Take your new steering wheel and bolt it to the wheel-side of the quick release. Take the horn that's included with the steering wheel (assuming you're using the same one), and connect its contacts to the two wires coming off of the quick release. Don't worry much about getting it wrong; if you get it wrong, then you'll know because you'll put the steering wheel on and it'll immediately sound the horn and the horn will stay on until you remove the wheel. Once you've checked that it's the correct polarity/orientation, press the button into its spot.

Assuming you're using a turn signal extension, you can add this now. The one I listed has two sizes of foam pads it comes with (and longer screws, which I needed) so that you can avoid crushing the plastic of the turn signal. It's pretty sturdy and feels nice.
D.png

If you have further questions, like I mentioned earlier, I'll be fastest to reply if you send them directly to me @pizza_st_ on Instagram. Otherwise, feel free to reply here!

EDIT: I should note that this moves the steering wheel significantly closer to you. I'm 5'11" and find it slightly closer than I'd like, but it's fine for me. If you have the seat further forward, you will have less room. Don't use a deeper dish wheel, and if you want it significantly further back you might have to ditch using a quick release.

Here's various pictures of the finished install (some were taken before my turn signal extension arrived):

E.png
F.png
G.png
H.png
 


Last edited:

RubenZZZ

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,436
Likes
915
Location
El Monte
#2
Nice write up. Really good info.

Im not a huge fan of the factory wheel, but at least i know what to expect if i ever decide to swap it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
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6,697
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#5
Very thorough writeup. I'm using the slim NRG hub with a QD and wheel, planning on wiring up the horn but not the buttons.
Same here, if I ever decide to get that Sparco mod 383 suede wheel I am lusting after, as I never use the head unit steering wheel controls, nor the cruise control, at all, ever.
 


M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
Messages
13,996
Likes
6,697
Location
Princeton, N.J.
#6
I don't normally do writeups on things so I will have bad visuals and probably bad writing, so here's my apology in advance :LOL: If you have questions and want to get to me fastest, @pizza_st_ on Instagram is your best bet!

I absolutely had to give a writeup of this to potentially help some people out, because I had a horrible time trying to find ANY information whatsoever on how to do this. Finding a hub took far too long and wiring was a huge pain, especially since I hadn't done something like this before. Hopefully this helps someone who was on the fence about doing a project like this!

Before I start, I want to clarify that I am not encouraging people remove airbags from their cars. You will lose your steering wheel airbag installing any quick release aftermarket wheel. In my car, I have a harness bar + seats + 4pt harnesses installed. The safety concerns of a project like this are for your discretion to figure out whether it's worth it. Do your safety research!

I'm (obviously) not responsible for anything you damage doing something like this, either.

With that out of the way, here's a parts list for the setup I created:

Steering wheel hub: NRG SRK-193 hub (https://www.ebay.com/itm/124785811583)
- Unless someone finds a better option, this is the ONLY wheel hub I could find that had adequate space for cables and allowed use of the factory clock spring.
Cruise control mount: DND 350Z Cruise Control Kit (https://www.dndperformanceinterior....-control-kit/products/350z-cruise-control-kit)
- You could probably find a different mount if you wanted, but I find this mount to look good for this install.
Steering wheel: DND Leather Touring Wheel (red stitching) (https://www.dndperformanceinterior.com/collections/leather/products/leathertouringwheel)
- You can use any 6x70mm bolt pattern steering wheel, but I find this wheel to be a good balance between inexpensive but not garbage.
Quick release: NRG SRK-200BK Quick Release (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZG6TUC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- There are many options out there. These releases are good for a decent amount of time, just don't do the stupid spinning you see on TikTok and these are fine. You can use any 6x70mm quick release that has the contacts for a horn button (or not, if you don't care about the horn).
Turn signal extension:(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MFDRJGH)
- Because of the extra distance this setup adds between the wheel stalks and the new steering wheel, you'll need a turn signal extension to be able to reach/activate your turn signals without taking your hand off of the wheel. I used this one because it was cheap, but many options are out there. This specific one works well for me, though I will note I can only FLASH my high beams; it prevents the stalk from clicking to the second position. This is made more clear in one of my post photos. You may need a different extension if that's a deal breaker, but I don't use HBs often and it's $12.

In my case, the cost of these is $145, $50, $155, $80, and $12. So for a similar setup, you can expect to spend ~$450.

First step is unplugging the battery from your car. Just remove the negative terminal and let it sit for however long you feel necessary. Most people agree 30 minutes is plenty.

Second is taking off the wheel. If you want a video to follow, this one (
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8MuPb8kmzU

) is a decent video. Straighten your steering wheel, and get a long metal device like a long ~3mm hex wrench/key. There are 3 points on the back of the steering wheel that release clips you need to push, using it. These release the airbag unit from the wheel.
View attachment 44646
After these clips are released, move the airbag up and release the two clips and one wire from the back. From there, you can take a 24mm socket to remove the OEM wheel. Again, make sure the wheel is straight during this (you'll need it to be straight for installing the hub). I recommend taking this 24mm bolt only halfway off, so you can jerk the steering wheel loose without it potentially smacking you in the face. After you have it loose, remove the bolt the rest of the way and carefully take the wheel off, feeding the airbag wiring through its designated hole. Be careful with the clock spring behind it; you want to avoid having it move/rotate as much as possible so you don't accidently damage it.

Now we remove the wiring harness and cruise control "pod" from the wheel. Take your OEM wheel and find the two T10 torx screws on the back that hold the buttons and trim onto the wheel. Unscrew these, and take it off. Now, there are 3 T8 torx screws that hold each button pod on; in this case I'm just taking the cruise control one off. You could do both if you care that much about your media controls, but seeing as how they're all on the radio I figured I'd be fine without them. Now find the 4(?) thick cable ties that hold the wiring to the steering wheel, and carefully snip 'em. There's one philips-head screw holding a ground point to the wheel, so unscrew that and then the whole wiring harness of the OEM wheel can be removed.
View attachment 44647
For reference throughout the rest of this guide, in case it's helpful, here's what these wires are for:
View attachment 44648
Purple is the ground point. Green is the main connector that goes to the clock spring. Blue (mostly off-image) is for the media controls. Yellow is for the cruise control. Red is actually a positive wire for the horn, which would've gone to the OEM airbag unit.

With the harness removed, we work on installing the hub. Plug the harness from the OEM wheel into the clock spring (again, be careful with it and avoid rotating it as much as possible), then take your hub (with the logo and small white dot-label on top) and slide it onto the steering column, carefully feeding the wires for the airbag and wheel functions through the large space in the top of the hub. Keep the wiring out of the way and reinstall and tighten the 24mm bolt that'll hold the hub to the column. NOTE: A non-permanent threadlocker (ex. blue loctite) should be used on this bolt, and if you want to go to spec, the torque spec I found for this bolt is 30ft/lbs.

Now, all the wiring.. yay. Take some electrical tape and cover up the connector for the media control button pod (labeled blue in the reference image above); it won't be used here (unless you want to, in which case you'll have to duplicate all the steps involving the cruise control pod in this writeup). Take the philips screw holding the grounding wire to the hub and unscrew it. Now re-add that screw with that grounding wire, but underneath it add the purple wire (labeled purple in the reference image above) that was being used as a grounding point previously on the OEM wheel. Now, there are two connectors (with two wires each) that go to the back of the OEM wheel's airbag. Find the two 2A (at least, that's what they were labeled in mine) resistors/fuses in the box for your steering wheel hub (the SRK-193H). Plug the two ends of each resistor/fuse into each connector. To specify, DO NOT bridge across the two different airbag connectors with these! Simply plug the two ends of the resistor/fuse into the two ends of one connector, and repeat for the other (as shown in this below reference image).
View attachment 44649
Now secure them how you see fit; I just wrapped each one up with some electrical tape. Now, all that's left for new connections to make is the two (positive and negative) for the horn. Read the rest of this paragraph before following it; you need to run some wires through the cruise control mount or you'll have to do it twice. Go get your quick release (the side that goes to the car; not the side that attaches to your new steering wheel) and connect its positive lead to the positive horn connector (labeled in red in the earlier reference image) in some way; you might have to get an extra piece of wire and figure something out to securely connect this. Secure it with electrical tape or something else. Now take the other (negative) lead from your quick release, and connect it to the wire that's coming off of the hub as a ground point. Both of these wires will have to be routed through the middle of the cruise control bracket.

Now, the "fun" and fumbly part. You need to manage the earlier wiring that isn't going to the cruise control or the horn, and manage it into the hub. Best of luck. Now, keep the cruise control connector (and as much wiring from it as you can) sticking out from in-between the hub and the quick release where the cruise control bracket makes a hole for that wire. Take the screws that are used to mount the quick release to your hub, and put them on most of the way so that the quick release is held in place, but nothing is tight and you can move the cruise control wire (that's dangling out) around. You need to drill a single hole through the cruise control bracket; I don't have an exact position to tell you; line up the cruise control pod to the mount and figure out a good spot. You are reusing the factory T10 screw that used to hold the pod to the OEM wheel for this. Once you've drilled your hole, it's time to mount the cruise control pod. IMPORTANT: If you are reusing the screw that used to hold the pod in, you WILL need a few mm's worth of washers. If you don't do this, the screw will be too long and penetrate the back of the housing, likely breaking your cruise control pod. I had to crack mine open to fix this mistake, so don't do the same. Once it's mounted to the bracket, click the connector in. You can now tighten the 6 quick release screws, being cautious of the cruise control wire (making sure it stays in the gap the cruise control bracket adds). Do your tightening in a star pattern like you're putting on wheels, for equal pressure.

Now take a sigh of release, because most of the work is done!

Take your new steering wheel and bolt it to the wheel-side of the quick release. Take the horn that's included with the steering wheel (assuming you're using the same one), and connect its contacts to the two wires coming off of the quick release. Don't worry much about getting it wrong; if you get it wrong, then you'll know because you'll put the steering wheel on and it'll immediately sound the horn and the horn will stay on until you remove the wheel. Once you've checked that it's the correct polarity/orientation, press the button into its spot.

Assuming you're using a turn signal extension, you can add this now. The one I listed has two sizes of foam pads it comes with (and longer screws, which I needed) so that you can avoid crushing the plastic of the turn signal. It's pretty sturdy and feels nice.
View attachment 44650

If you have further questions, like I mentioned earlier, I'll be fastest to reply if you send them directly to me @pizza_st_ on Instagram. Otherwise, feel free to reply here! Here's various pictures of the finished install (some were taken before my turn signal extension arrived):

View attachment 44651
View attachment 44652
View attachment 44653
View attachment 44654
Which seats are those?
 


OP
Brandonr757
Messages
51
Likes
108
Location
Lake City, MI, USA
Thread Starter #9
All very nice, but wow! Someone has to come up with a more elegant solution to the turn signal problem.
Yeah I'd like a more elegant solution, I won't deny.. but I have zero idea what else I could look into trying. I mean, considering how much googling and trouble and figuring things out myself I had to do to change the wheel in this car, I have a feeling no company is interested in producing something as specific as a turn signal device for this car, for the tiny amount of people who will put an aftermarket wheel in them.
 


jeff

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Evans
#10
I just installed a quick release on my CR-X a few weeks ago. Did so for security to help reduce risk of car theft. It's a good mod for that reason alone, and moreso if you're swapping wheels. It's also cool to remove the wheel and stick it on the dashboard at car shows and such...cool points follow.

Great write-up.
 


OP
Brandonr757
Messages
51
Likes
108
Location
Lake City, MI, USA
Thread Starter #11
I just installed a quick release on my CR-X a few weeks ago. Did so for security to help reduce risk of car theft. It's a good mod for that reason alone, and moreso if you're swapping wheels. It's also cool to remove the wheel and stick it on the dashboard at car shows and such...cool points follow.

Great write-up.
Thank you! I mostly just wanted a new wheel with a different look and feel, but security can be a good reason to do it too depending on where you live (and the other security features of the car).
 


Messages
187
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208
Location
Central CT
#12
Nice, just don't get pulled over with that wheel as you would be in violation of no longer have an airbag.
 


Messages
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208
Location
Central CT
#14
Please know that I am not trying to start an argument, just here to inform as I do think what you did is pretty slick.

However, it's a federal law that prevents the removal of an airbag equipped steering wheel, making it illegal regardless of state. There are exceptions to this such as medical/ physical reasons for removal of an airbag, but in the US this document must be issued by the DMV.
That being said, you can pass most states inspections visually as they typically do not care unless that vehicle is ticketed for a motor vehicle infraction such as speeding etc. (it would be at the officers discretion to issue a violation as you have removed a factory safety device). If the vehicle is reported in an accident then you will be charged a violation and have fun dealing with your insurance company as they will almost always deny the claim.
 


SteveS

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Osage Beach, MO, USA
#15
This is the NHTSA's response to Grant Steering Wheels about aftermarket steering wheels, posted by NHTSA on their website as interpretation of the law. Specifically, it is not illegal for the consumer to replace the steering wheel with one not having an airbag. The Safety Act only requires conformance to the safety laws regarding passive restraints until the vehicle is delivered to the customer.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/9068
 


jeff

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Evans
#16
To the OP - I agree with the folks above, never a good idea to remove your airbag. That said it's your car and your life and as long as you assume responsibility in the event of a wreck you can do what you want with the laws. In the case of my CR-X I mentioned my car didn't come with an airbag so there are no such worries or legal issues.
 


M-Sport fan

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#17
Varies by state. In my state, they don't care about air bags at all.
Even draconian Noo Joyzee never even questioned me, let alone failed me, for having a Sparco mod 383 wheel in my '00 Z28, which came from the factory with a wheel airbag.
They did once try to fail me for not having a driver's side factory catcon, which was there, but the dolt inspection kid could not find it, even with their under car mirrors. LOL
 


M-Sport fan

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#18
and have fun dealing with your insurance company as they will almost always deny the claim.
Not positive on the federal legalities/consequences, but the above is a GUARANTEED ABSOLUTE, as they will look for EVERY way that they can get out of paying a claim, at all times.

In fact, if there was another car involved, and there were personal injuries/medical claims against you and your insurance company, they would most likely attempt to deny paying those on your behalf because of the disabled exploding whoopee cushion(s), even if YOU yourself had no medical claims. [:(]
 


OP
Brandonr757
Messages
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Location
Lake City, MI, USA
Thread Starter #19
I really don't want this to become a safety debate; that's why I made my "disclaimer" right at the beginning of this. I've accepted the safety changes/risk I already removed my seat airbags when I chose my Corbeaus, and people lose their minds arguing about removing those airbags too. This is entirely reversible, too, with the way that I did this; if I needed to reverse my changes I can do so. And insurance stuff is a rough area in the first place, they're never on your side (like M-Sport Fan said). I highly doubt I'll get failed for something over this wheel setup. I'm not trying to urge people towards removing their airbag; just providing better info for how to do it if that's what they already decided they'd like to try.
 


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