Late 3rd Gen Steering Wheel onto Early 3rd gen?

[PitbullRescuer]

Been thinking about this for a while. My steering wheel is kind of beat up from the sun and what not. I have a '97 Limited with the old "2 spoke" steering wheel, it looks very dated.

I assume I could source a later "4 spoke" wheel and swap it but does anyone know if the air bag is the same? How about the clock spring? Has anyone actually done this? If it's just a matter of swapping the wheel I'll probably buy one but if I need an air bag and clock spring I'll probably just live with what I have.

Thanks.

 

[the great him]

almost positive, and if not just swap them. my 97 has the newer 4 spoke and it works(i hope lol)

 

[tv4184]

Sounds like you should be able to. I can't imagine Toyota changed the mounting of the wheel from 97 to 98 (these have the 4 spoke too). If not modifying a wheel to match your original isn't out of the question either. Alot of RX7 owners modify protege / miata wheels to fit so this process isn't impossible either.

 

[zacattack20]

Well the airbag is obviously different just by looking at it. And yeah the clockspring has a different connector for the different airbag. I had to replace my clockspring and for some reason my vin popped up two different style clocksprings and they didn't tell me when I ordered so I ended up getting the wrong one and I had to exchange it. Since I have a '98 it was in the middle of the change of the steering wheel, I think the early 98's still had the older steering wheel.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Well the airbag is obviously different just by looking at it. And yeah the clockspring has a different connector for the different airbag. I had to replace my clockspring and for some reason my vin popped up two different style clocksprings and they didn't tell me when I ordered so I ended up getting the wrong one and I had to exchange it. Since I have a '98 it was in the middle of the change of the steering wheel, I think the early 98's still had the older steering wheel.

Zac, what do you mean when you say "just by looking at it?" I know the cover is different but I've never had mine apart to actually look at the air bag itself. However, if you say the clock spring had a different plug I guess it's safe to assume that they did change the airbag too. Damn it!

And guys, thanks for the replies. I'm sure it would actually bolt up but I was more concerned about whether or not the internals would work. Sounds like they won't.

 

[RunninInGA]

Zac, what do you mean when you say "just by looking at it?" I know the cover is different but I've never had mine apart to actually look at the air bag itself. However, if you say the clock spring had a different plug I guess it's safe to assume that they did change the airbag too. Damn it!

And guys, thanks for the replies. I'm sure it would actually bolt up but I was more concerned about whether or not the internals would work. Sounds like they won't.

If Toyota is like my Acura, the bag itself is PART OF the cover. As in you cannot remove one from the other - or at least you shouldn't.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

If Toyota is like my Acura, the bag itself is PART OF the cover. As in you cannot remove one from the other - or at least you shouldn't.

Interesting. That wasn't the case with my BMW but you never know. I'll have to look into it further. Thank you.

 

[zacattack20]

If Toyota is like my Acura, the bag itself is PART OF the cover. As in you cannot remove one from the other - or at least you shouldn't.

What he said.

 

[Elton H]

the air bag is the whole middle section

 

[Travolous]

The cruiser control won't work. The connector uses either a 3 pin or 4 pin and if you look at it closely, you will see either 3 wires or 4 wires in your vehicles connector and either 3 wires or 4 wires in the steering wheels connector. They obviously have to match or your cruise won't work.