03+ steering wheel in 02?

[red02chevy]

I have a steering wheel from a 03 will that work in my 02. I know I'll have to get a different air bag but will it be plug and play? It has the switches for the radio and what not but i dont care if that works i just think the newer ones look better

[Joe]

You may have an issue getting the controls and airbag to work since the electronics changed for the 2003 model year.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the airbag :looking:

[Nick]

:word:

03+ uses class 2 databus, earlier trucks don't.

[red02chevy]

so if i did it and didnt connect the air bag would the air bag light come on in my cluster?

[Nick]

Probably, but the radio controls aren't going to work anyway.

[red02chevy]

damn that sucks. You have a 03+ would you want to buy it, its leather and has the controls

[Nick]

damn that sucks. You have a 03+ would you want to buy it, its leather and has the controls
Mine already has it. :D


You could buy this:

http://www.jpcustoms.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=16249&cat=311&page=1

[red02chevy]

i just liked the look of the newer ones

[GnatGoSplat]

Theoretically, it could be made to work.
03+ have a dual stage airbag and there are 2 ignitors, #1 is lower power and deploys for moderate collision, and both #1 and #2 deploy for more severe collisions. 99-02 is single stage and only has 1 ignitor. So you could always connect both ignitors in parallel and the 99-02 SDM (airbag module) should be able to trigger them in an accident. Now, this is all theoretical and never been tested. I wouldn't recommend messing with them since it could affect your safety or even cause severe injury or death.

The controls wouldn't be a problem. They're very similar and the switches simply apply different resistances across 2 wires. The primary difference on 03+ is the BCM acts as a middle man, converting the resistances to Class2 while the resistances go straight to the radio on 01-02's.

[TXChev496]

If you put in a new headunit you wouldnt have to worry about the wiring for the controls. You use a pac module anyways with infered to feed signal from steering wheel controls to the aftermarket headunit instead of being hardwired to the factory headunit. Im my '04 I have an alpine headunit with the wireless pac module to retain my factory controls...--Alex