Happy Holidays!

my Christmas gift came early, I found a leather covered Expedition steering wheel and installed it in my Aerostar !

the character of the van has changed 180 degrees!, the steering is now more positive and comfortable, probably because the steering wheel is closer to the dash by about 1 inch, it feels like my Jaguar! What can I say, I love it.

the leather is discolored at the top but I'm having it re-colored to match the interior trim. I pre-installed it to make sure it fit the splined shaft and to connect the Cruise Control wires which is where I'm stuck right now.

the Cruise controls are identical in both Aerostar and Expedition wheels but the Expedition controls are lighted with the lights switch. Still trying to figure how to connect to the lights through the steering wheel, my Aerostar clockspring does not have a lighting wire.

Also trying to make the Cruise controls work. The Expedition controls have more wires than the Aerostar.

 

Nice conversion. Looks 'factory' slick.

I looked for over a year to find a grey, leather OEM wheel. No luck. To avoid the sticky black fingers syndrome, I had to settle for a blue leather. Never thought about dyeing a wheel. Where would one look to have this done?

 

Thanks, I love that steering wheel, it also has a lot thicker grip than the original Aerostar wheel which is very thin.

re-coloring is the easy part, there are vinyl & leather repair specialists in every city, The Leather Doctor is one franchise all over the US. These people are always in demand by car dealers who need to repair vinyl or leather before putting a car for sale.

check your local Craigslist under "Services Offered", look for leather repair. That's where I found a guy who comes and does it in your home for around $60.00 to $75.00. They will match colors to oem trim.

 

Jose,
Thanks for the info. We have '99 Expedition...I'm really tempted..... but wifey would likely notice the blue wheel swap.

 

I got the Cruise Controls working! YEEHAW! I'm either a genius or got lucky. It's really very simple. 3 wires: one for Cruise, two for Horn, one of which grounds the Cruise switches.

if anybody can give me a tip on how to run the 4th, single Lite blue/Red stripe illumination wire through the steering wheel so the cruise controls light up at night with the headlights switch, I'll be very grateful. My geniusity has not figured that one out.

ALSO: I removed the air bag from the new Expedition steering wheel, don't want a bomb in front of my face. Gone. Adios and hasta la vista baby!

now the air bag idiot light is blinking giving me a Code 32 (Clockspring), but the clockspring is fine, it's just that I disconnected the air bag. Anybody knows how to just disable the SRS system to turn off the blinking light?

Thank you for any help and Merry Christmas! Here's two pictures of the Expedition Horn pad/Air bag assembly, and the assembly taken apart to remove the bomb. Part Number 4 is the actual airbag removed; Parts 3, 2, and 1 were re-assembled to retain the Horn function and the rigidity of the pad.

 

The air bag circuit uses a resistant diode in it. the bag has it inside, just measure the diode on the bag and put ones between the old wires.

 

Muffinman: I tried disconnecting the two Blue module plugs, and the airbag light stopped blinking but then stayed ON all the time, then I pulled the fuse, light stayed On too, so I had enough and removed the bulb. All quiet now. (and the RABS light keeps staying OFF at times and ON at times).

also got the Cruise controls working, (the wire colors are different but I got it right). Now I need to find a way to run a wire through the steering column to light the cruise controls at night, (yes the cruise switches are lighted in the Expedition steering wheel, but not in the Aerostar steering wheel).

am I glad I got rid of that horrible Aerostar steering wheel, you should try it, it's a whole new driving experience with the Expedition wheel. Excellent grip for my sasqwatch hands!

Happy Holidays to ya!

 

Since you have disabled the air bag, can you try to use its wires, going through the clockspring, to try to get power to the cruise lights?

 

The lights for the steering wheel are on printed circuit board, just go get the wiring harness out of an Explorer, and I mean from the bag, under the column and to the fuse block. It will then be a simple install in reverse.

I did this with the transponder keyed ignition system from a 2008 explorer. Now the van has true anti thief system for $20.00 you need the whole system to make it work, switch, housing, coil pickup, and the ignition black box under the column.

 

hadn't thought of that one, that's the solution!

all I have to connect is one lite-blue/red-stripe wire from the cruise switch lights to the cigar lighter or any other nearby light. I'll use the airbag connector.

thank you

 

got lights! I tapped one of the airbag wires, then tapped the cigar lighter light bulb wire, it works! Now the cruise switches light up with the headlights switch.

job completed! now I have to take everything apart to get the steering wheel re-colored to match my interior. (after the New Year, as paycheck allows).

Thanks for all the help gentlemen

Muffinman: I printed all your RABS testing instructions, will be getting to that soon.

 

Wow that was quick; 42 minutes between posts, and you already got it working!

 

Its almost
24 hours, you missed am to pm

 

no, that must be a screwup in the forum date or time, I did it this morning, 12/20, my reply about doing it like XLT90 suggested was 12/19.

started at 7:45am today, took everything apart, (removing all the dash pieces is a piece of cake for me, I've had 3 Aerostars); I had the three plastic splicers and a piece of wire since last night, and I knew what to do. By 10:00 I had it assembled and working.

by the way, I visited a friend tonight and the cruise and the cruise switch lights worked perfect.

 

You're both right; I missed the AM/PM, so it was more like 12 hours and 42 minutes.

So is this on you 97? I thought the later models (92 and later) were supposed to have air bags? Is it some kind of safety violation to remove them?